At first we would like to thank ROCCAT for offering us a sample of the Leadr Wireless Multi-Button RGB Gaming Mouse for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About ROCCAT:

 

“ROCCAT designs the best gaming products in the world. We combine detail-loving German innovation with a genuine passion for what we do. The result is a forward-looking product portfolio adaptable to the gaming trends of tomorrow. The industry-leading experiences we develop are born of a deep affinity with gaming community that we ourselves are very much a part of.

 

We achieve this by having an outstandingly talented team comprised of gamers, visionaries and industry experts. Working at ROCCAT is fun, challenging and fast-paced, with no two days ever the same. Our background in gaming reflects itself in how we work, with a strong emphasis on teamwork, communication and mutual trust. We’re all on the same mission. Are you in?”

 

Product Features:

 

ROCCAT® Owl-Eye optical sensor - unrelenting pointer precision with 12000dpi

Next-gen button layout - featuring X-Celerator analog paddle + Fin Switch

Unrivalled wireless optics - zero lag: 1000Hz polling + 20h battery

Charging dock & top-up cable - charging dock with status LEDs

ROCCAT® Easy-Shift[+]™ - button duplicator technology

Two-level RGB illumination - customizable light system, 16.8m colors

14 ergonomic mouse buttons - programmable + solid 2D Titan Wheel

32-Bit Processor - for rapid macro execution

ROCCAT® Swarm powered - comprehensive driver & software suite

 

Product Specifications:

 

ROCCAT, the well-known gaming peripheral company is continuously innovating in order to keep itself in the top positions versus the already heavy competition. One of their latest flagship products is the Leadr Wireless Multi-Button RGB Gaming Mouse which is meant to bring to the enthusiasts zero-lag operation with no wires involved, while the wireless base does also act as a charging station.

 

The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard box for a gaming mouse, which does have on the top area a presentation of the main highlights: the intelligent charging dock, zero LAG, the fact that it is using a 12K DPI ROCCAT Owl-Eye optical sensor, but we can also see a photo of the Leadr while operating:

 

 

 

As we have seen before with other models, the right side does highlight a large ROCCAT logo:

 

 

 

On the left side though, we do have an in-depth explanation of the features, including some extras such as the Next-Gen Button layout:

 

 

 

The full list of product features is however available on the back side of the box; here the manufacturer has this list translated in many other languages:

 

 

 

The bottom area though comes with the list of package contents, system requirements but also the tech specs:

 

 

 

After removing the bottom box seals, we have removed the inner layer, which was made from a custom black/transparent plastic mold:

 

 

 

Under this layer, we could find an extra foam protective layer, which did include the documentation, along with the product bundle:

 

 

 

Besides the Quick-Installation Guide, ROCCAT has also included a Disposal Information leaflet, along with a nice set of stickers:

 

 

 

The Installation Guide does explain all the mouse button locations and initial mappings, so you can get accustomed easier with the new design:

 

 

 

 

The set of stickers does have different designs:

 

 

 

Moving on to the rest of the bundle, we can see that it has been wrapped in separate plastic bags:

 

 

 

We are getting and all-black base/charging station, along with an USB cable:

 

 

 

The base station is quite compact and does not use a lot of desk space; its frontal layer is rubberized and on the lower area we can observe the battery charge indicator, along with a LED-lighted ROCCAT logo:

 

 

 

 

The Leadr battery gets charged via two gold-plated contacts:

 

 

 

In the back side of the base, we get to see the area where to insert the USB cable, but also a cable release button:

 

 

 

 

The base stand is also made of plastic and on it we will be able to spot the product serial number along with some internal factory IDs:

 

 

 

Here is how the base does look from the side:

 

 

 

As we have seen with other high-end peripherals, the included USB cable is braided:

 

 

 

The shape of the connector has been designed in such a way so it can benefit from the lock/release mechanism of both base and mouse:

 

 

 

The other end of the cable does come with a regular-shaped USB connector that does carry the product logo:

 

 

 

Now the main point of attraction, the Leadr Mouse! This particular model is packed with reprogrammable buttons, which makes it ideal for both MMORPG and MOBA gaming environments but also productivity (which does require in some cases lots of macros too). Near the so-called 2D Titan scroll Wheel, ROCCAT has placed a dorsal Fin Switch, which can be moved in all directions, for plenty of flexibility:

 

 

 

In the rear chassis area, we can find the signature ROCCAT logo, which is RGB LED lighted and looks awesome when activated; while the central top area of the mouse is rubberized, the side panels are manufactured with a rough plastic texture, for extra grip:

 

 

 

On the left side of the mouse, we can clearly spot two programmable buttons along with the X-Celerator analog thumb paddle:

 

 

 

The so-called X-Celerator paddle does allow easier control for in-game vehicles or gear that needs tilting, up-down pitch, increased or decreased throttle and many more:

