Gaming on PC, as enthusiasts well know, is a hobby that requires sufficiently large portfolios, for the quality of the hardware required. When building super-expensive gaming PCs it’s easy to focus on components like graphics cards and processors, but even the most mundane peripherals matter. Keyboards are no exception and there is no shortage of models on the market featuring many different aesthetic options that offer technical advantages in terms of performance. The model we are going to review today is Corsair’s K70 RGB Pro mechanical keyboard, an article aimed at those who want something more than a standard keyboard can put on the plate. Corsair’s K70 RGB PRO is the latest evolution of the popular K70 model, the best-selling model of the American brand, released on the market back in 2015.
In the unboxing of the K70 RGB Pro we find, in addition to the keyboard, a separate USB Type-C cable. The keyboard has a sturdy aluminum frame with a brushed black finish, while the keys have a brighter sandblasted matte black finish, as well as a soft-touch magnetic palm rest to ensure the user maintains comfort even during prolonged gaming sessions. In addition to the usual 104-key layout (including the numeric keypad) there are four keys dedicated to multimedia controls in the upper right and four shortcut keys, located in the upper left: mute, choice of profile, brightness and Windows lock, plus a volume slider switch.
The brightness hotkey adjusts the brightness of the display, while the lock hotkey allows you to disable the Windows key on the keyboard (often a nuisance if touched accidentally). The profile selection key allows you to scroll through both standard and custom software and hardware profiles. Between the two sets of keys is a display with a series of indicators surrounded by a Corsair logo, which illuminates when used. Each of the keys uses Cherry MX mechanical switches (much quieter than other mechanical-type keyboards) and durable double-latch PBT keycaps found in most mechanical keyboards on the market.
There are five variants of the Cherry MX switches in the Corsair K70 RGB Pro, depending on the market. Options include Cherry MX Red, Blue, Brown, Silent Red, and Speed Silver. The Cherry MX Brown (tactile switches with an actuation force of 55 grams) and Cherry MX Red (linear switches with an actuation force of 45 grams) are currently available on the Italian site, the latter is the model we are going to review. All variants fully support Windows, MacOS, Microsoft Xbox and Xbox Series X | S platforms (PS5 support is sadly missing).
Corsair also winked at esports athletes, inserting a switch in the back that puts the K70 RGB PRO into “tournament mode” disabling custom profiles, actions and macros so they can’t be accidentally activated during a tournament. This option also changes the RGB lighting to a single static color to reduce distraction. On the underside of the keyboard, there are the usual double clips for lifting the peripheral.
The K70 RGB Pro keyboard is powered by AXON 8,000Hz hypertext processing technology and is equipped with powerful iCUE software that allows custom macro programming and key remapping on both Windows and MacOS. The 8 MB memory allows you to save up to 50 profiles (the number may vary depending on the complexity of the profile) and up to 20 types of lighting effects. Its weight is 1.15 kg, palm rest excluded. The iCUE software allows you to easily synchronize the lighting effects of the K70 RGB Pro with any other compatible device in your configuration. The user interface is very easy to use, so creating a light show from dozens of available presets, as well as downloadable ones created by users, is quite simple.
But at the heart of the K70 RGB Pro mechanical gaming keyboard is AxonHyper Processing technology, which seems to live up to the rather bombastic name. It combines ultra-fast key scanning, hyperprocessing and hyperpolling to detect keystrokes much faster and transmit them faster to your computer, which also helps reduce latency. The keyboard also features full N key rollover and 100% anti-ghosting, which means all key presses will be logged no matter how fast you type.
We tested the K70 RGB PRO with three different titles: Horizon Zero Dawn, Destiny 2 and Microsoft Flight Simulator. With the classic preset, the keyboard performed discreetly, the performance difference came with adjusting the polling setting to 8000 Hz via Corsair’s iCUE software (classic mechanical keyboards have 1000 Hz polling, for be clear): on all the titles, we always found ourselves in situations where it needed to take shots or perform last-minute dodges to avoid failing a mission or killing the character and the response was perfect.
It is worth noting that if the game settings are higher than what your computer can handle, any framerate lag will mask the performance of Axon technology as the machine will struggle to render frames in a timely fashion. So, if you set the polling rate to 8000 Hz as in our case, but still don’t notice any difference, try lowering the graphics settings of the game.
The keyboard will be available on the European market from March at the recommended price of 189 euros, a figure that could make you hesitate on its purchase, but few high-end gaming keyboards have a solid aluminum frame, durable keycaps and technologies such as Axon and RKNO for a broad spectrum of use cases even outside of games. It also offers quick responses to the pressure of the keys, an advanced customization of macros and profiles and a great variety of light effects that impact a lot on an aesthetic level but without causing discomfort during use. Overall, the Corsair K70 RGB Pro is a great choice for both typists and gamers, especially those participating in esports. It’s expensive, but if you plan to build a Corsair ecosystem on your desk, it can definitely be a great place to start.
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