Page 2 - A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
Like many keyboards in Corsair's product portfolio, the K70 RGB Pro is yet another keyboard that fits APH Networks' design philosophy. We are already familiar with the K70 family, as we have reviewed both the K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile and K70 RGB TKL Champion Series. The latest addition continues to have a clean, practically reference layout -- meaning no crazy designs -- with OEM Cherry MX keyswitches, dedicated media buttons, RGB LED backlighting, and a detachable wrist rest. The K70 RGB Pro checks all the boxes and adds nothing more. The RGB-backlit Corsair logo can be found at the top, right in the middle of the elevated bar. Meanwhile, the exposed black colored brushed aluminum backplate is great to look at. It even hides fingerprints well. The sides and bottom are all made out of quality plastic. Overall, I am a big fan of the looks, and the aluminum frame is rock solid. There is no perceivable flex in the keyboard and feels substantial in everyday use.
The Corsair K70 RGB Pro's wrist rest design reminds me of the one from the K60 RGB PRO SE with the company's branding vertically printed in the middle, except the entire wrist rest is made out of hard plastic rather than having layer of soft foam wrapped in textured leatherette. The contact surface has a textured finish for improved grip. It protrudes comfortably for my average-sized hands. When placed on the table, the wrist rest does not move from side to side and has a limited slip rotation angle when lifted off the table. The wrist rest is attached to the keyboard by two magnetic tabs and is fully detachable from the main unit.
The Corsair K70 RGB Pro measures in at 444mm width, 166mm depth, and 40mm height. Adding the wrist rest increases the depth to about 240mm by my measurements. This is slightly deeper than a standard QWERTY keyboard due to the top bar. To go along with its medium footprint and medium profile, the keyboard weighs about 1.15 kg according to the manufacturer. This is heavy but within expectations for a mechanical keyboard.
Once you turn off the lights and activate the Corsair K70 RGB Pro's RGB backlit keys, the keyboard really shines -- no pun intended. The font is large and bold. My only complaint is the Fn-modifier secondary functions are completely not labeled. For example, pressing Fn and 0 through 9 will activate different lighting effects when iCUE is not running, and effect modifications are engaged using Fn and `, -, =, [, or ]. However, you can never tell just by looking at the keyboard; I only know this because I looked at the manual. Thankfully, there are not a lot of shortcuts, and they are fairly inconsequential. However, these secondary functions are basically useless in my opinion unless you want to print out a table of shortcuts next to your computer like the MS-DOS days.
The K70 RGB Pro features full independent RGB backlighting for all keys. A dedicated ARM Cortex M4 is inside powering everything, including what the company refers to as AXON technology. AXON provides twenty layers of hardware RGB lighting processing along with 8000Hz polling and 4000Hz key scanning rate. Backlight intensity can be adjusted on the fly by a dedicated button located in the top bar to cycle the brightness. The other two buttons cycle between saved profiles on the Corsair K70 RGB Pro's 8MB internal memory and toggles Win Lock on or off. All three of them are clicky short-travel buttons. The backlight can be turned off completely or adjusted in 20% increments. I am a big fan of fully backlit keyboards, and it is expected in 2022. The Corsair K70 RGB Pro's key illumination distribution is reasonably even for the most part. The area between the keys is also backlit thanks to the reflection of the LEDs, and I like it. One thing to point out, for keys with more than one line of text label, you will notice only the top half is illuminated. This is due to physical design limitations of Cherry MX stems. For this reason, the company has almost completely avoided having a second line of text with the exception of six keys on the numeric keypad.
Almost everything here is pretty standard in terms of layout with a few additions. I am a big fan of the single row Enter key layout as present on our US QWERTY Corsair K70 RGB Pro. Keyboards with a double row Enter key usually means the "\" button is moved to the left side of the right Shift key, reducing the size of the latter. I am more used to having a 3U Shift on the right and a half-height Enter. Obviously, this is more or less personal preference, but having a single row Enter key makes a lot more sense to me.
