Steelseries Kinzu Review

[BlessingLies]

im going to buy a mouse, but im between xai and kinzu, i know the big difference is the tecnology about laser and optical, off course the price too, but i need to know what else to take a decision, please answer, i have a zowie spawn mousepad. XAI OR KINZU?? for cs

[takasta]

@BlessingLies knizu v2

[Steelchamp060]

Just a heads up, if you have a cloth surface, this mouse drags alot.

[takasta]

@Steelchamp060 it depends on the mousefeet that you apply on them, but over time mousefeet do wear quite a bit on cloth pads generally

[Steelchamp060]

@takasta My mistake. I didnt know I had to download anything into it from kinzu, all I got from amazon was the mouse and no upgrade at all. I found it last night and set it to 800/500hz and 6.5/11.

[Steelchamp060]

@Steelchamp060 Ops, hit the enter button, but it works well now but you are right there needs to be more of a "hump" feels way to flat. Nice review.

[SkylineOwnz]

@takasta this may be a weird question, because I have an old mouse. But I've tried razer mouses and I really like the click of the buttoms... like the razer abyssus. Is the steelseries mouse clicks similar to the razer?

[incubated]

i hated the ikari so much. the left click was overly sensitive and the right side ergonomics made it damn awkward to lift. pretty soon, the buttons started clicking multiple times. i ordered it from steelseries site too. felt like they tried to pawn off some defected products.

[vanja4006]

Beter Abyssus or Kinzu ?

[mrCiHs]

Mamba? I would like to see that

[KaizerNail]

if you're going to do a review, you might as well scribble down some relevant talking points, and at least try not to say "like" so much.

[sayhai]

you talk alot....how bout the button and the function...how much is the dpi/cpi??

[LeFrigirator]

your hand is hilarious

[takasta]

@LeFrigirator um - that's nice haha

[cswao19]

@takasta The way you handle .. yeah i agree with @LeFrigirator , i dont presume but are you gamer too?

[takasta]

@bentood aparenlty that it's coming out soon and I can't wait to review it :)

[miguels008]

@takasta kinzu v2!? :) link me please!

[Crokodile5]

@miguels008 it's coming at the beginning of 2012. maybe at february.

[Svedn]

@takasta is v2 the red one?

[asa9595]

g500 or kinzu which one betteR?

[takasta]

@asa9595 two very different mice - kinzu for smaller hands, rts , g500 for bigger hands and more ergonomic

[MrWhaTHeck]

HEY!! i really need help. im deciding between the kinzu and the razer abyssus. i wonder which is better? i mean, kinzu have the braided cord which i really like, as it wont cause much friction and all, but the razer abyssus looks better and it has a 3.5G sensor( i not sure what that means though.) REALLY looking forward to ur reply! and btw, ur video's awesome

[toxictwig1]

@takasta I have a medium sized hand, not too small, not too larger. I am very confuse in wheather i should buy the Ss kinzu or the razer deathadder? I tried the both of em and unable to decide ;-( please help me .

Sory for bad english.

[takasta]

@toxictwig1 i would suggest the Xai :) - if the kinzu is comfortable go use it haha, but I would personally suggest the xai out of all of them

[Jipzorowns]

@toxictwig1

well you're gonna get used to the size of the kinzu. However, the kinzu has horrible accel and prediction. :)

[ibzmav]

why mirror a video?

[Steelchamp060]

You prefer any kind of mouses that are the same size of the Logitech lx3? You think this would be a good mouse? Thank You

[estiloSerbiano]

Hey people i heard there are two versions of Kinzu, r8 and r18, and that bugs on r18 are fixed inclouding acceleration...anyone can tell me more about it ? thanks

[N1koL492]

I play with mose fix,Do you see much difference in acceleration?

sory for my bad english :/

[TutorialThis]

right now im using a microsoft optical i like it cuz it fits my small hands..the razer da sucked for me i hated it it gave me hand cramps and pain and it was a pain in the ass to click...i want this because its small has a good sensor and simple

[prabhbhambra13]

just saying the plural of "mouse" is "mice" not "mouses"

[xbry89x]

is this video mirrored? you say right when you use your left and you say left when you use your right o_o

[takasta]

@xbry89x yes it is mirrored! haha well spotted

[SoulReaper599xx]

u wont get acceleration on the kinzu of u set it as 1600 cpi and 1000hz report rate.....

i play CS n bought kinzu r the time being...my settings

1.ingame sensitivity 1.8.

