Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile Rapidfire Mechanical Gaming
Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile Rapidfire Mechanical Gaming Keyboard (Cherry MX Speed Switches: Linear and Rapid, Per Key Multi-Colour RGB Backlighting, Aluminium Chassis, QWERTY UK Layout) – Black
DYNAMIC MULTICOLOR PER-KEY BACKLIGHTINGMulti-color RGB per-key backlighting, now brighter than ever thanks to redesigned low profile keyswitches.
” data-position=”triggerHorizontal” />VOLUME AND MULTIMEDIA CONTROLSControl to adjust audio on-the-fly, without interrupting your game.
” data-position=”triggerHorizontal” />CHERRY MX LOW PROFILE RGB REDFast 1.2mm actuation
” data-position=”triggerHorizontal” />| Weight: | 1.08 kg |
| Dimensions: | 43.8 x 16.8 x 2.9 cm; 1.08 Kilograms |
| Brand: | Corsair |
| Model: | CH-9109018-UK |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Corsair |
| Dimensions: | 43.8 x 16.8 x 2.9 cm; 1.08 Kilograms |
I have never used a mechanical keyboard before, so I decided to take a chance on one after my older keyboard had severe ghosting issues when it came to gaming. After just a few hours I am incredibly satisfied and impressed with both the general typing experience and its performance in games. I can not understate how nice the keyboard is to use, it is very tactile and each key has a nice click. The lighting is not too dim or bright and the multimedia features are solid. It has a volume slider, mute and pause and playback for video.
The only (incredibly minor) complaint that I have is that the wiring they use to connect the keyboard to the PC is a little on the short side, but I doubt most people will have an issue with it. I do not know how this keyboard compares to other mechanical keyboards with a similar price point, but as someone who has only ever used membrane keyboards, this has been worth the eye watering price so far.
Solid design, with satisfying click on actuation of the keys, RGB lighting with profiles, and brightness levels, allows me to sync with other RGB components using ICUE
Used mainly for gaming and general usage, and it is really nice so far. I don’t have a bad word to say about it and it is worth the rather high price.
The keyboard itself feels amazing, extremely responsive, and looks great. Unfortunately however, I’d rather spend 3 hours banging my head on a solid steel wall than use the ICUE software for even 3 minutes. It really does bring down the premium feel of the entire product as a whole (although this seems to be the case with most lighting software that companies produce these days).
The CORSAIR Gaming K70 is a fully mechanical gaming keyboard with CHERRY MX Red key switches, contoured FPS control keys, key-by-key customizable backlighting, and full key matrix anti-ghosting with full key rollover on USB.
The K70 might have an aluminum frame, but I can already confirm that the keyboard is not waterproof.
The K70 might have an aluminum frame, but I can already confirm that the keyboard is not bulletproof.
We’ve replaced the EVGA Z-12 with the SteelSeries Apex 3 TKL as our pick for the ‘Best Cheap Gaming Keyboard’. We’ve also made several minor changes to our phrasing in several entries and added several special mentions of full-size versions for some of our existing picks
Some exclusions apply. The CORSAIR K70 RGB MK. 2 SE is a premium mechanical gaming keyboard built to last, with silver aluminum frame, CHERRY MX Speed keyswitches, white PBT double-shot keycaps and stunning per-key RGB dynamic backlighting.
You can click on the “Instant Lighting” tab at the top and you will get 11 color options (including black, off) to quickly change any RGB Corsair device. The options consist of popular, satisfying colors.
While durability has come a long way for our everyday gadgets, liquid damage remains one of the biggest issues for computers and laptops. Even if you’re careful with your devices, one spill or environmental mishap can cause damage to your computer’s internal components.
CORSAIR Gaming Classic K70 Full 104-Keys Set.
I HOPE COSAIR CAN MAKE A BULLETPROOF AND TROLLPROFF KEYBOARD. Thank you.
I swapped a Ducky keyboard for the K70 Pro and am enjoying the size difference. The Cherry Red MX switches are fast and responsive. Great overall build quality. At first I noticed a ping sound within the aluminium chassis but now I don’t hear it. Excellent keyboard and very happy.
Was looking for a keyboard replacement, as my old cherry mx blue board had started double pressing some keys after many years of hard service. I wanted a full size replacement without macro keys and cherry mx blue switches. This fits the bill perfectly, and I got a good deal on an open box item via Amazon warehouse.
My only minor complaint is that because of the metal
backplate the keys make a metallic noise when bottomed out, it’s not too intrusive and you soon get used to it though. I’m sure you could dampen the noise with some light modification if it really bothered you.
It’s a very nice keyboard, the keys roll of your fingers like butter when typing. I also like the media keys and volume control and the (UK) layout plus the USB port on the back (though you need two USB ports for this to cover that too). I have no need for the colours but do switch them on at night sometimes.
It is quite loud for a shared office I would say but that’s what you get with mechanical keyboards. Also, this is a Corsair thing, but the F-key row sinks down lower than the row of numbers key beneath it, and so if reaching for an F-key I found it easy to accidently press the row below it too, hopefully I’ll get used to that.
