Roccat Kain 120 (122) AIMO

Roccat Kain 120 and 122 (black and white) are mice from Roccat intended for FPS gaming. Although trend in FPS gaming is leaning to lighter mice, this Roccat will be appreciated by people who like “somewhat heavier” devices since it has 89 grams.

Build quality is amazing which probably is related to its slightly extra weight.

Mouse is almost perfect, perfect scroll, perfect clicks and perfect sensor, except one downside – shape. Even if it looks like safe shape, shape is weird and you need some time to settle in.

People online also comment issues with scroll and clicks going bad, but mine sample (which I bought) is still holding well after 5 27 months…

Pros

• Excellent sensor
• Scroll wheel
• Perfect left and right clicks
• Build quality

Cons

• Shape could be safer
• Slightly overweight

Manufacturer	Roccat
Model	Kain 120 AIMO
Picture
Release Date	2019
Your Rating	4.2 / 5 ( 52 votes )
Price	Check Price

Length	~124 mm ~12.4 cm ~4.88 in
Width	~65 mm ~6.5 cm ~2.56 in
Height	~43 mm ~4.3 cm ~1.69 in
Weight	~89 g ~0.09 kg ~0.2 lbs

Sensor Type	Optical
Sensor Model	PMW3381
Perfect Sensor (Flawless)	Yes
Resolution (CPI/DPI)	100 - 16000
Max Resolution (CPI/DPI)	16000
Min Resolution (CPI/DPI)	100
Resolution Ratio (Max/Min)
Maximum Acceleration	50 G
Max Tracking Speed	400 IPS
Polling Rate	1000 Hz (1ms)
Lift Off Distance	Adjustable (~2.0 mm default)
Switches Type	Omron
Switches Lifespan	50 million clicks
Feets (Material)	PTFE
Onboard Memory	Yes
Smoothing / Filtering	No
Hardware Acceleration	No
Click Latency	8.2 ms
Shift Latency	-

Connectivity	Wired, USB
Cable Length	~1.8 m ~5.91 ft
Cable Type	Braided cable

Mouse Type	Gaming mouse
Ergonomy	Right-handed
Buttons	6
Suggested Grip	Palm grip, Claw grip, Fingertip grip
CPI/DPI Indicator	Yes
LED Lighting	Yes
LED Editable	Yes
Adjustable Weight	No
Editable Scroll-Wheel Resistance	No
Silent Clicking	No
Color	Black
Battery Time	-
Battery Type	-

Warranty	2 Years
Manufacturer URL	https://en.roccat.org/
Amazon	Check Price

This was another Roccat I thought it would be my endgame mouse, but again it isn’t, mainly because of its shape. Let’s dive into my review…

Size and Shape

Main culprit of why I didn’t give this mouse a better score. The shape is almost safe, but it has some kind of lump in the middle which forces me to have a unique grip for this mouse. That unique grip somehow builds tension in my right side fingers, so I occasionally and randomly (every couple of minutes) do right clicks.

After some time, this gets infuriating… You start thinking it’s something on your side, but in reality, it’s the shape and sensitive clicks. Once moved to Microsoft IntelliMouse Pro this stopped happening almost instantly for me…

The mouse is 124 mm in length, 65 mm in width, and 43 mm in height. So it’s a medium-sized mouse. It fits small and medium hands. People with larger hands could probably not use the palm grip with it.

Another issue is weight. The mouse has 89 grams and it would be much better if it is at least 10 grams lighter. However, due to the weight, the mouse feels extremely good and you can’t ignore its build quality.

1-2-2 and 1-3-1 grips are very well-suited for this mouse. The difference between Roccat Kain 120 and Roccat Kain 122 is only in color. The first one is black, the second one is white.

Buttons

The main buttons are on Omron’s 50 million switches. Although some other mice I had used the same switches here those switches are somehow different. Almost perfect and similar to the feel of Logitech G502.

No weird springy feel and inconsistency like on Roccat Kone Pure Ultra.

Side buttons are decent; I don’t use them enough to comment on them more.

All buttons click subtly and quietly.

Drag-clicking works well with this mouse.

Sensor

Roccat uses his own variant of the Pixart PMW3381 sensor. The sensor is flawless and it works as you expect. There is no noticeable smoothing, filtering, or acceleration.

DPI can be adjusted from 100 to 16000 in the steps of 50. My tests to spin it out in the game failed.

The tracking height is adjustable and the default tracking height is around ~1 mm. The polling rate is set by default to 1000 Hz.

Scroll wheel

It’s the same as on Roccat KPU and if I would describe it with one word it would be perfection. Roccat calls it “Titan Wheel 2.0”. Don’t know how they achieved it since some other mice with ALPS encoders are similar but not nearly as good.

Tactility hits the sweet spot. The scroll wheel is firm, but not too firm, it is without rattle, incredibly nice on touch and it feels like it belongs to a much more expensive mouse. Movements between steps are smooth and oddly satisfying.

Cable

Cable is nothing special and it could be better. If you have a mouse bungee, then it doesn’t matter.

The braided cable is 1.8 m long, and I would love to see Roccat wired mice getting 2.1 meter cables.

Feet

I usually don’t notice the feet and differences between mice which might be due to the Sharkoon pad I have. Feet seem like classical PTFE. I don’t feel I should change them or upgrade them.

Coating

The coating is very good. It’s matte and smooth. I even ate a few times in front of the computer and there was no single dirty finger on the mouse. Actually, when I think about it, it’s one of the best coatings I experienced on the mouse.

Software

The mouse is compatible with the Roccat Swarm software. The software is around ~160 Mb big and it installs quickly without the need for a restart. Weirdly right after installation, it asked for an update and some special module in order to recognize the mouse.

Once done, the software allows you to modify cpi/dpi levels, change the pointer and vertical scroll speed, calibrate the mouse, set polling rate, activate angle snapping, set tracking height, program all buttons, modify RGB colors and many other options.

All of that can be saved to 5 onboard profiles. Although many people complained that the Swarm app is buggy, for me everything worked out of the box.

Conclusion

If there was no issue with my right finger tension clicks I would say it’s one of the best mice I ever used, however, that and slightly weirder shape forced me to move to something else.

Strangely my non-gamer wife found the Roccat Kain 122 extremely comfy and satisfying and it eventually became her daily driver in business use.