Above the numeric keypad are four media keys, which includes stop, previous, play/pause, and next. A mute button is placed next to the metal volume scroll wheel located in the top bar. All media keys are RGB backlit. You can use the metal volume scroll wheel to adjust volume. I love having a volume scroll wheel and this one feels solid to touch with little play. In the piano black area, three indicator LEDs corresponding to Num Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock, respectively, can be found on the right side of the Corsair logo. Three indicator LEDs corresponding to macro record, volume mute, and Windows lock, respectively, can be found on the left side of the Corsair logo. They all glow white when activated and its color cannot be changed. One thing to note is the volume mute indicator does not turn off once turned on. If I mute and unmute, it stays on persistently. This is likely a firmware bug.
For those who are unfamiliar with different types of keycaps, the most common one found are made out of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS, plastic. The K70 RGB Pro uses polybutylene terephthalate, or PBT, double-shot keycaps that are 1.5mm thick, which are stiffer, harder, and has better color retention compared to ABS plastic keycaps used in many keyboards. The ones found on the Corsair K60 RGB PRO SE are textured and feels nice on the fingers.
If you do not know what a mechanical keyboard is, there are three main types of keyboards in the market today. The cheapest is the membrane keyboard, which is the easiest to make, but also has poor typing feel and response due to squishy keys. A scissor switch keyboard has its own independent keyswitch mechanism for each key, which delivers improved tactile response and typing experience. Modern scissor switch keyboards can be very good for everyday office use. Mechanical keyboards such as the Corsair K70 RGB Pro costs the most because each keyswitch is an independent part.
The K70 RGB Pro features Cherry MX Red switches. Cherry MX Red is marketed as a gaming type switch. The maximum key travel distance is 4mm with actuation at 2mm. The Corsair K70 RGB Pro will feel very different than other non-mechanical keyboards with an actuation force of 45cN in a completely linear fashion. This keyswitch is desirable for gaming because you will be bottoming out all the keys anyway, but the lack of the "bump" of the Cherry MX Red may not appeal to everyone. It is rated for 100 million operations, which is the standard for Cherry MX switches after the company raised its durability guarantee. The base is rock solid and among the best I have seen as aforementioned, so you will not get any keyboard flex, which is excellent. During operation, the K70 RGB Pro has a relative low-pitched tone and reasonably quiet for a Cherry MX Red-based mechanical keyboard.
For wider keys, Corsair opted to use Cherry stabilizers. A stabilizer, as its name suggests, is to maintain the balance of wider keys. The other main stabilizer design is Costar. The Cherry stabilizer found in the K70 RGB Pro, as shown in the above photo, uses additional non-electrically activated switches without the spring on the sides for support. Costar stabilizers, on the other hand, has a wire bar that spans nearly the entire width of the keycap and attached by a clip at the bottom of the keycap. Costar stabilizers are rattlier, but are easier to maintain, while Cherry stabilizers feel mushier.
The Corsair K70 RGB Pro is a full NKRO keyboard that polls at an incredible 8000Hz and scans keys at up to 4000Hz as aforementioned. NKRO stands for N-key rollover. If you have used keyboards with limited NKRO capabilities, you may have experienced ghosting issues in the past. Your system will be unable to register any more strokes when too many keys are pressed at the same time. A full NKRO keyboard like the Corsair K70 RGB Pro overcomes this by independently polling each key, making all inputs detectable by the hardware regardless of how many other keys are activated at the same time. This means in the event you have every other key on your keyboard depressed, it will still register the last stroke. While this is a highly unlikely scenario since you have only ten fingers, this is as good as it can get.
At the back of the Corsair K70 RGB Pro is the USB cable lead out. It comes out in the center via a USB Type-C on the keyboard side and connects to a detachable cable. This braided rubber cable is of average thickness and extends 1.8m in length to connect to your computer via one standard, non-gold-plated USB connector. When we bring about the question of whether gold plated connectors are actually useful or not, let us just say if it was the actual pins, then there is a possibility since gold offers better conductivity than other metals. This theoretically establishes a better connection with your computer, but on a digital signal level, we must understand it is a discrete one or zero. If anyone tells you they can tell the difference, you can definitely defeat their theory with a double blinded test. Additionally, if you are referring to the gold part of the connector you see on the plug, I would like to point out it is only used as ground. In other words, it is nice to have, and it is pretty to look at, but it is not anything significant on a practical level. The lack of a gold-plated USB connector will not have any performance impact on the Corsair K70 RGB Pro.