Looks nice and nice to type on, the keys are very sensitive, amazon needs to package things better tho as wasn’t in a box so could have been easily stole
The version I was shipped was UK and has the double-row height Enter key. Please note, this keyboard requires a USB 3.0 port or hub – I suspect mainly for the potential high power draw.
The keyboard is comfortable to use, very responsive and positive in operation. However, I would think twice about buying this keyboard if you are a touch typist or will use it mostly in office environments etc. as unlike ‘standard’ 10x key PC keyboards, there is no 1.5cm gap between the top row of the alpha keyboard section and the row of function keys and I have found I tend to catch the F11 or F12 keys when I reach for the backspace key: not a dealbreaker, but may be frustrating for some users.
Another difference between this and ‘standard’ 10x keybards is that, confusingly, the ‘shifted’ characters such as the percent sign assigned to the shifted 5 key, are all printed BELOW the numbers on they key tops rather than ABOVE, which can be rather confusing to start with, but they still work as normal i.e. you have yo hold down the SHIFT key to type a percent sign.
Although the second USB A plug is stated to be purely for USB pass-through and need not be connected if it’s not being used, when I connected a USB power meter in series with the ‘keyboard’ plug, the current drawn by the keyboard was 0.4 amps at 5 volts – about what I’d expect with all LEDs on. However, when I plugged in the ‘pass through’ USB plug into an adjacent USB 3.0 port, the current through the ‘keyboard’ port fell from 0.4 to 0.1 amps even with nothing plugged into the pass through port on the keyboard, clearly indicating that the ‘pass through’ lead is sharing the current load, so I leave the ‘pass through’ plug connected at all times.
As for programming the LEDs and macros etc, the sky is almost the limit as there are many, many permutations you can set up, but be aware that only three ‘profiles’ can be saved onboard the keyboard for use say on a different PC without the iCUE software running. If you want more profiles available, you will need the ICUE software to be running on the PC.
And here was where I had the problems: I have to say the iCUE software is not the most stable or user-friendly software I have ever used. Stability leaves something to be desired but to be fair, many of the problems and frustrations I enountered were down to unfamiliarity with the iCUE software as it is such a comprensive, powerful package that has to do so much: and this to me, is its Achilles Heel. It tries to be such a master of all Corsair (and iCUE aware) hardware that it ends up being too ‘top heavy’ and about as user friendly as a cornered rat for the novice to use – mainly because there is such a steep and long learning curve. There are some excellent instruction videos on Corsair’s Youtube page, so familiarise yourself with these before and when attempting to use iCUE to configure the keyboard, and with some perseverance and logic, impressive results can be obtained; but be patient and make sure your brain is fresh when using iCUE and with patience and perseverance, some amazing lighting effects can be achieved.
Overall, a superb keyboard for gamers and those like me who like having illuminated keys (which can be useful on very gloomy days as it saves having to put the room lights on in order to see which keys you’re pressing) but I can’t honestly recommend it for serious typists or technophobes. A horse for a specific course I think.
Corsair don’t mess around; they make solid products that speak for themselves, without frills or nonsense.
This keyboard is sturdy, with gorgeous RGB lighting and cherry keys as advertised. I’ve used mine for a year and it’s in perfect condition still. It feels like it will last a lifetime.
I keep the keyboard in rainbow mode, where the colors shift with a nice pattern.
Overall is a good quality, though for fast typing – I use it for both work and gaming – it can occasionally happen that a key is repeated twice (reason for the 4 stars).
It quite configurable with the iCue software and allows you to create macros and define the lighting you prefer.
This keyboard is great for general typing, and for gaming.
If you’re using it for both, however, don’t use the FPS or MMO keycaps, because they’ll make general typing a little tougher, due to them being a little thicker. They get in the way of a touch typist’s flow.
The Corsair iCue software is a breeze to use, and once set up, it just works.
The build quality and weight of the keyboard is perfect. No flaws found so far, and the wheel to adjust volume feels solid and smooth.
Typing is absolutely fine. I use this with CherryMX Reds and another Corsair keyboad for work with Browns. If you’ve no idea what key caps you want, start with Reds. (the main difference is how hard you have to hit the keys. Reds are easy, the rest are harder) Daily driving both reds and browns for years now, I’ve found I prefer Reds due to how little force they take by comparison.
This does have the same issues as a K95 though. The iCue software still only ever works when it feels like it. This is a problem across all Corsair RGB stuff (Particually Ram weirdly, but its all kind of dodgy.) You will eventually get bored of faffing / reinstalling it and just forget it had RGB all together. If you’ve got an 8 year old you may want to shop around for a different RGB system that ‘works’ (spoiler they’re all pretty bad)
It also has a palm rest that while I find it essential… Its basically held on with wishful thinking rather than a carefully designed robust latching mechanism. The rubber its made from also blemishes almost instantly. Literally in the time its taken to write this review you can see where my sweaty gamer palms have been on the rest from it being brand new out of the box.
Be careful lifting the keyboard to clean it, if anything will break the paper towel strength clutch it uses to hold the palm rest. Lifting it up will.
