Drivers

The driver suite for the Kinzu is very basic, but you still have the option to load up to three profiles onto the on-board memory in the mouse.

Performance

The Kinzu is a proper gaming mouse clearly aimed at FPS gamers who do not demand a bunch of buttons or sophisticated light systems. During the course of my tests I found that the optical sensor in the Kinzu does a brilliant job both when it comes to tracking and lift off distance. On most surface the lift off distance is around 2 mm which is a little higher than what you can achieve with a modern laser sensor. For the price the Kinzu does a brilliant job, at around € 30 this mouse sets the benchmark. Button wise this mouse lacks a bit, since it has no side buttons you lack a button or two both to ease navigation in Windows, but also for those games where you control vehicles like for instance the Battlefield Series games. The scroll wheel is the same as that featured on the SteelSeries Xai mouse and it works just as well in the Kinzu as in the Xai. Sometimes the tactile feedback seems a little weak which is a little annoying especially in FPS games if you use the scroll wheel for weapons selection.

The optical sensor in the Kinzu seems to yield coherent tracking under all circumstance, I tried it on pretty much all kinds of mats and I was never able to force it to do negative acceleration or any other oddities. Interestingly enough the sensor seems just as capable at 400 DPI as at 3200 DPI which is nice and gives you a lot of options sensitivity wise.

Ergonomics are really good, however, I personally enjoy the Xai a bit more due to the fact that I have long fingers and use a palm type grip. If you can live with the relatively small size and the lack of side buttons then the Kinzu is a bargain at approximately € 30. The driver is not the best ever devised, but has enough configuration options in order to suffice. One thing I did find a little annoying is that the Kinzu has a profile button on top, but no LED like on the Xai that lets you know what mode you are in.