Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse Review - Wired and Ready

TweakTown's Rating: 86%

The Bottom Line

As a wired gaming mouse, the Turtle Beach Kone II impresses with its features, customization, and high-performance optical sensor. Throw in great software in the form of SWARM II, and it's a winner. However, the size and shape are not for everyone.

Pros

• Ergonomic shape is excellent for claw and palm grips
• Powerful optical sensor
• SWARM II software offers in-depth and intuitive customization
• Great switch and button-feel
• RGB lighting

Cons

• Not suitable for smaller hands
• Not the most affordable wired gaming mouse

Should you buy it?

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Introduction & Specification Details and Close-up

There was a time when you took a look at the gaming mouse line-up in a store or on an online retailer's site; most of the options looked like the Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse - where ergonomic shapes catered primarily to various right-hand grip styles. This is not to say that the ergonomic shape of the Kone II is archaic or from a bygone era; it's just that most mice in 2024 are compact, symmetrical, and ship with featherweight builds aimed at competitive gamers, which can be a little boring.

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The Kone II doesn't shy away from the classic Roccat Kone gaming mouse shape, combining customization, multiple buttons, thumb-rest ergonomics, and RGB into an impressive package. Roccat, the former German maker of celebrated PC peripheral hardware, is now fully absorbed into Turtle Beach as its PC peripheral arm. Turtle Beach's gaming mouse line-up comprises the latest versions of iconic Roccat designs like the Burst, Pure, and Air. On the software side, Turtle Beach SWARM II is an impressive, powerful, and modern version of the classic Roccat SWARM tool.

A quick look at the Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse

So even though an enthusiast-grade gaming mouse from Turtle Beach might feel a little out of left field, there are years of experience, design, and knowledge behind the Kone II.

History lesson aside, returning to the shape of the Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse - it's aimed at gamers with medium or large hands. The ample space and thumb rest make movement comfortable, and the side and easy-shift buttons that sit close to your thumb open the door to plenty of customization for PC gamers. It's also surprisingly lightweight for the size, partly because it's wired. If you can handle the now old-school flexi-cable mouse setup, you're looking at a powerful and affordable day-to-day driver.

Specifications & Close Up

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• Product Type: Gaming Mouse
• Product Name: Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse
• Interface: Wired, USB 2.0
• Compatibility: PC (Windows 10 or later)
• Sensor: Owl-Eye 26K optical sensor
• Switches: TITAN Optical Switch
• DPI/CPI: 26000
• Polling Rate: Up to 1,000 Hz
• Tracking/Acceleration: 650 IPS/50G
• Buttons: 10 (programmable)
• Lighting: RGB (two zones and scroll wheel)
• Weight: 90 grams
• Dimensions: Height: 43.6mm, Width: 82.6mm, Length: 130.2mm
• In the Box: Turtle Beach Kone II, Grip Tape, Quick-Start Guide

Kosta's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition
• Cooler: ASUS ROG RYUO III 360 ARGB
• RAM: 64GB (4x16GB) Corsair DOMINATOR TITANIUM RGB DDR5 DRAM 6000MT/s
• SSD: Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus-G M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 4TB, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus Plus M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 8TB
• Power Supply: ASUS TUF Gaming 1000W Gold
• Case: Corsair 5000D AIRFLOW Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX PC Case
• Display: MSI MAG 321UPX QD-OLED 4K 240 Hz
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit

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Design, Sensor, & Software

Design

Although it might not look like it, the ergonomic shape of the Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse supports several different grip styles, so it's comfortable to use whether you prefer a palm or claw grip. Adding to the comfort is the ability to use the pack-in grip tape, which is great because not everyone enjoys smooth matte finishes. Personally, the initial out-of-the-box palm grip was immediately comfortable, as was the satisfying click-feel and sound you get from the 100-million-click-rated optical TITAN Switches.

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Priced at $69.99 USD, the Turtle Beach Kone II is not the most affordable wired gaming mouse on the market; it's more of a mid-range effort where the wired nature of the build makes room for robust build quality and add-ons like ample RGB lighting. Okay, so that mini-rant about how most gaming mice are symmetrical and ultralight these days also extends to a general lack of RGB. The Turtle Beach Kone II, available in Black or White, features two sizable RGB light strips on the left and right side of the top shell, backed up by the 4D scroll-wheel's glow. The lighting is impressive because it supports gradient lighting for a more aesthetically pleasing effect.

Weighing 90 grams, the Turtle Beach Kone II is light. However, it falls short of ultralight and featherweight mice designed for competitive gaming. Moving the Kone II is effortless, thanks to the large PTFE feet on the underside, and adding a thumb rest increases the accuracy and speed you can achieve because it doubles as additional support for delicate and precise movements.

