Corsair K65 Pro Mini review – small but leaves a big impression

The Corsair K65 Professional Mini is a 65% gaming keyboard, which boasts of the mix of each optical key switches and eight,000Hz hyper-polling. Proper out of the field, the default settings will probably be set to 1,000Hz, to not trigger any compatibility points, nevertheless, you may change this to eight,000Hz when you get the keyboard up and working. After I first received my palms on the K65 Professional Mini, I used to be busy crusing the seven seas with my fiancé in Sea of Thieves. Whereas attempting to find treasure, I was impressed with the important thing switches’ quick responses, and with the dearth of unintentional key presses, which have been prevalent with earlier mechanical keyboard.

To get essentially the most out of my pirate gaming periods, I downloaded the accompanying Corsair software program, which permits the complete spectrum of customizable capabilities which might be this gaming keyboard’s bread and butter. At a look, iCUE is very easy to navigate, and I simply discovered myself spending hours scrolling by way of all the varied RGB results, watching my 65% light-up prefer it was placing on a private gentle present.

Whereas RGB lighting is ingrained in nearly each gaming keyboard available on the market, the number of lighting results unlocked by way of iCue really feel very delicate. The way in which the gradient of colours can transfer throughout the keys is seamless, and it actually emphasizes the standard of the K65 Professional Mini keyboard. After familiarizing myself extra with the K65 Professional Mini as I messed round with the lighting results, it did take me some time to get used to a 65% structure. Dropping the quantity pad felt a bit unusual, and even now I nonetheless discover myself reaching for it. Fortunately, like with a variety of mini keyboards, iCue means that you can map the keys to create a collection of shortcuts to make up for what you lose with a full-sized keyboard.

The Corsair K65 Professional Mini is a 65% sized mini gaming keyboard, and because the identify suggests, it’s lacking the important thing options of a full-sized keyboard, most noticeably the quantity pad. Nevertheless, in contrast to 60% mini keyboards, it nonetheless contains all of the navigation keys. The keyboard measures roughly 12.4 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches, taking on much less of that valuable desk area. I choose a desk that’s lined in figures and different trinkets, so I used to be pleasantly stunned with simply how compact the K65 Professional Mini gaming keyboard was when taking it out of the field for the primary time.

The keyboard consists of an all-black design, which incorporates black keycaps and a black aluminum base. An all-black gaming keyboard isn’t something new or thrilling, however the metallic body provides it a pleasant, hefty weight that helps make the small keyboard really feel extra substantial. What’s additionally substantial is the standard of the PBT double-shot keycaps, that are designed to withstand put on and fade over time. By way of my prolonged use of the keyboard for this overview, the keys look virtually as they did proper out of the field. As somebody very accident-prone relating to {hardware}, I haven’t observed any dings or marks on the keys and even the bottom of the keyboard, which is extremely reassuring.

The very best a part of the keycaps is their clear typeface, which pops off when you begin making essentially the most out of all of the RGB lighting choices. The identical might be mentioned concerning the additional area bar Corsair included within the field. The pulsating rainbow of RGBs seems even higher when you swap them out, making any sub-par PC gaming setup look a bit extra fancy.

On the underside of the keyboard, you’ll find six rubber stoppers, two of that are discovered on the keyboard’s retractable stands that permit for 2 totally different peak ranges, that are each equally snug to sort with. I might have personally most well-liked extra adjustment choices, as both having the K65 Professional Mini laying flat on my desk, or barely larger, didn’t really feel like quite a bit from a keyboard that in any other case is filled with customizability.

The Corsair K65 Professional Mini itself connects to your PC by way of a removable type-C USB connector, which sits on the left aspect of the keyboard. Its placement is fairly customary, however being removable does make it simpler to tidy away when not in use. It’s simply disappointing that this cable isn’t for charging, because the K65 Professional Mini solely has wired connectivity. With that in thoughts, you’ll have to take care of a cable throughout your desk whenever you’re vigorously typing away, as it might probably’t be powered in any other case.

