When it comes to a mouse for my setup, I know what I like, and when I find it, I tend to stick with it for a while. I had recently switched to the Corsair M75 when my Orochi V2 took a turn for the worse, so I thought I was set in the mouse department. Boy, was I wrong. The Turtle Beach Kone II Air became available, and I loved the look of it, so I figured I’d try it out to see if I had found a new daily driver.
Taking the Kone II Air out of the box is as easy as you like, with no excess packaging in the way. In the box, you get the mouse itself, a USB-C to USB-A charging cable, the dongle, a USB-C to USB-A dongle adaptor, and some grip tape. Pretty standard stuff, apart from the dongle adaptor and grip tape, and that’s where Turtle Beach really pays attention to detail. The grip tape is especially useful, as I’ve had previous experiences where fingers slip off the mouse buttons in intense in-game moments.
What I wasn’t ready for was how lightweight the Kone II Air is. Weighing in at just 110g, it’s a bit heavier than what I’m used to with the Corsair M75, but the weight is spread over a larger surface area, so the difference is negligible at worst. Without the need for AA or AAA batteries, Turtle Beach is able to keep the weight to a minimum while maintaining the reliability you’d expect from the battery.
Speaking of battery, let’s talk about the battery life of the Kone II Air. According to Turtle Beach’s website, the Kone II Air will get up to 350 hours via Bluetooth connection and up to 130 hours of battery life via the transmitter dongle. In my testing, I was able to get about 120 hours of battery life from the dongle, mainly because I forgot to turn it off on a few days when I shut down for the day.
When testing the Bluetooth battery capability, I was blown away. Over 300 hours of battery life and the ability to keep one of my USB-A ports free? Sign me up. I experienced no issues with connection or input delay, which speaks to the quality of the Kone II Air. At the end of the day, I still prefer to use the dongle, even if it means sacrificing a USB-A port and charging the mouse a bit more frequently.
“…the Kone II Air will get up to 350 hours via Bluetooth connection and up to 130 hours of battery life via the transmitter dongle.”
As for the buttons, the Kone II Air features Titan Optical Switches to ensure crisp input and is rated for over 100 million clicks, so you’re sure to get the most out of the mouse. A built-in pre-tensioning system also helps ensure that none of your clicks are missed and your response times remain as low as possible.
If you’re anything like me, you like to find a DPI setting that fits and stick with it. I generally sit at the 1600 DPI sweet spot, which gets me through most of my office work and gaming without any issues. When I need to crank it up to make sure I’m not getting snuck up on in CoD Warzone or surrounded in Once Human, the DPI button next to the scroll wheel lets me adjust it without using any software.
With a DPI capability of up to 26K, there’s a setting for everyone. For fun, I cranked it up to 26K and immediately lost my cursor for the next five minutes because it was literally all over the place.
“I cannot recommend the Kone II Air enough to anyone who wants a reliable, lightweight gaming mouse that has a battery that can last for weeks at a time.”
As for the physical design, the Kone II Air is damn near perfect. The ergonomic shape allows me to rest my thumb when it’s not clicking either of the two side buttons, and there’s an Easy-Shift [+] button on the bottom half of the thumb rest that expands the usage of the Kone II Air’s seven buttons to 21 customizable functions. Built for medium to large hands, no other mouse has ever fit my hand as well as the Kone II Air.
As I mentioned in my Corsair M75 review, I’ve really been loving the white PC accessories lately, and the Kone II Air is a gorgeous specimen. The RGB strips on either side of the palm rest are clearly visible when the mouse is in use, and the scroll wheel lights up with the same pattern. On the underside of the mouse, you’ll find the toggle switch to turn the mouse off, connect via the 2.4GHz dongle, or connect via Bluetooth, and there’s a slot to store the dongle when not in use. However, without a cover or snap to secure it, I worry the dongle could get lost if one isn’t careful.
As for software, the Turtle Beach Kone II Air utilizes the Turtle Beack Swarm II app on your computer. Simple and easy-to-use, the Swarm II app allows you to change up your DPI settings, map your button functionality through the use of macros (43 of them built-in, and you can import your own as well) or however you want to do it yourself, and set up to 5 different profiles.
During my time with the Turtle Beach Kone II Air, I have had exactly zero issues and nothing but good experiences. Even when it comes to price, for what the mouse provides, there’s no better option for a daily driver in the office and then on the battlefield later that night. Speaking of price, the Kone II Air is priced reasonably at $159.99 CAD. I cannot recommend the Kone II Air enough to anyone looking for a reliable, lightweight gaming mouse with a battery that can last for weeks at a time.