Other than that it’s a fantastic keyboard, identical to the K95 I’ve daily driven for many years. Just a shame they’re not waterproof >.<
so first things first the wrist rest matches and isnt black like it looks in the picture. keyboards good quality as you would expect from corsair both me and the wife have the k70’s i do have an issue with 1 that theres sometimes double key presses and the volume wheel does get stuck turning the volume up/down but corsair offered me a replacement what i declined as its a minor issue and not worth the rma
This keyboard is good but not without some really annoying faults and issues.
The issues you may not mind but i do.
THE BAD THINGS:
You should expect doubleshot ABS keycaps atleast on a 150 keyboard but NO,
The keycaps are NOT double shot but instead are cheaply painted which i have noticed have started to scratch off with use.
Once scratched, you cannot but and more premium keycaps because the stabilizers are in different places and are not in the usual place. They are slightly off center so you cant put any other keycaps.
The switches (MX Speeds) are great but are prone to fail. My W key has a click when i press it but it isnt too noticable to hear or feel but can get annoying as you pay for linear switches.
The wrist rest is NOT rubberised/soft touch as advertised but is instead cheap, scratchy, brittle plastic.
THE GOOD THINGS:
The aluminium backplate is really premium feeling.
The USB Passthrough is usefull if you need to plug something in quickly.
It feels nice to type on and is quite comfortable as it is ergonomicaly designed.
ICUE is really good software and easy to use.
Easy setup
Media keys are in a great place.
Nice looking keyboard
If you need a corsair keyboard, I would recommend just getting the standard K70 MK2 or even the K70 MK2 TKL with MX speeds. Those have a lot less problems. I wish i knew about these problems before i payed 150 for this keyboard.
Well made, robust keyboard with handy wrist rest. However :
The shifted characters are below the number keys not above them, weird
The keys are not very bright
The RGB software keeps resetting the colour style every time I reboot. Have to reset my chosen style every time.
Worst feature as a gaming keyboard is it has incredibly noisy key taps. The whole family complain that they can hear them all over the house. I would not recommend for gaming as spamming the keys creates such a racket. However I wouldn’t pay an extra 40 for the ‘quiet’ version.
So first of all I have upgraded from a 20 AJAZZ keyboard (which was still in good shape even after 3 years of use), so for me I can really tell the difference in quality, someone that’s switching out a equally priced keyboard may have different opinions. First impressions out of the box were very good, all caps were still on the keyboard and pressing down on the cherry mx red switches felt really good. I should of probably purchased the cherry MX box to test all the varieties of switch you can buy but these suit me just fine. Tested it out on Apex Legends and it felt really good, reviewers have complained that the keys are a bit spaced out for them but I didn’t find this at all and I don’t have hands like shovels, I could still hit the CRTL for slides without issue. The K70mk2 ships with some grey tactile keys for gaming (WASD etc) , which I will put in when I get a mo. you also get a wrist rest which seems o.k. but probably best suited for marathon productivity tasks than gaming. The aluminum brushed metal looks excellent and matches the creative Katna soundbar which has the same style metal
The RGB is more than impressive and customization is as big as your imagination is. Personally I had I-Cue already installed for my RAM, mouse and mobo, so it was a pleasant surprise when out of the box it loaded my 3rd party matrix profile from wallpaper engine. Now I really want to get some quality Corsair fans so I can sync everything through I-Cue, as ASUS Armory crate is hot garbage, they recently did a major update which made things worse. The colours it produces are vibrant and in the dark, look amazing
Another cool feature is the scrolling sound wheel, I can now adjust the sound on my creative katana without having to reach forward and operate the switches another time saver is the mute button which is right next to the volume scroller.
I do have a couple of cons with this keyboard but nowhere near enough not to recommend it. Firstly if the power switch is on, on my PC, then the keyboards RGB doesn’t shutdown. My PC is shutdown but I use it to charge LION 18650 batteries when I’m working, so that is a bit annoying and didn’t happen on my cheap AJAZZ. Secondly it doesn’t have any dedicated macro keys but I knew this when I brought it and I can always program some alternative keys if I want to play some MORPG’s. In summary I recommend this keyboard, it feels like a huge upgrade.
It’s a very standard UK keyboard layout (hence the ‘average’ score for Ergonomics) without too many extra things to get in the way (media control & volume controls are present and nicely unobtrusive). I generally prefer laptop style (very low profile) keyboards so this was the closest thing to really low profile that I could find with the right features and it works just great for me. The switches are fast and silent (that doesn’t mean it’s a silent keyboard as you still hear the tap of the keys bottoming out unless you type very carefully – it just means that the switches under the keys don’t make a click when activated/pressed) and the RGB lighting is bright (and adjustable) with nice rich colours.
While Corsair’s iCue software is available for both Microsoft and Apple operating systems (and I have used it without issues on Windows7/10 and Mac) it is a little bit weird in operation. It does the job though. Support for Linux is a bit more tricky – the keyboard works just fine of course but the software to drive/configure the backlighting is a bit old and clunky.
Overall though, it’s a good solid keyboard with dependable switches and pretty lights and that’s exactly what I wanted.
Firstly, I initially ordered this from Amazon Warehouse “like new”, but the keyboard I received was faulty. It was like someone was pressing every key on the keyboard simultaneously and my PC was going crazy as a result. So I ordered a new one which worked fine. Just a heads up on buying returned electronics. They don’t seem to be tested beforehand. To be fair though, Amazon customer service is great when this kind of thing happens and if you’re lucky you could end up getting a great deal.