2. 1600 cpi on kinzu.

3.1000Hz report rate.

4. kinzu windows sensitivity 2/11.

yes even i experienced acceleration..but after trying out various setting cmbinations...at 400cpi and at 1600cpi i didnt encounter acceleration...plus i used windows registry edit to disable system acceleration adn also use "noformaccel" in CS 1.6

[SuperPaulBoy]

best mouse in the world. i just bought it. very nice i recomend it :)

[Jipzorowns]

hey, is it just me or in counter-strike 1.6 it's just waaaay harder to control your spray with a kinzu, in comparisation with other mice. Seriously I can't control that spray, feels like im shootin with rubber lOl

[19WinChester92]

I love smal mice <3  :D

[h0rnytoad1]

what does the triangle button do ? is there a back and fwd button like on most mice for browsing?

[takasta]

@h0rnytoad1 it's an on the fly DPI switch, usually between a high and a low DPI. You can config the DPI though

[lexlazootin]

@h0rnytoad1 it blows up the mouse when your done with it.

[Franchan10]

I heard there was acceleration built into the mouse.

Any opinion on that or have you experienced it?

[takasta]

@Franchan10 apparenlty slight negative acclereation, i'm not too sure though cause i don't have the mouse anymore

[DragonforceSCGS]

Hey, takasta. Another question here: didn't you have any double-click while single-clicking problems with the kinzu(or other SS mice) very early? I got my kinzu just 2 days ago and it startet randomly double-clicking yesterday on polling frequencies of 500 and 1000 hz. However, with 125 hz everything seems to work fine. If yes, did the steelseries support tell you something about it?

[takasta]

@DragonforceSCGS never really encountered that problem so I can't really answer that

[machinori]

OK, we got it, this mouse is a bit small for your claw grip, but other than that, you didn't say much about how it performs. For example, the review doesn't say anything about how the buttons feel while clicking, or how smooth is the tracking or what kind of software is included and how much is it customizable. There is also a lack of comparison to other models in this class. Nice presentation though, hope to see part 2.

[takasta]

@machinori yea... i made this review about 1 years ago... long time - don't have that mouse anymore. but... the tracking is pretty decent, although apparenlty there's some negative acceleration - you can test that and tell me :)

[TutorialThis]

im getting this mouse i have the deathadder and it is highly uncomfortable with something with small hands...this mouse is small so it fits small handers better...and if you have big hands you can probably claw

[takasta]

@TutorialThis yea if your hands are relatively smaller, the kinzu is a fair buy. if you feel the kinzu is slighty too small like most of us, then try the xai. the xai's doing a 10year anniversary sale as well so it's slightly cheaper than before

[beautifulmollies]

@takasta Forget the Xai. It skipped on every surface that I tried. It's not for fast FPS games.

[SuperSuperspore]

Razer Deathadder or steelseries kinzu?

[takasta]

@SuperSuperspore deathadder

[faRReSHO]

@takasta why>

[takasta]

@faRReSHO kinzu is a little bit too small for me - sensor apparenlty has issues with acceleration, but i haven't checked on that yet. however it is very well built. the deathadder, is different as it is ergonomic. personally i prefer it over the kinzu

[MUHKehrin]

@takasta Steelseries Xai or Kinzu ?

