Corsair K70 RGB Pro Review: Worth every penny

Corsair’s K70 RGB Pro has more than enough bells and whistles to satisfy even the most competitive gamers.

About the Corsair K70 RGB Pro

Here are the features of the gaming keyboard we tested:

• Connectivity: USB Type-C to Type-A cable (included)
• Dimensions: 17.5 x 6.54 x 1.58 inches (without palm rest)
• Weight: 2.54 pounds (without palm rest)
• Equipment: Aluminum, black anodized brushed finish
• Special features: Full RGB, individually lit and programmable per key, media controls

There are five variations of the Cherry MX key switches included in the Corsair K70 RGB Pro. Options include Cherry MX Red, Blue, Brown, Silent Red and Speed ​​Silver. The two versions tested were the Red Cherry MX and Blue Cherry MX key switches. All variants fully support Windows, macOS, Microsoft Xbox, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.

What we like

Simple layout, built to last

In addition to your traditional 104-key layout (a full-size keyboard with a number pad), the K70 RGB Pro has dedicated media controls and a volume roller. Media controls allow for easy control of movies, music, and more. at the push of a button, and the Corsair’s signature aluminum roller allows for granular control of volume levels.

In the majority of games I play, I use the WASD keys for movement, so placing the volume roller in the upper right corner allowed me to lower the volume in noisy parts of the games I played without removing my left hand from the keyboard. (The volume roller’s tactile pattern also makes it easier to grip with my fingertips.) The tall height of the keys themselves allowed me to pinpoint their position without needing to look down.

There are also four hotkeys: mute, profile switch, brightness, and Windows lock. The Brightness hotkey adjusts your screen brightness in 20% increments, while the Windows Lock hotkey lets you disable the Windows key on the keyboard. The profile switch key allows you to cycle through software and hardware, standard and custom profiles.

Corsair’s signature aluminum roller allows for granular control of volume levels.

These keyboard shortcuts are neatly placed in the top left corner. You might not use them too often, but when you do, there’s no confusion about what each button does thanks to the symbols printed on them. However, it would have been nice to have some sort of braille system on those keys to make it easier to distinguish between the profile key and the Windows lock key without looking down. A simple raised dot or two on each key (like the raised dot on the F and J keys that make touch typing easier) would be a good solution.

When it comes to gaming, I had no issues linking these keyboards to my computer systems (PC and Mac). Connected via the supplied braided USB Type-C to USB Type-A cable, you are immediately operational without doing anything else.

Competitive level performance

To put this keyboard to the test, I fired up Destiny 2 and a first-person open-world factory building game, Satisfactory. Right out of the box, the K70 RGB Pro was able to handle everything I threw at it while registering every keystroke without issue. Thanks to the RKNO of this keyboard with 100% anti-ghosting features, each of my key presses was registered, regardless of how quickly I pressed said key. If I press a few keys at the same time, all the letters also appear on my screen.

But the heart of the K70 RGB Pro mechanical gaming keyboard is the Axon Hyper Processing technology, which seems to live up to its claims. It combines lightning-fast key scanning, hyper-processing, and hyper-polling to detect keystrokes much faster and deliver them to your computer faster, which also helps reduce latency.

I launched three different games, Horizon Zero Dawn, Destiny 2and Microsoft Flight Simulator, and compared the performance of the K70 RGB Pro to that of Logitech’s MX Keys Mini, which has a polling rate of 1000Hz. The difference in performance came from setting the K70 RGB Pro polling parameter to 8000Hz via Corsair’s iCUE software. You might not notice a difference if you’re just typing an email or writing a story, but I definitely noticed a difference while playing the game.

With the polling rate set to 8000Hz, I found myself still able to take last minute shots or perform last minute dodges.

I put myself in various split-second situations to test my reaction time and that of the keyboard. Using the K70 RGB Pro with the polling rate set to 8000Hz, I found myself still able to take last minute shots or perform last minute dodges to avoid failing a mission. or my character dies.

With the MX Key Mini, the same or similar situations were a mixed bag, only succeeding about 60% of the time. (Logitech’s MX Key Mini is not a gaming keyboard, but I wanted to illustrate how much of a difference there is between a non-gaming keyboard and a mechanical gaming keyboard with an 8000Hz polling rate. )

It should be noted that if your game settings are set at a higher level than your computer is capable of handling, any frame rate lag will mask the performance of the Axon technology, as your computer will struggle to render the timely pictures. So if you’ve set the polling rate to 8000Hz but still don’t see a difference, try lowering the graphics settings in the game.

All the colors of the rainbow

This keyboard also features a full RGB lighting system that is fully controllable and customizable from the keyboard itself and Corsair’s iCUE software. You have ten dedicated presets mapped to the function key (FN) and numbers one through zero. If you really want to customize the lighting, you can download custom layouts and install them on the keyboard for a unique visual experience.

The original K70 only had three profile presets, so you’d need to rely heavily on Corsair’s iCUE software to create a unique viewing experience; My favorite preset on the K70 RGB Pro is FN+6, which has a lighting ripple effect that spans the entire keyboard and overlaps with each key press.

What we don’t like

Wired keyboard only

The K70 RGB Pro keyboard is powered by a USB Type-C socket, which is also supported by all my computers, Pixel 6 Pro and iPad Pro, so I never have to worry about losing or misplacing one. cable while traveling. However, I wish this keyboard was wireless.

Keyboards like the Corsair K63 Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard and Logitech G915 Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard offer the ebay of both worlds, while the K70 RGB Pro is limited to wired connectivity.

I’ve gotten used to everything wireless as it’s a convenience I prefer, but I also understand that for the best performance, wired is the way to go, especially if you’re playing at a competitive level. This is probably why Corsair omitted a wireless option on the K70 RGB Pro (and why the base K70 doesn’t support wireless either.) But still, I like having the option !

Lack of PS5 support

Unfortunately, this is one area where the K70 RGB Pro falls short of the competition. This keyboard supports PC, Mac, Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X consoles, but you cannot use it with the PS5. Competing products such as the SteelSeries Apex 7, Logitech G613, and even Corsair’s K55 RGB Pro keyboard support Sony’s home console.

Maybe Corsair will have a future for a software update to enable PS5 support, but as it stands the console will recognize its input, but you can’t actually use it. The system will detect the keyboard, but it will not work with the console browser, online store, or any of the console games that support keyboard and mouse functionality.

Should I buy it?

Yes, this is one of the best gaming keyboards you can buy

I’ve used a multitude of full-size keyboards in my 30+ years of gaming and nothing has come quite close to Corsair’s K70 RGB Pro. Few high-end gaming keyboards have solid aluminum construction, durable and long-lasting keycaps, and technologies like Axon and RKNO for a wide range of use cases outside of gaming as well.

Some may balk at the price of the K70 RGB Pro ($159.99 from Corsair direct), but when you compare it to the likes of the SteelSeries Apex 7 or the Razer Huntsman V2, Corsair’s keyboard has a wider range of options. of mechanical switches and can store five times as many hotkey profiles. However, if PS5 support is important to you, I’d recommend considering something like Corsair’s K55 RGB Pro and Logitech’s G613 as viable options.

In an ever-changing industry, having a suitable keyboard for now and whatever the gaming world has in store for it in the future is all the more worth spending a little extra.

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published, but may change over time.