As for the product itself, this is my first mechanical keyboard. I came from a Microsoft Sidewinder X4 keyboard which I’ve had for many years. It took me a few days to get used to this new one as the keys are so sensitive. This is understandable considering these are speed switches, but after that initial break in period I’m now typing faster than I was before. Some other reviews mention that they make lots of typos and this will probably happen if you are someone that rests your fingers on the keys with any kind of force at all. I have to emphasise how little the keys need to be pressed to activate them. So keep that in mind. For me it’s great.
I also like the low profile aspect of this. I was fortunate to be able to try the full sized version of the K70 as my dad has one, and I wasn’t a fan of how tall the keys are. The low profile keys allow my wrists to stay a bit more neutral which is more comfortable for me. The wrist rest is plastic but has a nice slightly rubberised texture on it.
For gaming, it’s great as well. With the keys actuating so easily it’s not tiring on my fingers at all. Another improvement over my old keyboard.
I find the software perfectly fine as well. It lets you customise the colour of every key, and to save 6 profiles. That’s 3 software profiles (which can be used only when Corsair’s iCue software is running) and 3 hardware profiles which are saved to the onboard memory of the keyboard. That’s nice for people don’t like having additional software running in the background all the time.
Bought this to replace my STRAFE, and they’re almost identical keyboard apart from the fact that the top keys (escape, F1-F12 etc) are a smidge lower, there’s a volume wheel which is very handy, and there’s no edge to the backplate. No edge on the backplate makes this keyboard infinitely easier to clean, because it can’t actually get stuck under anything but the keys – just pop the keys off to clean and you’ve got full access.
If you’re buying because you want to upgrade from Cherry MX Reds to Cherry MX Speed Silvers, I’d say don’t bother. In comparison, typing is just flat slightly more difficult as its much easier to mis-click letters on the way due to the lower actuation height, same for mis clicking in-game. The lower height doesnt really affect click speed though, so there’s no reason to get Speed Silvers these instead of MX Reds.
As a benchmark, I can type about 90-100 wpm on MX Reds, and after a month of owning this I’m about 5wpm slower just because mis-types are more common.
Same keycaps as my old STRAFE, and those wore out on the common letters to be illegible within 2 years, so I dare say the same will happen with these too.
TL;DR
Easy to clean, MX Silvers are ok but MX Reds would be better, no major complains.
Spent several weeks into researching which keyboard to buy, since it was my first real investement into one. Prior to this, was always the “cheap and cheerful” sort of motto. I put in enough hours into this research that I went from “oh pretty colours” to “oh that one has red cherry switches but the other one has MX silent switches so its going to be quieter”. To resume, could not recommend more if you are looking for a premium gaming keyboard that is not gonna be obscenely expensive, its very quiet despite it only being low profile Cherry MX speed switches and it feels premium through and through. [If key quietness is one of the main aspects you are looking for in a keyboard like it was for me]
I use it for both work and gaming hence the added Numpad and why I didn’t just go for a TKL version, works wonderfully and both scenarios.
Only little tiny aspect I would say is less good, is the space bar. The switch is quite small compared to the key so it causes it to be a bit looser than the rest of the keys due to its size. But again, does not hinder my opinion and love for this keyboard.
5/5 would recommend it and buy it.
These keyboards are very satisfying to use, they give a nice deep bounce, and loud click which is exactly what I like, I actually have 2 of these, one for my gaming machine and another for work, And they are great.
Only slight niggle I have had, and its happened on both of the keyboards in normal use, is that the keyboard rest seems to shift slightly somehow and ride up and make the lower left ctrl key get stuff from time to time, this is obviously annoying when it happens, but its only happened a few times, the metal chassis gives a premium feel, and with icue you can pretty much do whatever you want with the led backlit keys, the volume roller on the top right is also really useful and smooth, the through USB port on the back of the keyboard is also great for plugging in headset or mouse, overall great keyboard, but PLEASE BEAR IN MIND ITS QUITE LOUD, this probably wasn’t the best choice for my work PC, but I love it anyway.
Firstly, the first impressions with the keyboard I had is that that it’s build quality straight out the box is clearly superior to other keyboards I’m used to seeing. The keyboard has some weight to it as the frame is made of aluminium which feels premium compared to the majority being made from plastic. This is instantly reassuring as it feels like it’s built to last and makes it feel that the money you’ve spent is justified. In addition, the thick cabling gave me the same impression being made of the fabric type material. Again, it just feels premium.
Importantly, the switches feel great and miles better than a membrane keyboard. Of course, the feel of the keys here will differ depending on what model you have picked. Personally, I chose the Brown Switches as they are almost like a hybrid between the clickily Blues, and the quieter Reds. The Brown switches are not overly loud, and they also have that slight tactile feel when you pass the actuation point where your key press is registered which makes it easy to know when your inputs are being read. If you want something smoother, go for the Reds, Speeds, and Silent. If clickiness is your thing, then Blues are the way to go. Regardless of the switch, this keyboard performs extremely well. While using it, I have managed to increase my words per minute when typing up by about 35. So, for productivity, this is absolutely worth it. The same applies to gaming, the keyboard is just very easy to use.
