We are back with another technical review guide and this time around; we’re going to discuss the Corsair K70 RGB TKL Champion Series Optical-Mechanical gaming keyboard.
This keyboard is basically an upgraded version of the one released last year, however; this one is now coming with Corsair’s shiny OPX Optical-Mechanical switches. These switches are also found on the Corsair K100, which is the favorite gaming keyboard of many.
You’d get this product for almost $150 as it costs you at least $10 more than other K70 variants that are coming with Cherry MX switches. If you want to have these switches then be ready to pay the extra cost.
It is important to mention that the OPX switch is basically designed for extra fluidity and speed. You’d also get a 1 mm actuation distance with zero debounce. Also, it is eminent to mention that Cherry MX Reds will actuate around 1.8 mm.
All of this gives us an indication these switches are really smooth, fast and clacky. The manufacturers of this device and the company owners have claimed that the new switch is far more reliable and faster and will also guarantee 150 million keystrokes before a lapse in performance.
To be honest, this is figuratively quite impressive, however; it is ultimately meaningless as the users won’t count the keystrokes while using the device. The only thing that matters is the gaming experience and we are certain that it is quite splendid.
In all honesty, while playing a few high-end games, we were not able to spot the difference between a 1 mm and 1.8 mm actuation distance. As far as the typing experience is concerned, it was quite different and not as pleasant as we would have liked.
However, we’re still confused whether it was the size and shape of the PBT caps that brought the difference or it was the switches. We can clearly say that the clackety-clack is a bit less annoying than on some other keyboards that we have seen.
The K70 OPX is a very well-built keyboard and the whole product is basically designed to address the rigors of the esports tournaments going around worldwide. It comes with an all-black chassis that is built from lightweight aluminum and gives you a really nice look overall.
It is important to mention that it is a TKL configuration that means you’d not get a numpad but will receive a smaller and more portable keyboard. Also, it has got slightly rough PBT caps that are non-slippery and won’t fade with age also.
It has got individual backlit keys, however; the lighting will come off pastel-like and washed out to Razer board even at the brightest. Overall, it gives a weird look and majority of people do not like it.
You can select up to 20 layers of lighting effects in its customization settings and you can do it through the Corsair iCUE software suite. The same suite also gives you an option for lighting integrations with other Corsair products like the Dark Core RGB Pro SE wireless mouse and some other popular games as well. Not to forget, the iCUE will also give you a finer control over the polling rate, custom key bindings and profiles. Around fifty of these profiles can be saved to the keyboard’s 8 MB storage.
You’d see a raised section at the top of the board that is dedicated to media controls and quick profile settings. A lot of people are in absolutely love with the media bar and its diamond textured aluminum volume dial and playback buttons on the left-hand side. These buttons are going to work flawlessly in both Windows PC and Apple computers.
There is a center panel in the design which should have been accommodating an LED display, however; it only has a Corsair logo made all over it. There are quick profile buttons that will help you in changing stored profiles, lighting will also enable you to lock the Windows Start key, in order to save you from tabbing out of your game.
This keyboard also connects through a removable USB Type-C and Corsair also gives you a very stable and sturdy braided USB Type-C to Type-A cable, however; you can also use any other available option. There is a tournament switch just next to the USB port that helps in disabling all custom macros and distracting lighting profiles. This is something a professional gamer is going to need in an esports tournament.
If we talk about its other important features then the K70 OPX also gives an AXON Hyper polling tech that brings out an impressive 8,000 Hz polling rate.
This means that this keyboard is bringing out a magnificent 0.25 ms response rate while some of the best boards in the world only manages to give you 2 ms. In addition to this, you’d get the uber-fast OPX switches and if your K/D ratio is still not improving then the problem is certainly in your gaming style and not in the gadgets you are using.
Overall, we’d definitely say that the K70 RGB TKL Champion Series OPX is an amazing gaming keyboard that will not only fulfill the requirements of an esports player, but will also meet the expectations of a day-to-day gamer. Use this keyboard for consistent gaming day-in and day-out and you won’t get bored of its exceptional response and performance.
As far as the new OPX switches are concerned, they are good but a raise of $10 is something very hard to digest for us. If you are looking for an excellent performance coupled with speed and media controls then this keyboard with handsome chassis is definitely for you.
Conclusion: CORSAIR K70 RGB Tenkeyless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Gaming keyboards are nowadays gaining equal popularity as gaming mice and PCs. This K70 RGB keyboard is an exceptionally build device with speedy optical mechanical switches and excellent media controls.
The RGB lighting is a bit dull, however; we have not seen any other major discrepancies in this device. As far as our recommendation is concerned, we would say that it’s a device worth trying and only professional gamers will understand the difference. That’s it from our side then. Write it down in the comments below if you have any queries. We shall answer them as soon as possible. See you soon in our next analytical piece. Until then, goodbye and good luck with whatever you choose.