Let me preface by stating that I'm not knocking off a full star, and not even for functionality. This keyboard works magnificently, but it has a few places in which it can improve. I've taken the idea of "let's get the bad out of the way first" and I think I'm going to run with it on items I actually really like.
So, what's bad? Well, some personal preference is going to have to go here, so take this with a grain of salt: The cable on this thing is truly a cable. It feels a bit like a boat anchor, and when you get to the ends (yep, keep reading) you realize just how much of an anchor it is. This is acceptable as it's a wired keybaord, so you really don't need to move it around much, but the force be with you if you want to actually try to make this thing portable whatsoever. I won't even try. The dual-USB plugin is a bit frustrating as well, as there's no obvious differentiation between the keyboard plug and the pass-through one. I keep both plugged in because I want my wireless mouse connected to the keyboard, and it works really well. I just wish this could be done in one USB plug. It could use a little longer stands for a more severe angle while typing, but I like keyboards that are pretty high-up, you may not. Finally, the part that, while understandable from a practical and engineering standpoint: The LEDs occasionally bug out. We're not talking about the entire keybaord suddenly going black out of nowhere, or ten keys all deciding they like the color pink out of nowhere and sticking with that, despite your protestations. We're talking about occasional slightly-glitchy LEDs depending on your scheme. I honestly have no idea if this is hardware or software, but it's a tiny annoyance when a couple of your keys quickly blink a different color that you know you didn't set them to ever turn.
So, after that harrowing adventure, what's good about it? Well, cherry switches, your choice, seem to be excessively awesome, but that's nothing new in mechanical keyboards, even if I am personally a little new to the returning trend. Yes, I used real mechanical keyboards in the 80s and early 90s, but these are a huge improvement over the old ones. The LED system, despite the occasional glitchiness, is amazing. You can actually program every single key with a different color mapping, so you could have a terrifying blanket of almost every color possible in a (I think) 16-bit color palette. I'm going to geek out about the software for this, just for a little bit. I promise I won't write a book on Amazon about it. Maybe just a chapter.
The Corsair software for this keyboard is phenomenal, and has only gotten better over time, from what I've seen. Trust me when I say, you'll want to play with the advanced mode, a lot. As I said before, every key can be its own color, but every key can also have its own effect if you want to really build up a lot of "layers". It's a lot like a simpler version of photoshop, only you get easy animation as well. You can group keys together and make them breathe, or "scan" (I made a Matrix-themed setup where there are seemingly-random green waves, "glitchy keys" that fizzle, and keys that even stay lit for a short time when you press them, among other setups) and even, with the right work, set up a key to switch between presets. I chose the otherwise-useless Pause key for this; you can do whatever one you want. I can't sum up all the possibilities of the software in this review, but trust me: If you want to do it, you probably can.
Next up: I chose the cherry reds, because while I wanted a little clicking, I didn't want something with much resistance to my typing. I've gotten too used to the squishy keyboards, but that tiny extra resistance helps me a lot. No matter what switches you like, I'm sure they're all well-represented here. I was skeptical as the rounded keys looked weird, but then I remembered: I learned to "code" in on a Commodore 64, which was FAR rounder on its keys, and I LOVED that keyboard. By the way, the key grabber doohickey they include *sucks* with these keys, just a warning. It's not flexible enough. The keys are incredibly responsive though, and the "anti-ghosting technology" seems to be nearly-perfect. I have not a single practical or mechanical problem with this keyboard. I am pretty sure I type faster on this keyboard than any others since I was in the 10th grade taking typing classes. Yes, that used to be a thing, and still should be.
Now, the weight: This keyboard is reasonably heavy. It could maybe use a few grams more, but it holds still pretty well, even in first-person-shooter games. You might want to add a thin layer of rubber cement to the feet just to keep it more steady if you're serious, but the weight helps a ton already. Unlike the last keybaord I got, which first had a dead numpad minus key, then had a glitchy spacebar key with the replacement (Yeah, I know, pretty bad run), this does not have an exposed metal backplate. Lots of plastic, but it still feels incredibly durable.
The keys, while not completely separated from any blockages on the keyboard surface, are separated well enough for easy cleaning, and the raised sides are pretty gentle. They're also pretty tight against the switches, which is nice. You can easily remove them, but they don't just slip off without trying. You can use the tool or just let your fingers catch on the sharper edges and pull them off with some effort.
Finally, I can't say enough about the LED software available for the keyboard. You can customize per-game key lighting, get waves from your last-pressed key, make it shift colors as you go along, and virtually everything you'd want LEDs to do. You can even make it spell out a mesage i you want, and it's incredibly intuitive.
Bottom line? Yes, I recommend this keyboard, easily. It's not a bargain-basement mechanical, but it's definitely not the most expensive out there, and it has bells and whistles you can hardly imagine. Even as a simple keyboard, it does its job very well. Say you shut off the LEDs in a dimly-lit room: You can still see the letters and numbers fairly easily, and adding the beautiful glow isn't a bad thing. It's just really hard to photograph! If you want a nice mechanical keyboard that won't die on you after a month, I highly recommend this one. Corsair: They don't just make RAM.
| Wireless Type | 2.4 GHz Radio Frequency |
|---|---|
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
