The Corsair K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi gaming keyboard principally justifies its massive price ticket by packing so much into such a small area. From options reminiscent of slicing the wire to its very good construct high quality, it seamlessly matches into the K70 household and will probably be acquainted territory for anybody upgrading.
Priced at $179.99 USD / £169.99 GBP, it’s a troublesome promote for most individuals, significantly when its 60% type issue comes with a number of compromises. It waves goodbye to the numpad, arrow keys, and performance row on the high and creates a studying curve because the FN button turns into a shortcut multitasker that will help you get the job performed.
That mentioned, if you happen to’re the very particular gamer that wishes a wi-fi, 61-key keyboard with hot-swappable switches within the identify of extra desk area or portability, then the K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi is likely to be one of many best gaming keyboards on the market.
Corsair K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi design
Corsair retains issues easy on the floor with a slightly unassuming design. Its close to frameless strategy provides it a contemporary look, and the black doubleshot PBT keycaps let sufficient RGB lighting by to provide it a refined gaming aptitude. The geometric patterned area bar we first noticed in our Corsair K65 RGB Mini review returns and is as gorgeous as ever. It’s not on the identical stage as HyperX’s customized keycaps, however something that makes the humdrum board stand out from the group is welcome in my books.
There’s nothing out of the unusual with its 60% format, however you’ll want to notice its concessions if you happen to’re unfamiliar with the shape issue. Giving up the numpad, perform keys, and navigation keys is impractical for the best MMOs and typists, as you would possibly end up a few keys quick. It’s fairly helpful on the subject of the shooters, although, as there’s loads more room to swing the best gaming mouse throughout your desk.
The K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi is especially moveable, measuring simply 11.6 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches and weighing round 0.64kg / 1.4lbs, making it simple to move, match on smaller desks, or use when you’re on the sofa. Regardless of being fairly gentle, it’s as sturdy as they arrive. The steel baseplate doesn’t flex and offers it a premium end.
Whereas Corsair pairs the K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi with linear Cherry MX Purple or Cherry MX Silvers, they’re hot-swappable, permitting you to interchange them with any three-pin mechanical switches on the market. I examined with tactile Mountain Blue and linear Asus ROG NX switches, however the world’s your oyster if you happen to want Gateron, Topre, or Drop’s Holy Pandas.
The crux of the keyboard is its wi-fi performance, with the ability to use it from nearly anyplace within the room inside vary. Corsair says it’ll final anyplace between 32 hours with the lighting on full blast to 200 hours while you change it off completely. With its sooner USB dongle, you will get a 2.4GHz connection on Home windows, Mac, and each Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Bluetooth provides a little bit of latency into the combo, however opens up a complete host of different gadgets, together with Android and iOS smartphones.
Corsair K70 Professional Wi-fi Mini efficiency
Typing on the Corsair K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi takes some getting used to, just because it’s simple to overlook keys that we generally take with no consideration. Utilizing the FN key and I, J, Okay, and L to interchange the arrow keys feels unnatural and is one thing I nonetheless battle to adapt to regardless of having examined my justifiable share of miniature keyboards. I want extra firms would take the time to be extra considerate with their PCB format, with the Mountain Everest 60 serving as an ideal instance.
When you’ve mastered the modifications, it’s a easy expertise. Dare I say, some shortcuts are so intuitive that they need to be a staple on all wi-fi keyboards. For instance, holding the Fn key and urgent W, A, S, and D controls your mouse cursor. It’s not exact sufficient to play video games, but it surely is available in mighty helpful for controlling media servers out of your sofa.
The excessive profile keycaps ease the cramped feeling some 60% keyboards have and the genuine Cherry MX Purple switches in my pattern are nice for gaming with 45g actuation power and a 1.2mm actuation level. Since I want tactile, swapping them over for one thing extra my model is simple with the included keycap and change pullers.
Corsair continues to enhance its Slipstream wi-fi expertise, making cordless efficiency zippy. It’s tough to measure particular person options, but it surely’s clear that the sum of all its components is a easy, uninterrupted wi-fi expertise that’s prepared for aggressive gaming and has a slightly massive 30ft vary.
For instance, it helps as much as 2,000Hz polling fee when wi-fi utilizing the two.4GHz USB and eight,000Hz when wired. This can be a step up from the same old 500-1,000Hz on different wi-fi gadgets. The upper the quantity, the decrease the latency, however you’d be hard-pressed to really feel the distinction in real-time. What you’ll be able to really feel, nonetheless, is that it helps as much as three simultaneous wi-fi connections you can change between on the flick of a button.
Battery life kind of lands in Corsair’s ballpark, however 32 to 200 hours is nothing to ring house about. The Logitech MX Mechanical Mini is rated for 360 hours with backlighting on, though it solely is available in white, and our Asus ROG Azoth evaluate took round a month to hit the half-way level with full RGB and an OLED display screen. It does the trick, however falls quick when graded in opposition to the wi-fi curve.
Corsair K70 Professional Wi-fi Mini software program
The Corsair K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi works simply high quality with out software program due to shortcuts that allow you to document macros, pair the keyboard with a number of Bluetooth gadgets, and alter the lighting. Putting in the Corsair Utility Engine, or iCUE for brief, onto your Home windows or Mac gadget nets you much more customisability, although.
For starters, iCUE is important if you wish to plug the keyboard in and bump it up from its default 1,000Hz polling fee to eight,000Hz. It additionally affords you a wealth of various lighting animations and the flexibility to layer them over each other till you get your required impact. And you’ll reprogram keys and shortcuts to do absolutely anything you need, together with shifting the place the pseudo arrow keys are positioned.
When you’ve tweaked all the pieces to your liking, it can save you your profile and create a bunch extra to go well with just about any sport you’re taking part in. iCUE’s solely vital to customize and set issues up, as there’s 8MB of on-board storage, so it can save you them on to the gadget.
Corsair K70 Professional Wi-fi Mini verdict
Competitors is fairly skinny when looking for the best wireless mechanical keyboard, however the Corsair K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi doesn’t take that with no consideration.
It packs the newest wi-fi options into a light-weight, high quality construct and throws hot-swappable mechanical switches into the combo for good measure. The one factor that lets it down is its middling battery life, which does the job however will see you juicing it up extra typically than a few of its rivals.
Recommending it at its $179.99 USD / £169.99 value level is determined by the place your priorities lie. Aggressive esports gamers that want each edge are the avid gamers that’ll most profit from the keyboard, with journey fanatics that fancy a light-weight substitute for his or her weak gaming laptop computer keyboards not far behind.
There are many choices that don’t sacrifice the typing expertise which are higher for working at a PC, however the K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi stands tall if you happen to’re prepared to discover ways to use a 60% keyboard.
Professionals:
- Improbable construct high quality
- Sizzling-swappable keycaps
- Light-weight
Cons:
- Costly
- Middling battery life
- 60% isn’t ultimate for work or some genres
Take a look at our information on the best gaming keyboard for options to the Corsair K70 Professional Wi-fi Mini, which incorporates corded champions and wi-fi warriors.
Corsair K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi evaluate
A robust, light-weight, wi-fi mini keyboard that’s deserving of its identify, however the Corsair K70 Professional Mini Wi-fi is considerably weighed down by its hefty price ticket and middling battery life
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