SPS
Moderator
Corsair K90 Review
This keyboard is aimed at enthusiasts who love their macros. Personally I just love mechanical keyboards and would never go back to a membrane board after owning a Razer BlackWidow.
Build Quality
The keyboard is not made all from aluminium, but feels very sturdy due to the brushed aluminium fascia plate on the top of the board.
It comes with a very hard but soft-to-touch wrist rest that has a high quality feel to it. The rest is held in by two clips and two thumbscrews on the underside of the board.
It weighs a considerable amount for a keyboard but roughly the same weight as other mechanical keyboards out there.
Aesthetics
The looks of this keyboard are amazing, especially in the dark with the backlighting on. Due to the keys being raised reasonably high from board the lighting creates a glow effect, reflecting off the aluminium.
The bank of macro keys are to the left of the board and are seated a lot lower down to the rest of the keys. Corsair did this to prevent confusion while typing which is something that I faced with the BlackWidow as it's macro keys are right against the left column of keys which I would sometimes confuse myself with when trying to press Ctrl for example.
Key Switches
The switches on this board and Cherry MX Red which are basically non-tactile, non-clicky keys. They require 45g of force and actuate halfway through the travel (standard for the Cherry MX switches).
The key switches are what made me purchase this board over others, as this is the only gaming keyboard that uses MX Reds. The most common being Blacks then Blues.
The only difference between the Black and Red switches is the force needed to push the keys down, Reds needing 45g and Blacks needing 60g.
From not trying these keys before I can now say that, they are very comfortable to type on and even more comfortable to game on, and they sound nice.
Important: One thing to note about this keyboard however is that not all of the keys on this board are mechanical. This diagram shows the locations of the mechanical keys.
Keycaps
The keycaps are covered in a sort of matt texture coat with laser etched letters. This provides a nice grip after several hours of gaming and typing.
The only issue I have with them is that the letters themselves are quite small and the symbols on the numbers row are especially small and I do find myself taking longer to find the one I want compared to other keyboards.
Features
The keyboard comes with a bank of 18 macro keys subtly split up into three groups. There are also three different macro profiles which you can choose between with the M1, M2 and M3 keys located at the top left, giving 54 macro keys in total. You can record macros on-the-fly using the MR button on the keyboard or using the driver software provided by Corsair.
The keyboard has 3 levels of blue backlighting, a windows button lock key, media keys and a volume scroller control, which is very useful. The amount of times that a video is playing too loud and you need to turn it down quickly but you stuggle to find the keys quick enough, this key just makes it so easy to get the right level of volume nice and quickly.
It also has a USB 2.0 pass through located on the back right of the keyboard.
Backlighting
The backlighting on this keyboard is a nice electric blue with 3 different levels. The macro keys are lit by a white light, again to keep them apart from the main keyboard.
The backlighting is the only part of this keyboard that I feel lets it down. A lot of other mechanical keyboards have LEDs under each key to make each key well lit. The keys on this board are all lit at different levels, the main set of keys, arrow keys and the numpad are lit well. But the numbers row, f keys and the insert, home etc are not. The media keys are also illuminated.
Conclusion
(9 out of 10)
The K90 has impressed me in many areas. It feels great to type on and game on.
I would say that even though not every key is mechanical, it is still worth the money because it is cheaper than the other backlit mechanical keyboards available.
If your not as picky with the backlighting as I am, I would definitely recommend this keyboard over others.
This keyboard is aimed at enthusiasts who love their macros. Personally I just love mechanical keyboards and would never go back to a membrane board after owning a Razer BlackWidow.
Build Quality
The keyboard is not made all from aluminium, but feels very sturdy due to the brushed aluminium fascia plate on the top of the board.
It comes with a very hard but soft-to-touch wrist rest that has a high quality feel to it. The rest is held in by two clips and two thumbscrews on the underside of the board.
It weighs a considerable amount for a keyboard but roughly the same weight as other mechanical keyboards out there.
Aesthetics
The looks of this keyboard are amazing, especially in the dark with the backlighting on. Due to the keys being raised reasonably high from board the lighting creates a glow effect, reflecting off the aluminium.
The bank of macro keys are to the left of the board and are seated a lot lower down to the rest of the keys. Corsair did this to prevent confusion while typing which is something that I faced with the BlackWidow as it's macro keys are right against the left column of keys which I would sometimes confuse myself with when trying to press Ctrl for example.
Key Switches
The switches on this board and Cherry MX Red which are basically non-tactile, non-clicky keys. They require 45g of force and actuate halfway through the travel (standard for the Cherry MX switches).
The key switches are what made me purchase this board over others, as this is the only gaming keyboard that uses MX Reds. The most common being Blacks then Blues.
The only difference between the Black and Red switches is the force needed to push the keys down, Reds needing 45g and Blacks needing 60g.
From not trying these keys before I can now say that, they are very comfortable to type on and even more comfortable to game on, and they sound nice.
Important: One thing to note about this keyboard however is that not all of the keys on this board are mechanical. This diagram shows the locations of the mechanical keys.
Keycaps
The keycaps are covered in a sort of matt texture coat with laser etched letters. This provides a nice grip after several hours of gaming and typing.
The only issue I have with them is that the letters themselves are quite small and the symbols on the numbers row are especially small and I do find myself taking longer to find the one I want compared to other keyboards.
Features
The keyboard comes with a bank of 18 macro keys subtly split up into three groups. There are also three different macro profiles which you can choose between with the M1, M2 and M3 keys located at the top left, giving 54 macro keys in total. You can record macros on-the-fly using the MR button on the keyboard or using the driver software provided by Corsair.
The keyboard has 3 levels of blue backlighting, a windows button lock key, media keys and a volume scroller control, which is very useful. The amount of times that a video is playing too loud and you need to turn it down quickly but you stuggle to find the keys quick enough, this key just makes it so easy to get the right level of volume nice and quickly.
It also has a USB 2.0 pass through located on the back right of the keyboard.
Backlighting
The backlighting on this keyboard is a nice electric blue with 3 different levels. The macro keys are lit by a white light, again to keep them apart from the main keyboard.
The backlighting is the only part of this keyboard that I feel lets it down. A lot of other mechanical keyboards have LEDs under each key to make each key well lit. The keys on this board are all lit at different levels, the main set of keys, arrow keys and the numpad are lit well. But the numbers row, f keys and the insert, home etc are not. The media keys are also illuminated.
Conclusion
(9 out of 10)
The K90 has impressed me in many areas. It feels great to type on and game on.
I would say that even though not every key is mechanical, it is still worth the money because it is cheaper than the other backlit mechanical keyboards available.
If your not as picky with the backlighting as I am, I would definitely recommend this keyboard over others.