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The thumb rest also houses the Easy Shift button, which can be programmed for various things, including secondary functionality for other buttons and a DPI shift or hold when aiming down sights in a shooter. In addition, two evenly spaced side buttons are easy to access, plus two buttons underneath the 4D scroll wheel that, by default, lets you move through the various DPI settings. As for why it's called a 4D scroll wheel? That's because it scrolls and has three buttons, including left and right tilt.

Sensor

The Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse is powered by the latest Owl-Eye 26K optical sensor, which has a maximum DPI rating of 26,000 and can support settings in increments of 50. The sensor can also detect lift-off distance, which can be adjusted with software. The Owl-Eye 26K optical sensor is impressive, with 50g acceleration and up to 650 IPS tracking speed - which puts it on par with some of the most powerful gaming mice available today, especially those in its price range.

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Accuracy and speed are two components that define the Owl-Eye 26K optical sensor. This performance translates to the software side, where you can make a range of adjustments and tweaks to suit your personal preference or take advantage of the Kone II's hardware.

Software

All customization, including firmware upgrades, is handled via Turtle Beach's modular SWARM II software on the PC. This is one of those apps that intuitively guides you through its features specific to the hardware you have connected when firing it up for the first time. The interface is clean and easy to follow, too, so if all you want to do is go in and change the various DPI or sensitive settings, you'll be able to figure it all out in seconds. A nice little touch is that you can adjust the color of each DPI setting and pick and choose up to five to cycle through.

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Button configuration is also cleanly laid out with a diagram of each button, with customization split into Primary and Easy Shift modes. Adjusting is simple: select the button and then choose a function from the menu on the right-hand side of the screen. Here, you've got the choice of Windows, browser, system, and multimedia functions in addition to being able to rearrange standard mouse and keyboard buttons and keys. Here is where you can also assign Macros, with Macro creation getting its screen with plenty of game-specific functions for titles like Apex Legends, Fortnite, and Counter-Strike included.

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The Macro-side of SWARM II is one of the most intuitive we've seen, with the visual representation of key and button presses and times in milliseconds like an easy-to-follow flowchart. Other easy-to-access customization tools include Polling Rate adjustment from 125 to 1000, angle snapping or smoothing, and more. SWARM II is where you'll also find the RGB lighting controls, which include Turtle Beach's funky AIMO lighting effects that look great because the Turtle Beach Kone II features decently sized light strips.

Gaming Performance and Productivity

Gaming Performance

The Kone II's ergonomic shape is designed for all PC gamers, regardless of grip style or genre preferences. However, as mentioned earlier, the larger size makes it more suitable for medium or large hands - which means that some people might not like the width or the height. That said, weighing in at around 90 grams, it is surprisingly lightweight, and the ample PTFE feet on the underside lead to a fast and responsive glide. The flexi-cable is excellent, too, never getting in the way or noticeably dragging or slowing movement.

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In my weeks of testing the Turtle Beach Kone II, I played several games: Diablo 4, Age of Mythology: Retold, and even Valve's new third-person multiplayer shooter meets MOBA - Deadlock. Coming off of a featherweight esports mouse, getting used to the Kone II didn't take long, as I'm partial to having a thumb rest. Fast, responsive, and issue-free, the Turtle Beach Kone II is great for gaming - especially for those who like having a few extra buttons to play with. The deep and intuitive customization you can access with SWARM II adds quite a bit of versatility and depth to the Turtle Beach Kone II. Plus, it's NVIDIA Reflex certified, meaning it can accurately be used to measure and optimize system latency.

Productivity

Okay, the Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse is fine for productivity; you've got the Easy Shift button, multiple customization and Macro options, profile support, and a large, ergonomic, comfortable shape that you can use for several hours. However, even though it only weighs 90 grams, the larger size isn't ideal for laptop users. Also, it's a Windows PC gaming mouse, so it lacks compatibility with non-Windows devices. Generally speaking, if a mouse is great for gaming, it's at the very least okay for productivity - and that's certainly the case when it comes to the Turtle Beach Kone II.

Final Thoughts

The Turtle Beach Kone II might not be the market's most affordable wired gaming mouse. Still, it justifies its price tag thanks to its excellent hardware, features, and customization options. As a fan of the old-school Roccat Kone, I expected good things with Turtle Beach's follow-up and spiritual successor. What surprised me the most was how robust, in-depth, and intuitive the company's SWARM II app is on PC. Great hardware needs great software to shine, so it's worth highlighting and celebrating when the two meet like this.

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Ultimately, the biggest issue with the Turtle Beach Kone II Gaming Mouse isn't anything performance, hardware, or software-related. It's not even an issue, depending on who you are. The ergonomic shape might support various grip styles, but it's not the mouse you'd want to use if your hands are small. Besides that, it's a solid performer, with additional buttons and customization aplenty, and somewhat refreshing after reviewing a string of ultralight symmetrical mice.