[AZNxC]

Kinzu or deathadder

[viztavideoz]

@AZNxC DA

[szafto]

I just got this mouse. It feels very weird, like inconsistent movement (accelerator thingie is off) also when i played crysis 2 it felt like the mouse "skipped pixels" when i was for example aiming/shooting and following a moving target

Note that i don't know what skipping pixels really mean but it felt something like that. Could it be that i'm just not used to the mouse?

I had a logitech mx518 before.

Cheers!

[takasta]

@szafto skipping pixels means that if your mouse is moving smoothly, and then suddenly, it jumps forward and accelerates all of a sudden and slows down again "skip", therefore casuing inconsistencies in movement.

[szafto]

@takasta Do mouses do this or the monitor? I'm probably just not used to the mouse XD

Also does the mouse have any acceleration? It feels kind of bit inconsistence

[takasta]

@szafto mice do this. can't remember about acceleration, shouldn't have. but you can correct me if i'm wrong :)

[Urkeee95]

best mouse pad for kinzu ?

[takasta]

@Urkeee95 most cloth mousepads are a safe bet! haha

[Urkeee95]

razer abyssus or ss kinzu ?

[takasta]

@Urkeee95 kinzu

[KASTOREL]

at 3:58 you mixed up the hands :D

[takasta]

@KASTOREL if i remember correctly, i recorded this vid in reverse so my hands should be accordingly mixed up as well haha

[takasta]

yea, i would advise to get it haha

[bood3e]

im thinking of buying it, performance mx is bad for gaming and Egidra uses this mouse

[DragonforceSCGS]

Just one question: is it true that this positive acceleration of the kinzu will bother a high-sense RTS gamer less than,say, a low-mid-sense FPS-gamer?

[takasta]

@DragonforceSCGS not necessarily haha - at least i don't think so

[TheAdventuresofRL]

I grip my mouse like you, and since this vid is like 2 years old, i was wondering what mouse you use now. I was thinking of getting a G9x, because i use like a semi-claw grip, but i'm afraid it'll be too small.

[takasta]

@TheAdventuresofRL i use the xai / deathadder / ie 3.0

[MadCrokodile1]

@TheAdventuresofRL buy steelseries xai!

[RyN2iX]

wait.. is the kinzu have less noise when u click it? pls reply :) i hate mouse clicks thats why.. bothers the heck out of me..

[takasta]

@RyN2iX um pretty standard noise - not less in particular. if you can't stand it, then you pretty much can't use 90% of the mouse out on the market haha

[RyN2iX]

@takasta oh damn. i see. thanks for your reply :) haha i know right? i have to deal with logitech m305 wireless mouse. its ok cause it has less noise. the sucky part is its wireless. u have to deal with batteries :((

[Sufr1r]

I think that I've pretty big hands and I'd like to replace my MX518. It gets too damn dirty and it's giving me problems with the surfers.

I thought that I could buy some Kinzu, but like I said, I think that my hand is pretty big -- if so, which gaming mouse should I get? It's for SC2 and TF2.

[jamaika112]

i have a hand just a little bit smaller than u :D p.s im 15 years old .. so should i buy kinzu?:) cuz i really like this mouse :)

[takasta]

@jamaika112 go for it! haha

[123vietcong123]

what about the mouse accel?? i think i has positive

[Orzenera]

@123vietcong123 the mouse has negative and positive accel. I personally don't mind the positive accel, but the negative accel makes me go crazyyyyyyy!!! i hate it.

[Orzenera]

This mouse is absolutely amazing, in size, shape, weight and everything except the sensor... I do have fairly big hands, but im a clawgripper so small(ish) mouse is perfect. Kinzu shape and size, love this!!!

complains: The sensor sucks balls!!! Im actually one of the few gamers that prefer POSITIVE acceleration (this means that slow=slow -- fast= faster than supposed to be)

BUT the thing that annoys me is the NEGATIVE acceleration (superfast movement on pad = superslow on screen)

[Orzenera]

@Orzenera actually, when i put in 400dpi the acceleration disappears... but thats kinda stupid to buy a gaming mouse and use 400dpi...

