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Today we will be looking at the new SteelSeries Kinzu V2 4 button scroll-wheel optical mouse in black. We would like to thank SteelSeries for providing us with a sample for review.
Features:
THE BASICS
Designed to deliver only what you need to dominate the competition.
COMPACT & LIGHTWEIGHT
Delivers a consistent performance in a compact, 4-button design.
AMBIDEXTROUS
Finely engineered shape suits all grips to ensure maximum control and comfort.
TOGGLE ON-THE-FLY
CPI toggle for on-the-fly high/low sensitivity adjustments.
COUNTS PER INCH
Scalable pointer speed up 3200 in increments of 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 CPI.
GLIDES
Featuring high performance UPE material for a low-friction glide.
DOUBLE BRAIDED CORD
Improved durability and tangle-free via its double braided nylon cord.
THE STEELSERIES ENGINE
Program your buttons, optimize your sensitivity, and create unlimited profiles.
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Specifications
The Packaging in Pictures
Angled Front
Angled Rear
Front Packaging
Rear Packaging
Kit of Parts
[page]
The Mouse in Pictures
Front View
Back View
Underneath
Braided Cable
[page]
Software
Although no software is provided with the mouse, and it does work plug and play (even the CPI Toggle button), SteelSeries do provide accompanying software via a download from their website. This comes in the form of their SteelSeries Engine software, which brings all of their devices under one umbrella type software.
Upon installation, the setup program proceeded to update the firmware on the mouse (who knew a mouse needed firmware updates?) and then present us with a view of the mouse where we could customize the 3 main buttons and program macros for them.
There is also a tab to adjust the two different CPI settings available when pressing the CPI toggle button, as well as adjusting the polling rate of the mouse. You can even setup multiple profiles and have them triggered by program launches, so you could have different CPI settings and polling rates for different games loaded automatically when you start them.
If you have multiple SteelSeries peripherals, it definitely makes for a better experience being able to manage them all in one place, without the need for multiple tray icons and background programs.
[page]
Conclusion
The first thing that struck me about the Kinzu V2 from SteelSeries, is that it is a small mouse, however it has been marketed as such with the words “Size doesn't matter. Really.” I am more accustomed to using larger mice, which you can rest your hand on, however that it simply personal preference, this is more of a finger tip controlled mouse and it does that very well.
My day to day mouse uses laser technology, and while the Kinzu V2 is “only” optical, I will be honest, the time I have been using it for this review, I do not think I have even noticed. It glides wonderfully, thanks to its proportionally massive glide pads and I have seen no cursor creeping which I would commonly associate with optical mice.
The Kinzu V2 has a very nice finish to it, the main body of the mouse has an almost eggshell feel to it, with a subtle yet stylish speckled grey colour, for our unit. From the manufacturer’s website, the mouse looks to be available in an array of colours, although they appear to be in a gloss finish.
I like the fact that SteelSeries have gone with the trend of braiding their cables, it gives the mouse a feeling of real quality, although one disadvantage I have noticed of braided cables outside the chassis is its tendency to attract dust.
Overall I think the Kinzu V2 from SteelSeries is a well thought out mouse, with a feeling of quality and some great add-on software available from their website. I do think it would have been nice to have a few more customizable buttons, although it could potentially take away the simple understated design of the mouse.
While a little pricey at around £25-30, a lot of the decision behind choosing a mouse is personal preference, so if you are in the market for a well-built mouse which is not like a brick in your hand, you cannot go far wrong with the SteelSeries Kinzu V2.
Click here to view the article
Features:
THE BASICS
Designed to deliver only what you need to dominate the competition.
COMPACT & LIGHTWEIGHT
Delivers a consistent performance in a compact, 4-button design.
AMBIDEXTROUS
Finely engineered shape suits all grips to ensure maximum control and comfort.
TOGGLE ON-THE-FLY
CPI toggle for on-the-fly high/low sensitivity adjustments.
COUNTS PER INCH
Scalable pointer speed up 3200 in increments of 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 CPI.
