Streamlined performance from a rather clever mouse
Roccat has recently released a slew of updated and upgraded products from its healthy range of gaming mice. The likes of the Roccat Savu, Lua and Kone Pure Series are some of the best gaming mice available today, and let's not forget the impressive Roccat Nyth.
A recent upgrade worth looking at is the Roccat Kova. It has an 3500dpi Pro-Optic laser sensor, with an overdrive mode that'll bring the total DPI to a blistering 7000, 16.8 million colour illumination, tracking and distance control processing, 12 programmable buttons, a 72MHz Turbo Core V2 32-bit ARM CPU and 576KB of on-board memory.
The Kova also boasts a 1ms response time, a 1000Hz polling rate, 20G acceleration and an impressive lift-off distance of up to 5mm. These features may seem extreme, but in this market the difference between a successfully selling mouse is the number of cutting-edge features it has available for the user to play with, and the Kova doesn't disappoint in this respect.
The mouse is reasonably large, which we particularly like, and fits snugly in the hand, with access to all the many buttons and added extras within easy reach of your digits. The finish of the top of the mouse is a smooth, toughened plastic with a kind of rubbery feel to it. The sides of the mouse, where you'd place your thumb, little and ring fingers, are made of the same plastic and do a good job of improving the grip and reducing any chance of slipping - no doubt while you're dealing out death in an online game. The overall effect is a good feel; it's sturdy and easy on larger hands.
With the accompanying Roccat software installed, you'll have full control over every aspect of the Kova's features. You can, for instance, set one custom colour from the usual rainbow of choice to illuminate the wheel, while another colour illuminates from the rear bumper. Or you can set a pulsing, ever changing set of colours for each. The sensitivity can be fine-tuned, and the button assignments can be uniquely set for each of the five available profiles. There's even a way to store and share any in-game trophies you've earned, and if you combine the Kova with any one of Roccat's keyboards, then you can create some pretty elaborate gaming profiles and transfer key macro information between the two depending on the game you're playing.
In addition, if the above wasn't already enough, the use of the Roccat Easy-Shift+ thumb button adds a secondary function to each button on the mouse. The buttons are placed within easy reach of your finger, regardless of whether you're left- or right-handed, and can increase the total number of button functions to 22. Obviously the increase in the number of available macros allows for a greater user control over the game.
The Kova, though, isn't the cheapest gaming mouse on the market, at around £65, depending on where you look. This may seem a little expensive for a mere peripheral, but considering what you get, it's not actually all that bad. And even if you only touch on the tip of what the Kova can do, you're still left with an excellent performing mouse. David Hayward
An impressive gaming mouse, with plenty of features.