Corsair K70 Rgb Mk2 Low Profile Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review
Our Verdict
Unless you were admittedly tied to the idea of depression-profile keys, we'd probably opt for the big boy K70 over this. It's a fine keyboard with some smart features, but in that location'south a lot not to similar – and much of that is the mistake of its switches.
For
- Slim blueprint
- Highly responsive
- Bonny lighting
- Passthrough and volume roller
Confronting
- Terrible wrist balance
- Questionable key experience
- Clunky cable
- Expensive
Tom's Hardware Verdict
Unless yous were absolutely tied to the idea of low-profile keys, we'd probably opt for the big boy K70 over this. It'due south a fine keyboard with some smart features, but there's a lot non to like – and much of that is the mistake of its switches.
Pros
- +
Slim design
- +
Highly responsive
- +
Attractive lighting
- +
Passthrough and volume roller
Cons
- -
Terrible wrist rest
- -
Questionable key feel
- -
Clunky cable
- -
Expensive
Cherry's introduction of low-profile switches seems to accept given every keyboard manufacturer ideas. Corsair's latest take on the tech, which refactors its full-height K70 into a pair of flattened-down versions of the aforementioned style, wouldn't exist without that tantalizing new slimmer switch option. But if nothing else, the low-profile switches do a good job of justifying the K70 RGB MK.2's place on the planet. Information technology's a portable, pared-down keyboard that doesn't pull any punches when it comes to shiny extras. We're looking at the Reddish MX Red low-profile version here, and Corsair has also put out a RapidFire edition which applies Ruddy's super-light MX Speed switches to the same physical layout.
The red-switched multifariousness was the merely ane with any wide availability when we wrote this, and selling for a teeth-clenchingly expensive $170/£160, though The states purchasers may discover it discounted to around $130 on sites similar Amazon. Information technology's worth noting that opting for the low contour version of the K70 MK.2 adds a price premium of effectually $10/£ten on meridian of the standard version, then yous'd better actually want low-contour switches.
Design and Comfort
When Corsair says 'Depression Contour', it really means it. The barely-tapered base is thin enough that there'south hardly any room between the lower limit of the central switches and your desk, leaving the keycaps at around the same superlative you'd find the top panel of some keyboards. Thankfully, the company has resisted going the flat-key road that Cooler Main took with its similarly slim SK650 and SK630 models. While it's reduced in height, Corsair has presented this in essentially the same mode equally the standard-top K70 MK. 2. It has a chin, onto which the disappointingly plasticky and slippery wrist wrest clips, and a rear shelf which houses a volume roller, some customization buttons, and a single pass-through port.
That wrist balance, then. It's nice that Corsair included one, and the way it clips on is satisfying and sturdy. But it doesn't feel in any style pleasant. It's textured with tiny triangular bumps, which somehow don't add any grip to proceedings. If y'all would like to experience the skin-crawling effect that comes from involuntarily rubbing 1's lower palms / upper wrists on a horrible surface, then by all means do. Simply we'd suggest you leave information technology in the box where it belongs. The low profile and flat bending of the K70 MK.2 lends itself better to raw desk-resting anyhow.
Other design missteps include the unnecessarily widened cyber-font used on the keys, which does fiddling but take downwards the class a notch, and the rather small feet which make adjacent to no difference to the keyboard'due south angle, but do brand it slide around a little more when the full footprint of the silicon pads underneath are in contact with your desk. For a keyboard that's supposedly well-suited to slinging in a bag, it has a thick and somewhat unyielding braided cable, also. After the Cooler Master MK850's detachable USB 3 cable, mayhap we're simply a little spoiled.
Credit, though, to the media keys, which have somehow resisted the call of being barely-prominent nubs and instead stand as proud and athwart buttons above the number pad. They're proficient.
