ROCCAT Tyon – All Action Multi-Button Gaming Mouse Review

There is no mistaking the Tyon for anything other than a Roccat mouse with the distinctive cat icon and the Roccat name accenting the black design.  I can say from the experience using two generations of Kone mice that the logo does not wear easily even after countless hours of Battlefield 4 and Borderlands 2 game play.  Pictures like these do tend to emphasize the two tone look created by the side grip surface texture but in real life or normal lighting the color scheme is more uniform in its black tones.

Not content to group buttons around the thumb like many popular designs we have seen, Roccat has taken an innovative new approach to button design and placement.  As you can see above there are two sets of buttons on top sides of the mouse across the seams.  These buttons are thoughtfully shaped to allow you to slide your finger into the concave shape and easily identify the buttons by touch.  The may look a bit big but the size has a lot to do with finding the buttons and confidently pushing the right one without taking your eyes off the target. Roccat has defaulted the DPS toggle to the right side set out of the box.

The left side design reveals a set of three buttons arranged around a new thumb friendly indent that also acts as a thumb rest.  A set of more traditional buttons above is now pared with a new single axis paddle Roccat has dubbed the X-Celerator.  This paddle is immediately reminiscent of the throttle paddles on a good flight joystick.  That’s right, you can now control your throttle, pitch and yaw or anything that requires a tilt/lean right on your mouse.  The bottom button is reserved for the Easy-Shift [+] toggle but can be programmed for whatever. 

The Roccat Easy-Shift[+] button allows each button to perform a secondary function when the key is pressed effectively doubling key functions on the fly.  As I pair my Roccat mice with an equally capable Roccat Ryos Mk Glow keyboard I quickly remapped to melee for knifing goodness!

This angle really shows the shape of the Tyon and how the top buttons are configured.  The lean feels more extreme than the Kone but the design is nearly identical with a slightly more rounded look to the TYon.  I find it fits my palm grip like a glove.  The scroll wheel may look familiar from the Kone but that’s not a bad thing.  The Titan wheel has a 24 step cycle, 720° per second polling and a 3Kg push force to match the sure grip surface and new  programmable accent lighting.-*--/

Centered behind the scroll wheel we find the other striking Roccat innovation, the Dorsal Fin-Switch.  This two-way toggle is designed to allow mid knuckle control without adjusting your grip.  This switch may be the most polarizing new feature!  I found rocking my whole hand to be the most effective way to toggle it and have embarked on a conscious effort to use it with only marginal success.  In the heat of battle I simply haven’t retrained myself to move like that yet!