Whereas this mini keyboard is at its finest when the RGBs are radiantly glowing from beneath the keys, the Corsair OPX optical-mechanical switches themselves are one other shining instance of what makes the Corsair K65 Professional Mini value including to your PC gaming setup. Touring to far-away abandoned islands in Sea of Thieves with the K65 Professional Mini grew to become a breeze, with every key press feeling quick and extremely attentive to the contact. Every key press provides off a deep, resonating, and dense-sounding click on, that creates an virtually ASMR sensation as you sort. Usually, over time, the repeated sound of a keyboard can sound grating on the ears, however the sound of the K65 Professional Mini made me drawn to utilizing the keyboard even over my Xbox controller, which I usually choose to make use of relating to PC gaming.

Earlier than crusing the seven seas with the Corsair K65 Professional Mini, I used to be so used to a budget and bouncy nature of my earlier gaming keyboard. The mechanical switches felt like an enormous hindrance to my PC gaming experiences, with unintentional key presses changing into the norm. When chatting with mates on Discord, it was commonplace for me to sort quite a few errors, however the K65 Professional Mini has rectified my unintentional key-pressing methods. The distinction between utilizing that, and the K65 Professional Mini is night time and day, and the snug feeling of the sturdy PBT double-shot keycaps is one thing I’d by no means wish to go with out once more.

The K65 Professional Mini’s keys are additionally barely textured, giving the information of fingers one thing to grip onto. So whereas the OPX key switches make the keys really feel easy to press, paired with the slight grip on prime, helps push that precision even additional. This was extremely noticeable when vehemently making an attempt to flee perusing ships in Sea of Thieves, the place as an alternative of discovering my fingers slipping between the crevices between every key, I used to be capable of glide throughout the K65 Professional Mini with ease. Different mechanical keyboards I’ve used previously have a sheer and glossy coating to the tops of the keys, which though seems nice, can really feel awkward in the event you’re one thing like me who simply will get frantically caught in the meanwhile in on-line video games.

At £129.99 GBP / $129.00 USD, the K65 Professional Mini isn’t the costliest gaming keyboard Corsair has to supply, however it’s the costliest mini keyboard in its repertoire. It’s doubtless that it’s the optical key switches which might be pushing up the value, however each additional cent is value it for his or her inclusion alone.

The fundamental disappointment with the value level comes with the omission of various colorways. Whereas the keycaps might be modified for no matter customized keys you see match to make use of, it appears like an over-step to not have at the least a white variation of the keyboard to raised go well with totally different setups. Even Corsair sells totally different variants of the K65 Professional Mini, which include colourful keycaps and a white base, at $40 cheaper. Whereas the all-black look of the K65 Professional Mini doesn’t look unhealthy, not everybody goes to have a gaming PC setup that accommodates an all-black design.

There’s additionally the obvious situation of the K65 Professional Mini solely having wired connectivity. The field exhibits that this mini keyboard is suitable with not solely PCs but additionally consoles just like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Collection S/X. However I can’t consider something worse than having to fiddle about with a USB cable to make use of a keyboard with a console, and it’s already mildly irritating when utilizing it with my PC. Though the removable USB cable makes it simple to take with you, I really feel like not having wi-fi compatibility lets it down.

The Corsair K65 Professional Mini has virtually the whole lot I search for in a gaming keyboard. From extremely customizable RGBs, to extremely responsive and virtually rhythmic sounding key switches, it’s laborious to not really feel like the times of getting to search out the perfect mini gaming keyboard are over.

Even the swap from a full-sized keyboard, to the mini kind issue of the K65 Professional Mini doesn’t take lengthy to acclimatize to, thanks partially to the very fact you may assign secondary features, and the choice to nonetheless embrace the directional keys.

But, though the Corasir K65 Professional Mini gaming keyboard has now grow to be a staple of my present PC gaming setup, I can’t assist assume simply how excellent it might be had it been accessible in a variety of colorways, and been wi-fi, so I might take it with me anyplace I’m going.

If you happen to’re in search of a Corsair keyboard, however don’t wish to do with out the quantity pad, the Corsair K70 Core has all you may need from a full kind issue. It even has a palm relaxation too, in the event you’re not involved about taking on extra of your valuable desk area.

If you happen to nonetheless wish to keep on with a keyboard of the mini selection, the Razer Huntsman Mini 60% gaming keyboard has its personal optical key switches, and sufficient customizable RGB lighting results so that you can shake a stick at.