There are also other additional features included with the keyboard, one being the textured and angled keycaps. These keys are designed with gaming in mind and include the usual WASD keys with the addition of F, R, Q, E, and an extra W and D. Personally I wouldn’t say the texture on the keys really add extra grip, however they are angled so your fingers do sit on them comfortably when gaming. I’ve found you can leave these keys on when typing and they don’t interfere with anything. Furthermore, a keycap removal tool is included to correctly replace the keycaps, and to take the keys off to clean user them easily. Moreover, there is a plastic wrist rest included to keep your wrists flush with the height of the keyboard. This does the trick, but it doesn’t quite feel as well made as the rest of the package as there is no real padding, but it’s not uncomfortable.
Other features to mention would be the volume wheel and the mute button. After using this for a while it makes me think who inconvenient it is to not have one of these, especially when listening to music and watching videos where volume levels need to be adjusted often. One small con with the wheel is that it will rarely move by itself up or down a notch. This isn’t a big issue and doesn’t cause problems but thought it’s worth a mention. Another notable feature would be the USB port on the back. This is ideal for connecting your mouse to and makes cable management easier.
Lastly, the RGB lighting is controlled by the Corsair iCUE software which gives you endless options to customise the lighting on the keycaps. There are plenty of preinstalled settings, however you can get really creative and make your own. Your settings can be saved and switched though using the profile button at the top left, as well as changing the brightness with the brightness button without opening iCUE. A small issue I’ve noticed with the lighting on by keyboard is that it malfunctions slightly (this has only just started a year into using). When using the setting that lights up your keys as you press them, I’ve noticed keys I’m not pressing to light up slightly, and when the whole keyboard is lit up in a rainbow RGB wave, a couple of keycaps don’t chance to the intended colour correctly. This isn’t very noticeable, but again worth noting the keyboard hasn’t been 100% flawless for me.
Overall, this is a brilliant keyboard and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone. Hopefully this review helps you in your decision.
Corsair have taken everything that made the Mk1 great, and improved upon it in many ways. The font lettering is bolder, which allows for more light bleedthrough on the keycaps, making for better illumination, The build quality is still outstanding, there’s now a dedicated profile switch button, there’s USB passthrough, cable managing tunnels, and last but not least, a light-up Corsair logo! Best of all, the software makes this a plug-n-play experience (If you’ve previously owned a K70 RGB), just plugged straight into my main PC, and the software applied all my lighting, macros and profile settings that I’ve been using on my Mk1 K70 RGB.
I, along with my many friends who also use K70 RGBs, completely swear by it. I honestly cannot recommend this keyboard enough, it is the best bang-for-your-buck in the market of mechanical RGB keyboards
My first mechanical keyboard. Initial impressions are positive, but be warned: once you go mechanical it’ll be difficult to go back to membrane keyboards (they will feel like mush). In terms of gaming: Blue is pretty good. The keys do feel a little heavy, and might wear your fingers out after a while so I would get one with the actuation force. The brightness is satisfactory: in a well like room it doesn’t stand out too much and in a dark room it doesn’t blind you (there are 3 light levels). Ergonomics are fine: it’s a standard keyboard so nothing amazing but there are some replacement keys for FPS and MMO gamers, however I personally couldn’t stand them.
In terms of OS compatibility, it works in Linux and Windows and it has 8MB of storage onboard allowing you to store 3 profiles (you will need to set these up and save them to memory on iCue in Windows though).
This is my very first mechanical keyboard after the Corsair K30 – a cheap but solid membrane keyboard. I had a choice to make, either this or the Pro Apex. I chose this mainly because it was on sale at the time (110) and this was actually the highest rated keyboard generally across the internet for a couple years straight too. I didn’t need macro keys as I never used them in my previous keyboard at all so I decided to stick to this Corsair K70 instead of the K95. If you do need the extra macro keys, I’d recommend you get the K95.
I tried the Steelseries Apex Pro at a friends house and each key press on it felt beautiful – the keyboard itself looks so clean and professional. The little OLED screen is a nice little personalized touch but for a solid 200 I couldn’t bring myself to buy it. This K70 was half the price for me and the deal was just too good to pass up, though I can see why you would want to buy the Omnipoint switches on the Steelseries.
Cherry MX is a respected switch maker amongst some other brands so you should feel comfortable with the K70, though BE CAREFUL as the blue switches have some quality control issues. Also, before buying look into whether you want a “linear” or a “tactile” switch.
The software for Corsair RGB works well (unlike the Razer Chrome stuff.. stay well away for your own good, trust me) and it feels good to use. I’ve given it a clear 5 stars. I’m more than happy at the discounted price I got it for. Just know you can literally build your own keyboard for cheaper but if you just want a good quality, straight up plug-n-play keyboard without all the hassle, I can easily recommend this. If money is no object and you don’t mind experimenting to find your “true” actuation depth, go for the Steelseries Pro Apex.
