Corsair K70 RGB Pro Mechanical Keyboard (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
Gaming keyboards need to keep up with the pace being set by the alluring custom mechanical keyboard community. That's what has likely prompted Corsair to issue a new and improved version of their K70 keyboard. Gaining the Pro moniker this time around, what's new about Corsair's flagship gaming keyboard?
Before you ever type on the K70 Pro, you can tell that Corsair has upped their game when it comes to build quality. The entirety of the board is hefty--all sharp edges and aluminum top plates. Compared to the previous K70's, this one definitely feels nicer. It also rocks PBT keycaps, and it's about time major companies include better keycaps with their high-end keyboards.
Up on the top of the board is a wide panel with media controls. Dedicated buttons are always appreciated on gamer keyboards, whether it's for muting yourself without having to mess with your headset, or turning down your volume quickly for a particularly loud YouTube video. The center has a Corsair logo, and next to it is a bright indicator of whether your various locks are on--this is way better than keeping it vaguely above the Numpad. Each of the buttons are uniformly sized and clicky, making them easy to find and press at a moment's notice.
Just like other recent Corsair releases, the K70 Pro features the AXON processor. What this does is fairly interesting: it takes the average polling rate of a gaming keyboard--about 1000hz--and bumps it up to a ridiculous 8000hz. Whether or not that's actually noticeable to the average user is debatable, but when it comes to professional playing, every millisecond counts, and the K70 Pro definitely squeezes out every possible millisecond.
The processor also allows for more intricate lighting effects. You can have your traditional RGB effects, but you can layer further customizations on top of that. Say you want to have color cycle on, but you want to color code the WASD and arrow keys so that they're easier to see. You can do that, and a lot more. iCue lets you go pretty crazy with the RGB settings, and most exciting of all, you can set a profile to the keyboard itself, meaning you don't need iCue running in the background taking up precious PC resources.
Between the PBT keycaps and the bright glowy RGBs are one of the most important aspects of a keyboard: the keyswitches. Corsair has opted for Cherry MX switches, which are more desirable than the less expensive clone styles found in many cheaper keyboards. From brown, to blue, to red, all the classic standards are here, and just as good for gaming as they've always been. I find Cherry MX brown switches to be a little on the scratchy side, but they're undeniably tactile, which makes them solid switches for wanting to feel feedback every time you move and strafe or press a hotkey.
What annoys me the most about the K70 Pro is that this would be a fantastic gaming keyboard, but the fact that the keys wobble, that they have this horrid reverb when you even slightly press them, and that the case pings and rattles like a sputtering, dying jalopy negate everything else good that this keyboard has. However, this might not be as major of an issue to me that it is to others--so if you're well invested into the Corsair ecosystem, or you prefer gaming keyboards with flashy features over niche enthusiast keyboards, you might enjoy the K70 RGB Pro.
For $159.99, I could build a keyboard that would knock the K70 out of the park and leave it in the dust. But perhaps coming at it from that angle misses the point of name-brand gamer keyboards, just like buying a pre-built gaming PC over building it yourself. They're sleek, sharp, edgy, and have a lot in the way of dedicated gaming hotkeys, macros, and custom setups. So if that's what you're looking for, I'm sure you could ignore the clatter that this makes.
Verdict
- iCue lets you customize a lot and save custom profiles
- Actual Cherry MX switches
- The board itself is very premium and sturdy
- Insanely low input lag technology
- They still haven't fixed the case ping from the previous models
- Shaky key stabilization