[Nclshadow2]

okay sorry didnt whatch the whole video before writing my comment i know now :D

[Nclshadow2]

sorry for this stupid question its just that i have bad english. So does optical mean that it has a ball in the midlle in stead of the laser?

[jamaika112]

can any1 tell me which is the difference between kinzu OPTICAL and xai LASER ?? the difference between optical and laser?:| idk what mouse to buy now.. kinzu or xai :D

[stN89]

@jamaika112

The Xai uses a Laser Sensor to detect mouse movements versus the optical sensor of the Kinzu. Xai can reach higher DPI levels because of the Laser sensor, and it has side buttons. The design of the Xai is also longer than the Kinzu, which means it's better for people who have average-large hands and enjoy palm grip.

Kinzu is a smaller mouse with less features, but is a solid mouse for the price. The Xai is almost double in price but offers more.

[technomegabit]

@jamaika112 do you play fps or rts?

if rts, kinzu, if fps, xai

Optical won't track above the mousepad, but laser does

[BluEN1111]

razer deathadder ftw

[rymann2k10]

What mouse do you recommend for big-handed dudes ?

[takasta]

@rymann2k10 ie 3.0 - habu

[TheStrongRazor]

does kinzu have acc , and how it can to exclude if there is ?

[Proxiiter]

@TheStrongRazor Yes there is, there is a bug i think with the firmware that you can't disable, im not 100% sure. You can either use Mousefix (from FPSBanana) OR installing drivers and put settings for the mouse, but after you've put em up you uninstall them. Im not sure what works and what not, this is just what íve read.

[takasta]

@fbcfullskill i'd recommend the kinzu

[Yates94]

it's MICE you numbnut! Other than that, decent review.

[Baron1397]

Which mouse is better? SS Kinzu or x7 x-718BK?

[DISSIDENTVIP]

mx 518 or g5 , ms 3.0 - nice : )

[thissuckssohard]

Gosh, stop saying 'like' for LIKE THOUSAND TIMES!

[sanSNAI]

does it have movement prediction?

i love the fact that intelli mouse 3.0 does not have that but i want a smaller mouse

[01ehaja]

nice review... what do you think of intelli mouse 3.0 ?? is it good? 

[takasta]

@01ehaja check out my review on my channel on the intelli mouse 3.0

[alien4sd]

@01ehaja Intelli 3.0 is so slow... but good mouse i have it...

now I won't buy SS xai...

[wildnest1]

@alien4sd Obviously since it uses 400 DPI.. Any mouse that i buy i always use 400 DPI because on most mouses, at 1800 dpi and VERY LOW sensitivity, i get ALOT of negative acceleration. At 400 DPI, there is no positive or negative acceleration nor skipping. No wonder why 3.0 uses 400 DPI, since it's made for gamers

[JooHaxDemoTaken]

why do people say mouses? The name comes from the small furry rodents...If you saw 2 small furry rodents running across a room you wouldn`t say there goes 2 mouses would ya? lol

I just find it funny..no offence intended!

[Soadboy1337]

great review

[Wolf3nStein]

Your video is on steelseries website under products-> Kinzu mouse.

[takasta]

@Wolf3nStein haha sickness!

[siciliano211]

Ikari optical or Kinzu? PLEASE HELP ME!!! Takasta great review! :)

[takasta]

@siciliano211 big hands ikari optical - small hands kinzu

[siciliano211]

@takasta Thank you Takasta. I'm gona buy Kinzu. Again THANKS ALOT MAN! :)

[Mak1392]

@takasta what about Xai?i wanted to buy a mouse and am having doubts either to buy Kinzu or Xai...halp?:x

[takasta]

@Mak1392 i did a review on the xai you could go check out - if you're not strapped for cash go get the xai

[aycicegi1]

Hi,

My hands small ,kinzu like perfect for me but all people says it is so light if u touch it can fly. Please help me what is the truth ?