GLIDES
Featuring high performance UPE material for a low-friction glide.
DOUBLE BRAIDED CORD
Improved durability and tangle-free via its double braided nylon cord.
THE STEELSERIES ENGINE
Program your buttons, optimize your sensitivity, and create unlimited profiles.
[page]
Specifications
- Weight: 77 grams (0.17 lbs)
- Height: 36 mm (1.4 in)
- Width: 64 mm (2.5 in)
- Length: 117 mm (4.6 in)
- Buttons:
- Left click
- Right click
- Scroll wheel / Middle click
- CPI Toggle
- The SteelSeries Engine:
- Set custom CPI settings
- Program your mouse buttons
- Set polling rate
- Record macros
- Track button usage statistics
- Set game triggers for profiles
- Setup unlimited profiles for the settings above…
- Mouse glides Material: high performance UPE material covers 16 % of mouse bottom to ensure maximum glide. We recommend changing glides regularly as they will eventually be worn down.
- Double Braided cord:
- USB 2.0 connector
- Anti-tangle braided cord for enhanced durability
- Cord length: 2 meters (6.5 feet)
- Operating systems compatibility:
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Mac OS X
- Optical Sensor:
- Frames per second: 3600
- Inches per second: 65
- Mega pixels per second: 3.7
- Counts per inch: 400 – 3200
- Maximum acceleration: 30 G
- Sensor data path: True 16 bit
- Lift distance: ~2 mm
- Maximum polling: 1000 Hz
The Packaging in Pictures
Angled Front
Angled Rear
Front Packaging
Rear Packaging
Kit of Parts
[page]
The Mouse in Pictures
Front View
Back View
Underneath
Braided Cable
[page]
Software
Although no software is provided with the mouse, and it does work plug and play (even the CPI Toggle button), SteelSeries do provide accompanying software via a download from their website. This comes in the form of their SteelSeries Engine software, which brings all of their devices under one umbrella type software.
Upon installation, the setup program proceeded to update the firmware on the mouse (who knew a mouse needed firmware updates?) and then present us with a view of the mouse where we could customize the 3 main buttons and program macros for them.
There is also a tab to adjust the two different CPI settings available when pressing the CPI toggle button, as well as adjusting the polling rate of the mouse. You can even setup multiple profiles and have them triggered by program launches, so you could have different CPI settings and polling rates for different games loaded automatically when you start them.
If you have multiple SteelSeries peripherals, it definitely makes for a better experience being able to manage them all in one place, without the need for multiple tray icons and background programs.
[page]
Conclusion
The first thing that struck me about the Kinzu V2 from SteelSeries, is that it is a small mouse, however it has been marketed as such with the words “Size doesn't matter. Really.” I am more accustomed to using larger mice, which you can rest your hand on, however that it simply personal preference, this is more of a finger tip controlled mouse and it does that very well.
My day to day mouse uses laser technology, and while the Kinzu V2 is “only” optical, I will be honest, the time I have been using it for this review, I do not think I have even noticed. It glides wonderfully, thanks to its proportionally massive glide pads and I have seen no cursor creeping which I would commonly associate with optical mice.
The Kinzu V2 has a very nice finish to it, the main body of the mouse has an almost eggshell feel to it, with a subtle yet stylish speckled grey colour, for our unit. From the manufacturer’s website, the mouse looks to be available in an array of colours, although they appear to be in a gloss finish.
I like the fact that SteelSeries have gone with the trend of braiding their cables, it gives the mouse a feeling of real quality, although one disadvantage I have noticed of braided cables outside the chassis is its tendency to attract dust.
Overall I think the Kinzu V2 from SteelSeries is a well thought out mouse, with a feeling of quality and some great add-on software available from their website. I do think it would have been nice to have a few more customizable buttons, although it could potentially take away the simple understated design of the mouse.
While a little pricey at around £25-30, a lot of the decision behind choosing a mouse is personal preference, so if you are in the market for a well-built mouse which is not like a brick in your hand, you cannot go far wrong with the SteelSeries Kinzu V2.
Click here to view the article
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