Next to the USB Type-C cable lead out is the Tournament Switch. The Tournament Switch was also found on the K70 RGB TKL Champion Series. When switched on, it will disable custom actions and macros, change backlighting to a static single color, and utilize standard operation with no profiles or profile switching. It will also make the keyboard undetectable in iCUE. This is to reduce distraction and accidental activation of features in competitive gaming. I did not know activating the Tournament Switch will make the K70 RGB Pro not detectable in iCUE, which left me a little bit confused at first. In my opinion, a sticker indicating this from the factory will be helpful. Other keyboard functions like brightness, Windows lock key, volume control, and media keys will function as normal. A switch cover can be flipped up to lock the Tournament Switch in place.
At the bottom are four very large rubber pads to help the K70 RGB Pro stay in place during intense gaming sessions. The wrist rest adds six narrow rubber strips. The two rubber lined flip-out risers at the front tilts the keyboard up for those who prefer it. The Corsair K70 RGB Pro is a pretty heavy keyboard by itself, which is great to keep it in its place during intense gaming sessions.
You will also find a cable guide at the bottom of the keyboard. It is not used for guiding the keyboard's own cables, although there is technically nothing stopping you from doing so. Instead, they are to be used with your peripherals like a wired headset. What you will not find are keyboard drain holes, so it is advisable to keep your Mountain Dew at a distance.
The wrist rest is designed to be connected to the keyboard via a magnetic attachment shown in our photo above. The magnetic tabs are made out of rubber and looks like they are durable and will work well in the long run. In my opinion, the new magnetic attachment is much better than the plastic clip mechanism used in past Corsair keyboards. When placed on the table, the wrist rest does not move from side to side and has a limited slip rotation angle when lifted off the table. Since it is magnetically attached, it will fall off if you lift up your keyboard high enough.
The Corsair K70 RGB Pro works with the latest version of Intelligent Corsair Utility Engine, or iCUE, at press time, which is an 836MB download. This program unifies all compatible peripherals and components into one application. After selecting the device you want to configure from the main screen or top bar, the graphical user interface is basically separated into two sections. The left side allows you to select the configuration category, while the right side displays all options. All settings are stored on the keyboard's 8MB internal memory for as many profiles as it can physically hold. In our screenshot above, you can see there are two keyboards connected, where the other one is the K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile. My ASUS TUF Gaming B550-Plus was also compatible with iCUE4.
The Key Assignments tab is where you can control the function of the buttons on your keyboard. These include key remaps like keystroke or mouse functions, regular assignments like media or macros, and voicemod like voice changer. Hardware Key Assignments is similar to Key Assignments, except they can be used even when iCUE is off. The available options are reduced and do not include voicemod features.
The Lighting Effects tab is where you can play around with the lighting effects of each of the Corsair K70 RGB Pro keys, as shown in our screenshot above. If you have multiple compatible products, it will synchronize lighting effects across your devices. Every key can be independently controlled as well. Corsair's iCUE is designed to configure the backlight by layer, where each layer can have a different configuration. There are standard preset effects like Watercolor or Rainbow Wave, custom effects like Static Color or Gradient, and Lighting Link. Each effect has options for further customization. Hardware Lighting is similar to Lighting Effects, except they can be used even when iCUE is off. The available options are reduced and do not include Lighting Link.
Performance is where the Windows Lock options are configured. This includes disable Alt+Tab, Alt+F4, Shift+Tab, and Windows key if the Windows Lock is on. The lock, brightness, and profile indicator colors are all RGB and can be configured here as well. Lastly, Device Settings opens a new window for you to do stuff like update the firmware, adjust the polling rate, adjust backlight brightness, and add profiles to the onboard memory. I found the procedure for saving to onboard memory to be out of the way. Making it easier to work with in an integrated manner will definitely be welcomed.
Overall, I found iCUE4 to be powerful, straightforward, and reasonably easy to use. The latest version continued to improve the usability of this software, and the overall experience was very positive to me.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware and Software
3. Conclusion
