For quality gaming keyboards, Corsair is one of the biggest names in the game. Today we’re going hands-on with one of its latest – the Corsair K70 RGB Pro. With a variety of Cherry MX switch options and rich features like media keys, detachable wrist rest, and USB-C cable, how does it perform for the $160-$170 price point? Be sure to hit the video below to find out.
Corsair K70 RGB Pro: Design
Though not as large as the K100 which features additional macro keys on the left side of the keyboard, the added space at the top of the keyboard makes the overall footprint fairly large. Other than that, Corsair keeps things pretty neat and tidy with the design of the K70 RGB Pro. There is a discrete K70 logo on the bottom left of the board and an illuminated Corsair logo near the top. Surrounding the Corsair logo is a glass portion that also houses some small light indicators for icons like the lock button, caps, scroll lock, and num lock.
The K70 RGB Pro features an aluminum frame with a brushed metal finish across the top. Altogether, this makes the keyboard feel really solid. For such a large keyboard, there isn’t much flex in the body, which makes it feel more premium.
Extra media keys
The K70 RGB Pro features a nice assortment of media keys. Above the num pad are physical buttons to play, pause, stop and skip tracks. Farther up on the raised portion of the keyboard at the top is a rolling volume control and a mute button.
The volume roller has a nice texture to it and is easy to find and use. It adjusts the system audio by 2 steps at a time with smooth motion overall without physical steps.
Corsair K70 RGB Pro: Video
Profile, brightness, and system lock controls
In the upper left of the keyboard, Corsair has added three more buttons. First is a profile button, then a brightness button with five different steps for RGB, and finally a lock button that will lock out functions like Alt-Tab and the Windows button for use while gaming.
Tournament switch
Another feature near the detachable cable is the tournament switch. When this is enabled, the keyboard will be a static color to minimize distractions as well as disable accidental macro activations. It even has a plastic lock that can be flipped up to ensure that it doesn’t get turned off by accident.
Cherry MX switches
Corsair offers a wide array of Cherry MX switches for the K70 RGB Pro. I went with brown tactile switches, but there are also options for blue clicky, red linear, speed, and silent. The last two are $10 more than the standard options.
There isn’t much to say about the switches as these are kind of the industry standard. Personally, I enjoy the brown switches. I like a bit of feel when I press a key but clicky switches are a bit much for me.
Cherry MX Brown switches have a light 55g actuation force, 2.0mm actuation distance, and 4.0mm total travel distance.
Doubleshot PBT keycaps
Corsair is using double-shot PBT keycaps which are great for durability. They feature a textured finish that isn’t too slippery and will also help prevent showing wear over time. The font is large and legible, but some of the keys, like the numbers, are a little more gamery when it comes to design.
Shine-through seems to be good on most of the keys with a few issues on some small legends like CTRL.
Corsair K70 RGB Pro: How’s the typing experience
Overall the typing experience is okay, but it’s nothing to write home about. There is a bit of a rattle in the stabilizers like the space bar, shift keys, and backspace, but the keys themselves feel and sound okay.
It doesn’t sound as thick and substantial as the HyperX Alloy Origins 65 with Aqua tactile switches. So while the K70 isn’t terrible for typing, I also don’t think I can say it’s a great typing experience. Don’t get me wrong – it’s fine, but it’s not going to impress those who are used to a more premium typing feel and sound.
Lighting and iCUE
As a gaming keyboard, the K70 RGB Pro has per-key RGB lighting. Inside Corsair’s iCUE software, things can get pretty technical for lighting. Similar to Razer’s Synapse, you can add layers and dial in some custom lighting to specific keys, or you can just run with a generic setup like I usually do. The lighting didn’t blow me away as super bright, but in dim settings, it was plenty visible.
While in iCUE, there are other settings that can be tweaked on the K70 RGB Pro. Featuring Corsair’s AXON processing, this board can go up to an 8,000Hz polling rate, meaning that it scans the board every .125ms for input. Compared to the more standard 1,000Hz, this can mean much faster performance, but I would imagine most people won’t be able to notice that increased speed.
Additionally, you can tweak key switch debounce time, adjust the tournament mode backlighting color, and set onboard profiles.
9to5Toys’ Take
Corsair has built up a name for high-quality peripherals, and I think they’ve delivered another one with the K70 RGB Pro. The board feels solid, and I think that Corsair has some of the better-looking gaming keyboards on the market.
Corsair has kept it safe with switch options going with Cherry MX instead of using anything proprietary, but that also lets users know what to expect when typing on this keyboard. And while it might not blow anyone away with its typing experience, it performs well with some nice features.
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