Hope this helps. If you found this helpful, please hit the “HELPFUL” button below. It’ll really help me too. 🙂
I love this keyboard; it’s used for my gaming PC and the construction is only matched by the software. The mechanical keys sound and feel great to use, the palm rest is comfortable for me and can be detached, I like having the use of a keypad, the volume and media controls are a nice quality-of-life improvement, the cables are firm, threaded and durable, and allows for a USB passthrough, so I have my little bluetooth dongle in the back of the keyboard. After almost a year of usage, I cleaned it out, which was a long – but easy – process thanks to the keycap puller included.
Corsair’s lighting / control software – iCue – can be a little unintuitive at first. You create lighting or macro assignments and *then* assign them to keys, rather than click your key and then set what you want to do. It’s predicated on the idea of building up a ‘library’ of lighting sets and actions and then re-using them. Once I got used to it I can use it pretty fluidly, and I really like the results. I can set keypress reassignments or macros (for example, I set some buttons to ‘toggle’ an action on and off rather than hold), and colour code my keyboard lights depending on game to act as action reminders – blue keys are movement, red keys are attacks, yellow keys are user interface, et cetera. Profiles can be assigned to applications and the colour change over between active applications is instant.
The only complaints I would have is that some darker colours, like browns and dark reds, don’t show up very well. The media control keys cannot be removed with the keycap puller, meaning they are the only keys that can’t be cleaned so easily (but are also, because of how they’re built and infrequency of use) less likely to receive dirt, and that it is very difficult and buggy to assign lighting ‘hardware profiles’ that get saved to the keyboard itself; however, this only effects you when you are just starting up the computer before iCue starts, or using it on a computer without icue.
Overall a great keyboard made better by great software.
So in my search for a new keyboard my goals where to get one with back lighting and better ergonomics. I am not particularly interested in RGB so plain white would have been enough.
And then I ended up with the Corsair K70. Why you might ask? Well I have read and viewed so many reviews of cheaper back light keyboards but there were always compromises: not full size, having back light but still poor ergonomics, poor driver support or quality.
The Corsair K70 keyboard solved all of these things: the back light is really good and it can be adjusted with the touch of a button. I really love the button that can turn off the windows key (so no more sudden return desktop in the heat of a game), it has full media buttons with a solid feeling volume control rod (?). The keyboard software take a bit to get used to but after that you can program every button to whatever colour you prefer and to swap you just have to press one button. This is great for games or programs where you want to highlight the important keys.
Then we get to the point of the feedback of the keys and the build quality. This is absolutely brilliant and I regret not moving earlier to a much higher standard before. The keys give proper feedback but the sound is not overwhelming.
All in all I highly recommend this keyboard; you will not regret it 🙂
I decided to go for this keyboard for two main reasons:
1. I wanted a wrist rest (The wrist rest accessory for the K68 has been out of stock for a good while now and I couldn’t find on anywhere else).
2. I wanted a quicker response switch for the fast pace games I play – My reaction time is not the best, so the quicker switches allow me to react quicker than I could before.
To keep this review short, here is my list of pros and cons of this keyboard:
Pros:
1. Great RGB (no need to download software) – there is a built-in selection of RGB modes but if you want more customisation you have to download the iCUE software.
2. Switches are quick and responsive
3. Sturdy build – no flexing when pressing down on keys
4. Included textured keycaps (WASD) and keycap removal tool are a welcome addition.
5. Volume wheel – Is great for quickly adjusting the volume
Cons:
1. Sharp corners
2. Personal one – some of the keycaps had fallen off in the packaging – they were pressed up against the switches – luckily neither the keycaps or switch were broken and this was most likely down to poor packaging and inspection.
In conclusion, I found this keyboard to be great for my use case. The typing experience is also great with a good amount of space between the keycaps. If you are in the market for some quicker switches then this keyboard is the one for you.
At the end of the day, the most important thing to consider when buying a keyboard is to consider the switch type and what you personally like – if you can, it is recommended to physically try each of switches in computer shop so you can get an idea of the switch for you.
Best ever. What Oscar says. Though he ended up preferring the Logitech G815, which I sent back and got this instead. The G815 couldn’t do white or yellow!! This does all the colours perfectly. Only quibble I’d like it to go abit brighter. Lovely sound not at all loud. Lovely feel to keys.
Before this I had a Steelseries M800 which I thought couldn’t be beaten, well this has done. I bought a corsair mouse and pad and have ICUE going. Ohhh lovely. Just need a new case with some ICUE fans..yes please!
EDIT two years later and still going good. Still wish lights where brighter and also I do love the look of the Roccat Vulcan (I’d prob buy that one now to be honest) Oh I also have Corsair Case, Mouse, Pad, CPU cooler and Memory which all lghts up with ICUE. So looking cool. That’s a big issue if I want to go for the Vulcan.
ANyway well recommended
The price is reasonable too, not exorbitant like Razer’s keyboards but still high-end. I’m new to the mechanical keyboard market, so I’d be lying if I said that I could give a comprehensive review, but for my first one, I’m definitely impressed and this will be staying on my desk for a long time.
However, it’s hard to ignore this issue I’ve had with it — there’s a volume wheel issue which keeps the volume stuck at either 100 or 0. Originally, I thought it was only a one or two-time thing, it’s happened a few times after, which is really annoying and means that I have to unplug and plug the keyboard in again. This may only be a problem with my keyboard, but I’d definitely watch out for it should you pick one up for yourself.