[takasta]

@aycicegi1 i'ts not exaclty flying though - if you have small hands, it shoudl be a pretty good weight. it's actually not that expensive anyways so i'ts worth trying if it's good for you

[austinwangg]

Um does this mouse work just on hard table?

[takasta]

@austinwangg no it works on all surfaces

[vinh291]

mice!

[0neweak]

mouses...? hehe

[tomatobros]

They steal ms wheel optic body :D

[destinyboom]

Does this feels comfortable when using the palm grip?

[MadCrokodile1]

@destinyboom not really, i use kinda between of palm and fingertip style

[Jotgut]

Question : I am using a bigger mouse atm ( a4tech x7 ) and i do that claw-gripping thing too :D now i plan on buying intelli 3.0 or kinzu but im affraid it would take some time to get used to them. So should i go for bigger ones or try the ie or kinzu

[takasta]

@Jotgut if you're going bigger mouse - go ie 3.0 for sure, kinzu is just too small for my own liking haha

[Vi0LaToR1]

fingertip mouse > all

[NearCry]

@Vi0LaToR1 agreed

[codseriesftw]

can i have quick answear, would you recommend kinzu for player who plays FPS games? My old mouse is the legendary LGT G5.

[takasta]

@codseriesftw the kinzu would feel very small in your hands. If you liked the g5, go to the g500 shoudl be pretty good. Or try the xai. My fav for FPS would still be the ie 3.0

[masterbenjamin]

uhmmm, quick questin, and i need a quick answer, is the ikari optical smaller, and in which case, is there any notable difference between the two of them?

[takasta]

@masterbenjamin the ikari optical / laser is the same size - much bigger than both the kinzu and the xai

[89MTN]

LOL ihave the kinzu and i love it!!! its the perfect mouse for me its very accurate , KINZU IS THE PURE PRECISION FOR ME

[luxjason]

ecellent, i'd enjoy it so much more if u didn't use the word 'like' so much. seriously, u must be aware of how much you use that word. it's incredibly irritating and makes u sound dumber than you are. if you hvaen't fixed it already work on it

[Jv4n5e]

-you are doing the claw grip wrong

-9000 fps = 9000 times per senond

-the extra skatez are only when you are running out of glide or when you want to change your lift off distance

-that review doesn't help at all, doesn't tell anything new.. you just glided it with different mousepads and tell us about your other mouses but didn't tell about the tracking you experienced, just about your "thoughts" if we can call it that way

[Jv4n5e]

dude, you have a serious trauma between grips..

btw, you are doing the claw grip wrong

[TehincNick]

unfortunately this mouse is doomed coz it's sensor has problems performing at 1600 dpi, and as far as I'm informed steelseries is either unable to fix it (might even be a hardware problem). I greatly, greatly advice noone to buy this mouse till steelseries fixes the scipping bug at 1600dpi - though I have intell that there's not going to be a fix.

[8xstasy8]

@TehincNick but is there any problem with lower dpi? 800 for exemple?

[TehincNick]

@8xstasy8 technically, no - although some users (including me) are having problems with pixel skipping, meaning instead of moving over every pixel, it jumps 2 pixels in the moving process as opposed to the massive jumps at 1600dpi.

I would also strongly advise anyone to think twice about supporting steel series by buying a faulty product, even if you might not have problems running at 800dpi. Take your purchase decision seriously.

[kaitje12345]

I have been using a DA for a long time now. and i have pretty small hands. I play fps games like quakeworld, quakelive, painkiller, etc. with my hands i am forced to play with a palmgrip, because that gives me more control over the mousel. the downside to this is that i dont have any fingertip control, so i cant move the mouse using my fingers. a smaller sized mouse can provide me of this. I also play with pretty low sens, so i just need more movement and i think the kinzu can give me that.

[StupidRockersDK]

Is this better than a Standard optical mouse?

