Page 3 - Subjective Performance Tests
After plugging the ROCCAT Kain 120 AIMO in and setting up the software, I ran the mouse through our series of standard tracking performance tests. This includes normal office usage in the Windows environment as well as gaming. Some graphics work and testing were done with Adobe Photoshop. Games used in this test primarily include Overwatch, VALORANT, and League of Legends. This spans multiple genres and allows us to get a feel as to how the mouse responds in different situations. All testing was completed on a cloth surface, primarily the XTracGear Carbonic XXL, but also the Fnatic Gear Focus G1 XL. Please note these are subjective tests, but we will attempt to make it as objective as possible with our cross-reference testing methods.
Due to the shape and size of the ROCCAT Kain 120 AIMO, it is to no surprise the mouse can be held as a palm or claw grip style, though it can also be fingertip gripped if you have larger hands. I mostly claw gripped this mouse and I found this mouse to be pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to hand sizing. Those with bigger hands may find this mouse a bit small, but I thought it was pretty good. As for the feel in the hand, I did notice initially that the surface took some time to get used to because it was not the easiest to grip. Weighting wise, the ROCCAT Kain 120 AIMO weighs around 89g, which is in the typical sub-100g range that you usually see with gaming mice. This is still heavier than what I am used to with my daily mouse, but this comes down to personal preferences here. For the sensitivity range, I never went above 1600 DPI in my day to day use, and usually was around 800 DPI. While the 16000 DPI range is nice to have, I am not sure if I know many people who go this high, but the flexibility is still nice. As for inputs, I found the buttons to be placed well to avoid accidental presses. Audible and tactile feedback of the primary buttons were excellent, while the secondary buttons were pretty good. None of them exhibited any odd squeaks or shaking noises.
The ROCCAT Kain 120 AIMO is a gaming mouse, so I tested it with my games. As this mouse is a bit heavier than my daily driver, it did take a bit of time to get used to the Kain 120 AIMO. Afterwards, I jumped into game to click heads and help my team to wins. While my fragging skills are still limited by myself, but I found the performance of the ROCCAT Owl Eye 16K sensor to be excellent. This should come to no surprise, as the modified PixArt PMW3389 has always been an excellent performing sensor. Tracking moved smoothly with no signs of spin out or overshooting. Flick shooting with this mouse was also pretty easy with its relatively light body, but I would have preferred a slightly less slippery surface. The primary Omron switches held up well with ROCCAT Titan switch feeling great in all clicks. In games like League of Legends, performance held up well here with fast movements being easy to execute without accidentally losing tracking.
When checking for more technical flaws, the ROCCAT Kain 120 AIMO showed more excellent signs. Some Photoshop tests revealed small details and movements were easily picked up. Moving in straight lines showed zero signs of prediction. There was no input lag, even at higher DPI settings, and response time felt consistent throughout. There was no observable jitter, even at the highest 16000DPI sensitivity. I am glad to see the ability to adjust the lift off distance and calibrate it to your working surface. In both the "Very Low" and post-calibration custom mode, I found the lift-off distance to be pretty low, as the name suggests.
Overall, performance of the ROCCAT Kain 120 AIMO is quite excellent, though this should come to no surprise with the sensor inside. The 89g weighting is pretty good for most users, though some may be accustomed to even lighter mice. The conservative shape, medium size, and average weighting of the Kain 120 AIMO make it an accessible mouse for the majority of users.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Subjective Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
