ROCCAT Tyon Gaming Mouse Review

[section_title title=”Conclusion”]Conclusion

Time to wrap up my thoughts on this rather unique offering from ROCCAT, lets recap.

From a looks perspective I don’t think ROCCAT could have done much better due to the obvious logistical issues of finding a home for so many buttons. The simple shape is complimented by a choice of either a stealthy grey or a (much sexier) white version and the LED lighting really is the cherry on top, I really liked how ROCCAT implemented the lighting both in design and in software.

Ergonomically the Tyon is a bit of a mixed bag, the basic shape is pretty comfortable for me and my large hands in a palm grip but it could also be used to reasonable effect in a claw grip too. When it comes to the buttons themselves I really like the idea behind them and deeply respect ROCCAT for producing such a mouse but ultimately the side paddle and the top fin just aren’t quite right ergonomically as pressing them requires a significant shift in grip which depending on the game will somewhat undermine their usefulness. That said I still think creative users will be able to find interesting uses for them and at the very worst they don’t get in the way of normal usage if people don’t want to use them.

Performance wise the Tyon performs in line with expectations for a mouse with a laser sensor, it does the job well enough but for me it just isn’t as pure an experience as an optical sensor. I would love to see ROCCAT make more use of their excellent Pro Aim R4 optical sensor, even if they do have to do some lens trickery to keep the DPI plebs happy. ROCCAT do deserve praise for two things performance wise though and that is firstly the excellent software lift off control and secondly the very nice clicky switches behind all of the buttons.

In terms of value for money £80 is a lot of money for a mouse and given that a lot of users may find the the paddle and the fin hard to actually use effectively I think ROCCAT might be asking a little bit much for the Tyon. For those who can make good use of the features and who appreciate the awesome lighting effects and plethora of potential bindings though I think the Tyon is a reasonable buy, but I don’t think £5-7 off the price tag would go amiss.

I’ve been having trouble surmising my thoughts on the Tyon, but ultimately I think it’s a cool experiment from ROCCAT that has gone mostly right and I think a lot of users will like the unique uses they can find for the paddle and the fin. Future revisions of this design based on community feedback are something I look forward to but in its present form the best I feel I can offer the Tyon is a Silver award due to the slightly compromised nature of the use of the paddle and fin and also what I consider to be a sub par sensor compared to what ROCCAT have in their inventory already.

I’d like to say a massive thank you to ROCCAT for sending this mouse in for review, I look forward to seeing more from them in the future.

[ratings”]