[takasta]

it's just the different sensors that the mouse uses - first of all i like the kinzu because of its shape, also the tracking on this mouse is defintely better than regular optical mouses

[StupidRockersDK]

@takasta Allright, this one or Razer Salmosa?

[Nimro89]

Is the razer salmose or the steel series kinzu better?I am using the Salmosa at the moment and am thinking of hving a change.

[takasta]

the knizu is pretty cheap anyways so its worth just trying it out haha

[stenudden]

Dude? are U a lefty?

[takasta]

nah, i just filmed it in reverse haha

[00000Milkshake]

@takasta

Then why are you holding the ikari backwards?

[takasta]

@00000Milkshake i accidentally filmed it in reverse

[GeneticRealityFilms]

..this is not a mouse for MMO players its made for FPS players, it doesnt have multitask functions or extra buttons. i prefer this mouse over razer because razer use the toenail design and is horrible for shooting guns rapidly, this design is perfect. so if you play Counter strike, cod or quakelive. Then this is your mouse and is 35 bucks on newegg

[MrGreatness562]

where can i buy the Kinzu, can i go to gamestop or bestbuy and buy it in store?

[GeneticRealityFilms]

some Bestbuy locations if not Newegg

[razattack1337]

(continued)

the mouse worked on it better than my steelseries S&S, better than razer destructor and razer exactmat (only 3 mousepads I could test on).

The 9HD really seems designed for use with the XAI mousefeet.

I didnt like my IE 3.0 with the 9HD (using hyperglides mouseskates), but I like my IE 3.0 with a razer destructor and steelseries S&S.

[razattack1337]

(continued)

I had to switch my profile using software only. I dont know if its a bad mouse, I tried it on 2 computers without any other mouse drivers installed and the profile would not change using the mouse LCD.

This defeats the purpose of this mouse, its marketed as driverless. I'm returning this mouse and will let you know if the exchanged one still has the same problem

If not then i'll gladly replace my IE3.0 with it. Oh i'm using the 9HD mousepad, the mouse worked best on it.

[razattack1337]

I received my XAI today. First good points.

- VERY evenly distribted weight.. great

- SMaller mouse meant more precise aiming, only had to tweak my fingers for precision vs my wrist on a larger mouse (mx 518 or IE 3.0), I hope this makes sense.

Tested it in game vs bots in counterstrike. Felt a lot more precise than the other 3 mice listed above, more headshots etc on bots. Maybe its just more suited for me?

Anyways the bad is switching profile using the mouse DID NOT WORK.

[KWAuld]

Hey Takasta, I was interested in picking up a kinzu but I wanted to know about the lift off distance.

Can you please measure the lift off distance with CD/DVD's (1.2mm thick) on cloth and hard mouse pads? For an example if the Kinzu still tracks at the height of two DVD's but stops tracking at three then the lift off distance is 3.6mm.

If you have time please measure this for myself and others.

[StinkyChad]

should i get the kinzu to replace my deathadder?

[takasta]

if you like the size of the deathadder, no.

[NearCry]

the kinzu is not worth getting to replace a deathadder.

[MYMAnarchy]

@NearCry I'm gonna tell ya that is definetely comparable to the DeathAdder. Gonna get that soon to compare with the DeathAdder 3G I've just received a few weeks ago

[NearCry]

kinzu isn't a good pick until they fix the mouse prediction, and they don't seem to be planning on that

[MYMAnarchy]

Yeah. Thanks for reminding me that.

Maybe I'll have to think carefully before comment.

Well, tell me what kind of mouse and keyboard you have now?

[NearCry]

i use the diamondback 3g because i'm a fingertip gamers ( used the salmosa for a while as well and i like it but i need side buttons )

for keyboard i use the razer lycosa. i got it to replace my G15 and i'll never go back

[MYMAnarchy]

Absolutely. Lycosa is great, but I like the Tarantula :P.

Gonna buy the G13 Advanced Gameboard

Well. That's what I'm aiming now.