Other than that, I really can’t fault this. It’s excellent.
well this is more a keyboard for typing … i got the blue cherry switches one … than for gaming, and for typing i find it really great, for playing games a more linear switches would be better, but you can game like this without problems if you dont mind the actuation force of 45g … the build quality is great, sturdy, made of great materials, what i miss for instance is a easy calculator button that i had on several previous keyboards (i mean i could just use a key bind, but a one button solution would be more convenient, true, the K95 has G keys, but as they are on the sides and not on the upper part of the keyboard, they would probably interfere with me whilst typing, so i rather chose this keyboard)
the only thing i really disliked was the iclue software, too big, eats too much ram for what it does, doesnt offer that much options … for me its just rubish for controlling RGB
Haven’t had any problems with the iCUE software (atleast for the keyboard, my mouse and headset from corsair are a little different story.) First mechanical keyboard I’ve owned so I can’t really compare it to any other brands/models but I’m happy with what I’ve got. Found myself using the media keys a lot more than I’d expected, makes life a lot easier when you don’t have to alt tab to pause or skip a song.
Also have to say it’s quite a comfortable keyboard to use; I use the included wrist rest and despite the short activation force for the keys, the weight of my rested hand doesn’t accidentally push down on any of the keys which was a big worry of mine buying the cherry MX speed switches.
Overall good purchase, not having to bottom out on your key presses is something crazy to get used to coming from a membrane keyboard but I definitely won’t miss that. Also, aesthetically it couldn’t really get much better. Brushed aluminium is done perfectly.
Purchased this because I wanted a mechanical keyboard with decent switches and a bit off heft to it.
As with all Corsair products it comes well packaged in a distinctive and colourful box, included with the keyboard where some extra textured keys for first person shooter and moba games plus a key remover.
I was immediately impressed with the quality of the keyboard – from the weight of it to the chunky braided cable and the way it lit up when first plugged in.
You will need to install the Corsair iQue software to manages the illumination side of things – this takes a bit of getting used to but provides a lot of options. You can basically set every key to the colour you want if you so desire. Plus you have a bunch of light effects.
Tbh I’m not sure how you would get any typing done if you had the full fireworks display of colours going – far too distracting.
I have just set a few accent colours. You can have a few different presets too depending on what you are doing.
The keyboard has a usb pass through which I plug the single for my wireless mouse into.
I really like the audio controls a really nice tactile roller for volume plus play, pause etc dedicated keys.
The keys themselves have a great tactile feel as you would expect from cherry.
My one complaint is the decision to put the shift character label underneath the main character label – I mean why do this? I can’t understand the reasoning 99.9% of the worlds keyboards have the shift character over the main, why do this it’s just confusing.
I am first and foremost a typist (working as a programmer so speed and accuracy of typing is the most important thing to me). The speed keys are targeted at gamers who need those extra few milliseconds of actuation time. The actuation difference between the two keyboards is 0.2mm. One-fifth of a millimetre, a ridiculously small difference.
When it came down to comparing these two keyboards I took several typing tests at thetypingcat.com and compared the results. With the Corsair speed keys I typed 55 WPM with the corsair Red keys I typed at 45 WPM. I repeated the tests several times and each time I got roughly the same results. So the speed keys live up to their name. My accuracy on the speed keys was higher too. Actually it was the mistakes on the red keys that slowed me down.
The red keys feel a bit spongier than the speed keys; almost like resistance increases towards the bottom. Might be wrong about that description but I can’t think of another way to put it. The speed keys just seem to collapse to the backplate without much force and my typing is faster and more accurate than it has ever been.
So there you go, Speed wins – both for typing and for gaming. And its 40 cheaper too.
OK, that’s not really fair! First off, the keys on this feel absolutely fantastic. I use this as my daily driver for office work and typing, never gamed on it and never will on this PC in this location. It’s permanently in my dock for my laptop. The keyboard chassis is black anodised alumminium and feels super premium. I don’t use the wrist-wrest as I can type properly without out, but each unto their own there. As a keyboard in of itself them, it’s great, and I can’t see me ever wanting or needing to change it, and if I did, I’d probably get the same.
As for the lighting, it’s as flexible and out-there as you want it to be. iCue is a pretty neat but of software, gets some stick, but learn to use it and it’s fine. I downloaded some pre-done profiles for things like halloween, christmas etc., along with some movie-related stuff. But, my go-to is a simple red glow, with a white type lighting effect that spreads out from the key you just pressed. Very subtly, very effective.
If you want a low-profile laptop-style mechanical keyboard with a solid feel, great effects, and genuinely nice volume scroller, and media keys, you could do a lot worse than this. Perhaps the most telling test is pressing the space bar. In most keyboards the space bar rattles and sounds different – worse, in most cases. In this case, while the sound isn’t exactly the same as a normal key, it is MUCH better and closer in sound and feel that most others. If that’s also important to you, again, something to consider in its favour.
