INTRODUCTION

Not so long time ago I reviewed one of the most hyped SteelSeries product, the Xai, as some of you might remember. The Xai was a "high-end" mouse with a lot of features meant for professional gaming, resulting in a prize tag higher than your standard mouse. the Kinzu on the other hand, is actually a "budget version" of Xai, with reduced functionality and much lower price. Or at least that's how I see it, so let's see what kind of mouse we are talking about, shall we?


PACKAGING

The Kinzu comes in a small, black cardboard box with some plastic cover for the mouse itself. This way the buyer can see what kind of shape and size the mouse has, and might even be able to grab the shape if needed. The contents of the package is rather limited, much like with Xai. There are only two things inside, the mouse itself and a manual that tells you how to connect the mouse to the computer, and from where to get the control panel software for "advanced use". So no, no driver CD this time either.

The package is once again very basic.



THE MOUSE

The Kinzu looks a lot like Xai as you can see from the picture. There are some differences though. First of all, the Kinzu has only three buttons available (left/wheel/right) and the CPI changer button. Also, the Kinzu is actually smaller than the Xai and because of this it is very lightweight mouse. What's also worth mentioning is the ambidextrous design that makes the mouse usable by both left- and right-handed people. Let's see how the Kinzu looks like:

Kinzu's sideprofile. Looks a lot like the Xai, don't you think?


Size comparison: the bigger Xai above and the smaller Kinzu below.


Another size comparison: the Xai on the left and the Kinzu on the right.


Since we are talking about cheaper and more simple mouse, the specs are lower than with the Xai. There's no need to panic yet, "lower specs" doesn't mean "bad specs" in this case, quite the contrary. Steelseries give us the following information about the Kinzu and as you can see, the specs are rather good for a budget mouse:

Specifications for SteelSeries Kinzu Optical:
- Frames per second: 9.375
- Inches per second: 50
- Megapixels per second: 3.75
- Counts Per Inch (CPI): 400 - 3200
- Acceleration: 20 G
- Buttons: 3
- Cord: 2 m / 7,9 ft (braided to improve durability)
- Polling: up to 1000 Hz
- Lift distance: ~2.0mm
- Large pressure points that reduce friction for optimized glide
- Driverless, plug-and-play feature for LAN gamers
- Built-in memory for 3 profiles
- Measurements: 117 x 64 x 36 mm / 4,6 x 2,5 x 1,43 in
- Operating systems: Win XP / Vista / Win 2000 / Mac OS
* Configuration software only available for Windows operating systems

The most important values are of course the DPI range from 400 to 3200 CPI, polling rate up to 1000Hz and the fastest movement speed available that translates to 1,27m/s. Looks pretty standard features to me, with three built-in memory profiles too. What you might also find interesting is that the polling rates and CPIs can't be adjusted in the steps of one like with the bigger brother Xai. Also the Kinzu's sensor is no longer a laser, but instead a normal optical sensor using red light diode. Later on we'll be checking how this affects gaming and how the mouse performs, but before that let's take a look at the Kinzu control panel.


THE SOFTWARE

So you want to configure your Kinzu a bit? If so, you have to download the Kinzu software from SteelSeries site. Luckily enough, the size of the software is only 7MB and won't take that much time to download. After downloading all you need to do is to double-click the package, and install the software and you're ready to some tweaking.

As you can see, there isn't too much to configure. CPI can be selected between 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 CPI. Polling rate can be selected between 125Hz, 500Hz and 1000Hz. On top of this, you can toggle between left- and right-handedness, and finetune Windows settings (acceleration, cursor speed, mousewheel speed). There are three different profiles you can use to store the settings.

The main screen of the control panel


The options window just shows you the control panel version, Kinzu firmware version and gives you a few links to the manufacturer's site. You can also change the language from here.

The options screen.


You can toggle between the two configured CPI settings for each profile using the button below mouse wheel. Also if you keep that button pressed down for a second or two, it changes profile to the next one so you don't need the control panel software installed if you want to change between the profiles.


PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

After playing some games, I have to say the Kinzu works pretty good. It is extremely lightweight and the glides are once again SteelSeries world-class, meaning the mouse is VERY EASY to move around the mousepad. There's some side-effect too, as sometimes aiming feels a bit out-of-control due to slipperyness.

I also have to mention that when I move the mouse very slowly on my S&S, SX and eXactmat rough side, the cursor seems to behave rather erratically instead of just going to one direction, so it's basically messing up something. The effect is not too big, rather like a pixel off and so on, but you WILL notice it if you do it just like that. Other mousepads seem to work fine (SP, 9HD, 5L) and increasing the CPI over 800 seems to help. It would be a good idea to address this bug via firmware update in the future. While I'm at it, I have to say all of my mousepads feel good under the Kinzu, physically speaking of course, since the sensor has some trouble with those mousepads mentiond above.

During gaming, I noticed something strange with the Kinzu. If it turn right fast, then turn back left fast, the cursor always stops a lot AFTER the starting point. I couldn't get any proper results with the same kind of movements, so I'm guessing there is a firmware bug in the Kinzu's sensor regarding acceleration. I reduced the sensitivity ingame so that I could do a full 360° turn at some speed (32cm), then I changed the movement speed. Slower movement speed made the turn not go the full 360°, while faster movement turned the view over 360°.

About three buttons only. Well, it's enough for me in QW, but in other games I'd like to have at least one more button for my thumb. Also, the lack of fourth button can be particularly annoying if you are used to using mouse4 for back action when surfing on the internet, so the lack of fourth button has to be marked as a big minus. I also find the buttons being a bit noisy, while the scroll is actually quieter than it's on Xai (no rattling). It's more sensitive too, so here we have some improvement. And finally, since there are no thumb buttons like in the Xai, I'm not pushing them all the time like I do with Xai. Generally speaking, all of the Kinzu's buttons are ok, just slightly noisy as I mentioned above.

Finally a few words about the size. As I already mentioned, the Kinzu is smaller than the Xai, therefore it's smaller than a lot of mice out there. You can compare this to Logitech MX310 vs MX510, if you ever owned them both. Someone like me with big hands and "a grip" might not like the size. So if you like the bulky size of MX510 or similar mice, the Kinzu is probably not for you. However, if you like smaller mice, then the Kinzu is definitely worth a try.


CONCLUSION

SteelSeries has managed to create a good alternative (and smaller brother) for the Xai. Even if the Kinzu has less features and less to finetune, it's still a good product. The best part is, the Kinzu seems to cost 29-32 euros here in Finland, which is very low price for a mouse with such features and tech. The biggest downsides are only three buttons and the acceleration bug which makes the mouse a bit inaccurate at different speeds.

Let's see some highs and lows:

Pros:
+ Lightweight and good shape
+ The price of ~30 euros with Kinzu's features
+ Feels very solid and sturdy
+ Great glides and feeling on all mousepads I own
+ Easy to use control panel software

Cons:
- A modern mouse really needs that fourth button
- There is acceleration in the sensor, which reduces the pointer accuracy at different movement speeds

Overall rating: 3½ / 5

If the sensor's acceleration will ever get fixed via firmware update, one full point can be added to the final score (3½ -> 4½). If you're considering buying a budget mouse with these specifications and price, the Kinzu is worth of consideration.