Roccat Kova Review

Roccat Kova

Manufacturer: Roccat
UK Price (as reviewed): £39.99 (inc VAT)
US Price (as reviewed): TBC

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Roccat, it’s a German company that makes gaming peripherals. It sponsors teams in both Counter Strike: Source and World of Warcraft and aims to tread a similar path to Steel Series or Razer with its eSports-orientating wares.

The Kova is an ambidextrous gaming mouse that's been designed with an eye on simplicity - a refreshing change given how prone gaming mice are to becoming over-complicated by gimmicks. There's no screen, no fancy buttons, no configuration software and no interchangeable weights. You don't even get so much as a braided cable. You’d think then that the Kova would sport an entry-level price tag, but it's in fact £45 - the same price as mega-functional models such as the CM Storm Sentinel.

So why the relatively high price? Well, in truth, the Kova isn't entirely without gimmickry. As it's an ambidextrous mouse, forward and back buttons reside on either side of the body and as it's driverless, pressing different combinations of these buttons will change different settings on the mouse. Using these switches you can change the dpi settings, colour and flashing pattern of the LEDs, and which hand – left or right – the mouse will be used for.


The forward and back buttons which sit under your thumb are used for forward and back during web browsing; the other two function buttons are pretty tricky to reach though, so we wouldn't recommend setting them to an in-game command that you use frequently. The dpi settings can be changed between 400dpi, 800dpi, 1100dpi or 3200dpi; a decent selection that should cater for many gamer’s needs even if the Kova doesn't allow you to choose an inbetween setting. The LEDs will shine a decent selection of colours including pink, green, red and blue - but they don't denote specific dpi settings, so really are just there to look pretty.


With its small size and angular edges, the Kova isn’t the most comfortable mouse to use though. It’s not intrinsically uncomfortable, but it just isn’t as curvatious as the Razer Mamba, or even the cheaper Death Adder for example. The shape and size of the mouse make it more suited for people that hold their peripheral in the fingertip-style grip, as there’s nowhere to rest your thumb or pinky either side of the small body.

The Kova is largely fashioned in a textured plastic with tactile rubber grips at either side underneath the forward and back buttons. The rubberised surfaces are a welcome change to an otherwise plasticy body. The whole caboodle weighs just 90g, making it one of the lightest mice we've seen even if it does achieve that claim through a dip in build quality. The scroll wheel was one thing we definitely did like though, as it's about twice the size of most other wheels and has a nice rubbery finish. Between its gurthy width and grippy surface, it’s pretty hard to miss and satisfying to use.

When we were first introduced to the Kova, we were expecting the limited feature set to translate to a low price, potentially making it a good entry-level gaming mouse. The driverless configuration of the mouse is nice to see (this is just a mouse, after all else is said and done), so kudos should be handed out accordingly. However, with so many other products on the market that deliver so much more customisability for the same price, it’s difficult to recommend the Roccat Kova for any particular reason.

• Features
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• -
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• 6/10

• Ease of Use
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• -
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• 7/10

• Build Quality
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• -
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• 6/10

• Value
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• -
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• 6/10

• Overall
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• -
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• 6/10

Score Guide