This is a stunning keyboard. In 2016 I had another Corsair Keyboard (the Corsair STRAFE). that was a nice keyboard but I found that I was constantly mis-typing as I found the keys are very high and you had to push down a long way to type the key. I am not used to this so never got on with it and sold it. Then I recently learned about this low profile keyboard with Corsair’s Speed keys and thought I would give it a go. I have to say now I own this I would never go back to a normal keyboard, this Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile keyboard with speed keys looks stunning, has very bright back light making it easy to see the keys and has a lovely light action and you don’t have to push the keys down half a mile!
As much as I love this keyboard, I have to say that I find Corsair’s decision to switch the position of keys with symbols on them baffling! The /? key for example, every other keyboard in the world has the / at the bottom and ? at the top, so you push shift to get ? however for some bizarre reason Corsair seem to think that is wrong! they have the / at the top and ? at the bottom! I find it very hard to understand this, makes no sense at all. However it would not stop be from buying the keyboard as it is perfect in all other areas.
I can’t think of much else negative to say about it, if pushed the only other minor point is that the volume wheel does not work when rolled slowly, you have to roll it at a certain speed or nothing happens.
But before you tell me “you don’t know what you are talking about, razer it’s better, bla bla bla”, let me tell you all the keyboards that I have owned.
For starters, I own currently K70 LUX with MX Speeds and STRAFE RGB with MX Silents. In addition to that, I recently was in the look for other keyboards and purchased/tested the Razer Huntsman Elite and the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO, but unfortunately both of them didn’t meet my expectation so I returned them. Furthermore, at one point I owned a STRAFE with MX Reds and a Razer Ornata Chroma “Mecha-Membrane” Keyboard.
Now, don’t get me wrong. All keyboards are nice and have their own good things. However, I will focus specifically on the “bad” things compared to this keyboard which make aaaaall the difference, and that is: rattling or wobbling of the keys, the height of keyboard in general and height of the key.
The huntsman elite is an absolute joke when it comes to rattling and key height. I also found it tremendously slow to spam for games fast paced games for example, perhaps because of that little tactile clicky bump (similar to blue switches) it has and this made me realize that I much prefer a linear performance on a switch indeed. It has nice colours and a very confortable wrist rest if you buy elite version but other than that, it was just a no go. The K70 MX Speed is just too sensitive in my opinion for some reason, possibly the fact that your hand must be really “curved” when typing on those super high keys. MX Reds and Silent are “meh” in my opinion. They just have nothing in special. The only possible keyboard I would say is a competitor of this one is the Roccat which also has a low profile. However, that keyboard is odd looking, it also has that little bump (in this case not clicky so similar to Cherry MX brown swithces) which again slows me down, and the wobbling of the keys is indeed much greater than the one I found in this one which is virtually ZERO.
Regarding this keyboard, I think it has THE absolute best feeling to type or game (for me) when compared to all of the others. And it is true what some people say that original MX Speeds where quite “sensitive” and you were prawn to making mistakes quite easily, but this is not the case with the low profile MX Speeds. They are AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT TO TYPE ON!!! Trust me…
Now, that’s not to say that in addition to that, they do have lower travel distances which mean they are even faster both to actuate (1mm), and to bottom out (3.2mm), in case you are the kind of person that usually bottoms out the key when gaming or typing. This immediately gives you faster typing/gaming, and at the same time, it also gives you a better feeling because of the low profile, which is almost like typing in a laptop, but with a very premium feel to it. Moreover, this keyboard produces a more pleasant and quieter sound to the touch which I also think is an improvement since I want to be able to use this keyboard in my office. Finally, I think that the RGBs on this keyboard stand out more beautifully than any of the other keyboards, particularly Razer ones which I think are quite weak, and the only possible competitor again being the Roccat Vulcan 120 because of its fully exposed keycap. The Corsair logo lighting is just perfect, media keys and other extra buttons are delicious, and although I haven’t actually programmed any profile, I can imagine the 8M for onboard profile storage coming handy sometime soon.
Overall this keyboard is a must try! You won’t regret it. Even if this keyboard were to “fail” me somehow, I would return it and buy it again over and over until I get a good unit. And if for some reason it failed me and had to claim Warranty, I would still give it 4 stars at the very least. I understand that QC issues can happen, but when it comes to rating to overall product that Corsair development team envisioned, I give 10 out of 5 stars, really. Just perfect.
I hope this is helpful for you and wish you luck with your decision.
The keyboard is extremely good, with great switches (Cherry MX RGB, so the lighting is better than other brands because the clear casing RGB is exclusive to corsair). I picked blue which is perfect for me. The rubber wrist rest is extremely comfortable, the board feels extremely sturdy and has nice extras, such as the 3 built in and reprogrammable profiles, windows lock key, and an amazing volume wheel. Media keys are a bit squishy, and the Locks have bright white LEDs which can take away from the colours. The textured space bar and included keycaps are nice. The FPS ones are good to find WSAD easier. Should have came with the double shot keycaps for that price though. It’s also annoying the special edition isn’t available in blues. Would highly recommend the board, but it is very overpriced. Partly because the blue version is amazon exclusive, so it was 150. If you see it for <120 get it for sure. Recommended if you don't mind the price. Everything other than that is amazing, except maybe the lack of an inclusion of double shot keycaps. Also, iCue is great to sync this with the rest of the corsair RGB on my PC.