Roccat Kain 120 AIMO review: a gaming mouse for the masses

The Roccat Kain 120 AIMO is an excellent gaming mouse that will suit most people. It easily takes a spot in T3’s list of the best gaming mice. 

If you are looking for a whole new set of gaming peripherals, it’ll be worth taking a look at T3’s guides to the best gaming keyboards, best gaming headsets and best gaming monitors as well. 

Priding itself on being ‘One Click Ahead’ the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO was designed and built with the click in mind. From external design to internal mechanics, Roccat has attempted to create a mouse that is every-part the perfect gaming mouse. But does it live up to Roccat’s claims? Here we run through everything you need to know. 

If you are stuck between this and our best budget gaming mouse, the Corsair Sabre RGB, check out Roccat Kain 120 AIMO vs Corsair Sabre RGB.

 Roccat Kain 120 AIMO review: price

At the time of writing, you can pick up a Roccat Kain 120 AIMO gaming mouse for just £45 in the UK, $69.99 in the US and AU$82.50. See the below widget for up-to-date prices. 

 Roccat Kain 120 AIMO review: design and setup 

For Windows 7 operating systems and above, the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO doesn’t look like anything special straight out of the box. It’s small, low and light, weighing 89g and measuring 6.5cm across and 12.4cm in length. Rectangular in shape and a smooth, curved top the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO will give those with a palm grip in particular comfortable use over long periods however those with larger hands may have to revert to a claw grip. Its almost completely straight edges mean that you will be able to use this mouse no matter which type of grip you use, though. 

The plastic mouse comes in a matte-black or white, with an anti-wear coating that makes it dirt and moisture resistant, durable and ultimately gives it a good grip.

Both the central scroll wheel and Roccat logo illuminate with RGB backlighting and LED lighting effects, and if you have other AIMO-compatible devices, they synergize to create a vivid combined aesthetic without needing to spend time configuring your own settings. So if you are building a set of gaming peripherals and want to start with this mouse, it could be worth sticking to Roccat.

As well as the standard left/right clicks and the DPI cycle button there are two side buttons on the left, defaulted to browser forwards and browser backwards. The USB cable is 1.8m and quite stiff for a braided cable which may feel a little restrictive to some. For fast FPS gameplay, you may even feel the need for a mouse bungee.

Setup is as easy as plugging it into your computer’s USB port, and if you want to adjust the mouse’s configuration, you can download the Roccat Swarm software.

Roccat Kain 120 AIMO review: performance and features 

On the underside of the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO, you’ll find an Owl-Eye optical sensor able to go from 50dpi up to 16,000dpi (dots per linear inch) which will be more than enough for most. You can cycle through DPI profiles using the button on the central divider behind the scroll wheel, or manually adjust it using Roccat’s Swarm software. It allows for up to five customisable DPI profiles which will be useful for quickly switching on the fly. Other specs include a 1,000Hz polling rate, 512KB of onboard memory, an adjustable lift-off distance and 50G of acceleration.

One of the defining features of the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO is the Titan Click. The Omron mechanical switches are placed higher up on the chassis for more immediate actuation, which alongside the firmware of the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO, gives you quick signal processing with mouse clicks up to 16ms faster. Both the left and right buttons are large and responsive so your clicks will feel crisp and will register every time. They’re also solid enough not to be prone to accidental clicks. Overall, you can’t really fault the performance of the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO.

When it comes to the software, Roccat Swarm is really in-depth but easy to use. Pro-gamers will love it because of advanced settings like angle-snapping, polling rate adjustment and zero debounce. But for the average gamer, you’ll most likely just use it to configure the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO in a more general sense, for instance, editing your button assignment, customising the illumination and maybe manually adjusting the five DPI profiles.

 Roccat Kain 120 AMO review: verdict 

This mid-priced gaming mouse is well-designed, comfortable to use and has a high DPI. 

Serious gamers will love the comprehensive software that gives you tons of manual control over the mouse’s configuration, though maybe won’t be so keen on the lack of physical customisation when it comes to aspects like weight or the number of buttons.

Those who are keen on quick FPS style games will especially like the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO because of its weight, customisable sensitivity settings and the ability to adjust double click speed as well as the shorter actuation time provided by the Titan Click. Though having said that most gaming genres will suit this mouse when it comes down to it. 

We think the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO is a fantastic all-round gaming mouse for a reasonable price.

Still unsure? Read more in Should I buy the Roccat Kain 120 AIMO RGB Gaming Mouse.

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