Specifications
| Switch | Cherry MX Red Low Profile |
| Lighting | Per-key RGB |
| Onboard Storage | 8MB |
| Media Keys | Yes |
| Game Manner | Yep |
| Microcontroller | Unknown |
| Primal Rollover | NKRO 100% anti-ghosting |
| Polling Rate | 1000Hz / 1ms |
| Interface | USB 2.0 |
| Cable | 1.8m/ 6ft |
| Boosted Ports | 1x USB 2.0 passthrough |
| Keycaps | ABS |
| Structure | Plastic / Anodized Aluminum |
| Accessories | Wrist rest, alternate gaming keycaps |
| Software | Corsair iCue |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | xviii.seven x 6.1 ten 1.7 inches / 475 x 154 x 43mm |
| Weight | i.08kg / 38oz |
| Warranty | 2 years |
Typing Experience
Whenever we talk key switches, in that location's a hint of worry to our assessment: What if you, the reader, similar switches that we don't? What if you're actively looking for something soft and squashy and oddly rough feeling? If you are so yous'll love how Blood-red'south MX Blood-red low-profile switches have been employed hither. They swap out the satisfying and sharp linear action of the full-size edition for something else entirely. We gauge they've been given the same color designation because of their weighting and silent travel, and in that respect they're very similar. But don't come into this expecting the aforementioned typing experience as the full-height diversity offers.
Hither'due south the matter though: Whether nosotros're diddled away by the switches or not –- and we're not –- they brand for a very good typing experience. They activate high, especially considering they're depression-profile switches, only there'due south enough resistance to forbid mistyping. The visually cramped keycaps are actually pretty well suited to typing, with a harsh bending to their dished tops making for a very definite key feel. And that lack of crispiness, combined with short travel, leads to a highly comfortable and un-strenuous typing experience, which is something non every mechanical keyboard tin can match.
Let's also give special mention to the infinite bar. It'south on the quieter end, with very little rattle from its bracing, and Corsair has seen fit to give it a texture to friction match the wrist rest and the alternate gaming keys yous'll find in the box. This (while initially a little distracting) adds to the accuracy of the affect typing experience. Information technology's a pocket-sized tweak, but nosotros capeesh information technology.
Gaming Experience
Short-throw switches are frequently polarizing for gamers, and nosotros tin sympathize why. Having the right tool nether your fingers is vital, and the definite movement of a full-top mechanical switch is reassuring in a mode that this can't match. That said, we actually quite enjoyed employing it for gaming; while in that location'southward sensitive actuation, the depression-profile Reds are stiff enough to resist resting fingers. And while a shorter throw clearly isn't for everyone, the dissimilarity isn't quite as marked as you might expect information technology to exist. There'due south simply 0.8mm departure in travel between these switches and their full-superlative cousins. They might exist squat, just the Cherry MX Ruby-red low-profile switches here are a long way from scissor switches or low-contour membrane designs we've seen in the past.
Subjectively, we weren't entirely satisfied with the feel of the K70 MK.ii in high-motility games like, er, Doom 2 (we accept our obsessions, don't laugh). It does come dorsum to that key switch applied science, rather than its peak –- squashy inputs, still accurate and quick they may be, can't quite pass that message back upwardly your fingers to your encephalon--or at to the lowest degree to mine. The keyboard is well-factored towards gaming, though: There'due south full anti-ghosting and 1ms polling to ensure your inputs are read properly, nevertheless clumsily you might make them.
Lighting and Software
Per-central lighting naturally ways the K70 MK.2 has a host of attractive RGB effects on offer, and while Corsair's lighting here is perhaps a couple of lumens dimmer than we've seen on some keyboards, it's nonetheless rather impressive. The night finish to the aluminum acme case gives good isolation to the keys, while its balmy reflectivity, and the clear base of the switches, adds a beautiful glow. This is especially apparent on the rear shelf and low lip forth the front of the K70, which catch the low-cal brilliantly and, we suspect, accept as much an aesthetic purpose as they practise a practical i. There's not a lot of on-board customization; y'all tin picture show betwixt iii modes or impale the lights entirely if the rainbow swirling gets besides much, but that's about information technology.
Thankfully Corsair'due south iCue software is fully-featured, giving you admission to everything from, yep, lighting effects (synced to other Corsair kit, if you lot take it) and more granular controls, like customizing the behavior of the Windows Lock key, macro recording which can include mouse control, and even adjusting the polling charge per unit. It's neat enough, and not likewise system-intrusive. Simply you don't absolutely need to use information technology.
Bottom Line
The K70 RGB Mk.2's Low Contour's poise, looks and effectiveness did a cracking task of winning u.s.a. over given its less-than-stellar key feel and sometimes questionable design. It's a real mixed pocketbook, and one which will entreatment to some users more than others. If you exercise happen to exist in the market for something slim, it's arguably a meliorate option than Cooler Chief's SK630/650, although that clacker has aesthetic advantages of its own.
Image Credits: Tom'southward Hardware
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Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-k70-rgb-mk-2-low-profile-gaming-keyboard,6128.html
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