Roccat Burst Pro Air review

The Roccat Burst Pro Air is the best wireless gaming mouse that the company has put out in a while. With a distinctive design, excellent performance and beautiful lighting, the Bust Pro Air has a premium look and feel. But the device costs only $100, which is not that much, as high-end wireless gaming mice go.

What sets the Burst Pro Air apart from similar peripherals is its low-profile chassis and striking RGB lighting, which don’t look quite like anything else on the market. The device doesn’t have many notable drawbacks, either. The software doesn’t work as well as it could, but it’s still usable; the almost-symmetrical design isn’t quite as ambidextrous as advertised.

Otherwise, however, the Burst Pro Air is a strong choice for any PC gamer who wants a reasonably priced wireless gaming mouse. Read on for our full Roccat Burst Pro Air review.

Roccat Burst Pro Air review: Design

What sets the Roccat Burst Pro Air apart from most other wireless gaming mice is its appearance. Wireless gaming mice tend toward two categories: the big and bulky (such as the Logitech G502 Lightspeed) or the compact and lightweight (such as the SteelSeries Aerox 3 Wireless). At 4.9 x 2.2 x 1.5 inches and 2.9 ounces, the Burst Pro Air is on the smaller end of the spectrum, but not aggressively so. Its low profile and mostly symmetrical design may also be selling points to gamers who have no interest in exaggerated ergonomics.

Due to its smooth, streamlined chassis and light weight, the Burst Pro Air is comfortable to hold and use for extended gaming sessions. My only issue here is that Roccat advertises the Burst Pro Air with a “symmetrical shape for comfort and performance.” This claim is almost true. However, the mouse isn’t truly symmetrical, offering two thumb buttons on only the left side of the mouse. This won’t do much good for left-handed players, who may have been hoping for a truly ambidextrous design.

Right-handed players, though, will probably enjoy the Burst Pro Air’s intuitive button layout. On the mouse’s face, you’ll find a left button, a right button, a clickable scroll wheel and a dots-per-inch (DPI) sensitivity adjustment button. On the left side of the mouse, you’ll find two thumb buttons. It’s a simple design, but it works well, and everything feels spaced out appropriately.

Roccat Burst Pro Air review: Features

The Roccat Burst Pro Air runs on the Roccat Swarm software, like most Roccat gear. This program has had something of a mixed reputation at the Tom’s Guide office. When it’s firing on all cylinders, it works well enough. However, the program often doesn’t download or install updates correctly, leading to a lot of confusion the first time you set up a new piece of hardware. After that, you can use Swarm to reprogram keys and customize profiles, although doing so can feel a bit cumbersome.

One area where the Burst Pro Air and Swarm absolutely excel, though, is in Roccat’s clever AIMO lighting system. For those who haven’t tried it, AIMO automatically adjusts RGB lighting in Roccat peripherals depending on what’s on your screen at the moment. Since the Burst Pro Air has a variety of complex honeycomb lighting patterns, both on the top and the bottom of the mouse, AIMO can create some positively mesmerizing patterns. You can also set solid colors or more traditional rainbow options if you can’t take all that excitement, though.

Otherwise, the Burst Pro Air’s wireless connectivity and battery both work quite well. You can connect the Burst Pro Air to a computer via either a wireless USB dongle or Bluetooth, and both protocols are easy to set up. 

Roccat Burst Pro Air review: Performance

I tested the Roccat Burst Pro Air with Age of Empires IV, Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077 and Final Fantasy XIV, and found that the mouse worked well across the board. Since the Burst Pro Air is a small mouse without many extraneous buttons, it’s not optimized for any particular genre. 

But I had no trouble controlling medieval armies, gunning down demons, talking with quest-givers or finding parties for dungeon runs, even when I played for hours at a time. The Burst Pro Air parsed my commands quickly and correctly, and my hand never felt tired or cramped.

Roccat Burst Pro Air review: Battery life

Roccat says the Burst Pro Air can last for up to 100 hours on a charge, although that’s with no lighting and Bluetooth. Practically speaking, though, you should still be able to get a few dozen hours between charges, and you can continue to use the mouse while you recharge it via an included USB-C cable.

Roccat Burst Pro Air review: Verdict

The Roccat Burst Pro Air is one of those delightful gamin picks, thee’s a little bit different from the rest of the crowd. It’s smaller and lighter than you might expect, but not small or light enough to be off-putting. It has just enough buttons; it looks pretty with the RGB lighting active; it performs well with just about every game genre. While the software isn’t perfect and the design could be just a tiny bit better, those are hardly dealbreakers.

If you want something lighter among our best gaming mouse picks, the Logitech G Pro X Superlight weighs almost an ounce less than the Burst Pro Air. Likewise, if you want something cheaper, you could go for the Corsair Harpoon RGB Wireless — although you’d be sacrificing some features, too. The Burst Pro Air might just win you over, though, if only because it’s a little off the beaten path.