Product: Roccat Kain 200 AIMO
Type: Gaming Mouse (Wirelss)
Price: $159.00
Availability: Out Now
Link: en.roccat.org/Mice/Kain-200-AIMO

In the wireless peripheral game, the mouse is the one where battery life seems to vary the most – especially if you’re of the type that needs an RGB glow to be one with the scroll wheel. Other factors come into play sure, from how long before it turns itself off, does it turn itself off, and is the switch from wireless to play-and-charge as seamless as it could be. The big question though is do you need to plug it in every other day? To be honest, we’ve had wireless mice where that was the case, so we just left them plugged in. Charging all the time, for all time.

This is a roundabout way of saying that battery life has been factored into the Roccat Kain 200 AIMO wireless gaming mouse from Roccat. The company’s Owl-Eye optical sensor was developed in collaboration with PixArt specifically for low-power use – to drain as little energy as possible whilst retaining smooth performance. The result certainly lives up to its promise (it also turns itself off and won’t re-activate until you click, which is nice), offering long-lasting wireless with lighting that can lead to a week or so easy without having to plug it in. For those that don’t punch a clock every day that equates to around 40 hours of use – with lighting.

Grip It

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Beyond it being a wireless offering, the Roccat Kain 200 AIMO retains the look and feel of the Roccat Kain range in that it keeps the same shape that is familiar but different to other products out there. The usual research and design to find the perfect shape can be found in the official material for the Kain 200 AIMO, but after using it for over a week it’s safe to say that it’s comfortable and great to use for any period. That said the profile might be a little low for some palm-grippers, so fair warning. The best way to describe the shape would be call it ergonomically subtle, not overly flashy, or curvy. In fact it’s a little dull to look at, which might be a plus for some but sitting next to the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO it’s a little lacking.

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"The result certainly lives up to its promise, offering long-lasting wireless with lighting that can lead to a week or so easy without having to plug it in.”

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Weighing it at 105g it certainly isn’t lightweight either, noticeably heavier than we expected in fact – especially for a product designed for the sort of games where speed and acceleration of movement are key. The extra bit of chunk might be deliberate though because the results are good when paired with the 40G movement – where precise flicks cause the thing on screen to do that thing it was meant to do. Without any side-grips (something we’re fans of here at AG HQ) the anti-wear coating has a comfortable feel – but is susceptible to many a fingerprint and greasy chicken-finger. So yeah, regular cleaning required for some.

Point-and-Click

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Specs

• Sensor: ROCCAT Owl-Eye optical sensor
  
• DPI: 16,000
  
• Polling Rate: 1000 Hz
  
• Movement: 40 G acceleration
  
• Weight: 105g

But let’s get to it, the underlying tech of the Roccat Kain 200 AIMO is solid, from the Owl-Eye optical sensor (which is a custom version of the excellent PixArt PMW3335 sensor) to the Omron switches to the 2.4GHz wireless transmission over the dongle that sits on the charge cable. The 16,000 DPI is of course more than enough for anyone, and on that front the switchable DPI settings paired with the robust Roccat Swarm software let you configure and tune the Kain 200 to suit your own preferences. In fact, with Swarm this is certainly a feature-packed mouse with the ability to fully customise the battery saving modes like how long before it turns off or at what point energy saver mode kicks in.

Designed for competitive play, Roccat claims clicks are processed up to 16ms faster than the competition – but really, that’s not the sort of claim we’re equipped to test. For that we’d need a science lab filled with all kinds of science bottles. In the end the Roccat Kain 200 AIMO has a nice click-feel, the build quality is solid, and the wireless performance is good as is the battery life. Testing across a number of FPS titles, including some early access to Halo 3 on PC, clearly many of the big tick-marks are getting a big ol’ tick here. So, if you’re in the market for a new wireless mouse then the latest Kain is definitely worth a look.