 

 

 

The Easy-Shift[+] button is placed conveniently for thumb access and it is practically meant to give a secondary function for the other mouse buttons (think it as a Fn button on your gaming keyboard):

 

 

 

The left panel does also include the product logo:

 

 

 

A separate set of buttons is located near the left click button, which are programmed by default for DPI adjustment:

 

 

 

The right side of the mouse was mostly designed for resting our ring and pinky fingers, but two more buttons can be also spotted here:

 

 

 

 

On the bottom area of the mouse, we can spot several PTFE feet, a central sticker with the product serial number, the charging pins but also the ROCCAT Owl-Eye 12000DPI optical sensor lens; the sensor was built in cooperation with PixArt and was modified to fit ROCCAT’s requirements. The DPI steps are possible to be adjusted in increments of 100, from 100 to the maximum of 12000:

 

 

 

 

Here we can also spot a Pairing button with the base station, but also and On/Off switch for the wireless interface:

 

 

 

If we take part of an online gaming tournament and we have forgot to recharge the 20-hour rated internal battery, we can always plug in the USB cable to our mouse, so it can be used and recharged at the same time! A cable-lock release button is also present here:

 

 

 

 

The Leader’s LED lighting system is composed of two segments, the scroll wheel and the mouse rim, which can be configured independently:

 

 

 

 

 

We can easily place the mouse on the dock when not used:

 

 

 

When the dock receives power from the USB interface, the ROCCAT logo along with the charge indicator will light up:

 

 

 

The LED indicator will start pulsating as soon as the mouse is docked:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leadr does show its real power when configured along with the ROCCAT Swarm software suite; we have shown this piece of software before and we are talking about an unified suite, that takes care of most compatible ROCCAT gaming peripherals. The first tab from the list contains the “pinned” options, which we have chosen for quick and easy access:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we do have the Settings menu, where we can adjust the vertical scroll speed, horizontal tilt speed, the Windows pointer speed, the double-click speed, the DPI-switcher steps, but also the X-Celerator settings:

 

 

 

If we do feel that the X-Celerator is not performing optimally, we can calibrate it from inside the software:

 

 

 

 

Button Assignment is available for both regular and Easy-Shift[+] modes:

 

 

 

Different product views are available, so we can configure the left side panel too:

 

 

 

Here are the function sets we can delegate to the programmable buttons:

 

 

Macros

Hotkeys

Timer

Basic Functions

Advanced Functions

Internet

 

Multimedia

Open

ROCCAT Functions

System and OS

 

The interface does also allow for more Advanced Settings configuration such as polling rate, sound feedback for different actions, adjust the DCU, reset the settings to the factory defaults, but also work with the LED lighting system:

 

 

 

The Color Flow Effect can be enabled or disabled, depending on the effect we would like to create:

 

 

 

The LED colors for both segments can be selected from presets or choose from the 16.8 million colors bar:

 

 

 

The Profile Manager does allow us to create new sets of profiles, assign different program executables to it, or enable auto-switch:

 

 

 

The Macro setup also opens up in a new window; besides the macro sequences, we can enable functions for recording delays, setting fixed delays or repeat times:

 

 

 

While the multitude of button placement may discourage some mainstream users but also entry-level gamers and would state they will never use these or are somewhat hard accessible, this is not the case! ROCCAT made sure that the button placement is optimal and we have had absolutely no problems accessing the ones placed on the left panel with games such as Kritika Online or Black Deset Online. The sets of buttons on the left and right side of the usual left/right click buttons need some time to get used to, while the Easy-Shift[+] function button can be accessed very conveniently.

 

The X-Celerator paddle is a novelty with the high-end gaming mice, but could be seen on a previous ROCCAT model as well; this paddle is very accurate when analog control is needed such as flight simulators or simply browsing web pages.

 

Regarding battery life, this model is rated at 20 hours of use from a single charge; in our testing, we have got about 18.5 hours of use, but this highly depends on the usage model. The feature that you can charge while you game is great so you do not need to wait till the battery is topped-up again.

 

The charging/wireless base of the Leadr does have a unique look, but the rubberized frontal layer does seem to pick up dust and may show wear quicker than expected if the mouse is docked frequently onto it. We do really appreciate the battery indicator with four lines, which will give you an approximate status of the current battery charge state.

 

The unified ROCCAT Swarm software is easy to use for remapping, but also for fine-tuning the Owl-Eye 12000DPI optical sensor, which is a great SKU made in cooperation with PixArt. The aspect we did not really like is practically the single negative point regarding this product: the LED lighting and its effects that are not as smooth as we would have liked. This particular fact can be also observed from the LED exemplification video one page back.

ROCCAT Leadr Wireless Multi-Button RGB Gaming Mouse is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to ROCCAT for making this review possible!