Corsair Gaming K95 RGB PLATINUM review

Posted on: 02/07/2017 11:58 AM

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Hmm so K95 a few years back and then updated to the K95 RGB and now here's the K95 RGB Platinum.

Wonder what's been updated for this version then?

EDIT:
Ah it's mentioned pretty early into the review, switch changes from MX Red (or Brown I think was a option as well.) to these MX Speed ones while retaining the full RGB lighting, tweaked the wrist pad a bit too.

I had the regular K95 before, LED's died pretty quickly which seems to have been a common issue but it worked really well even so since that lighting was more of a extras and doesn't really impact functionality much though these RGB models also allow for some interesting light effects should the user desire to set that up.

V.2 of the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software (LED control for example but also firmware updating and polling rate plus mouse sensitivity and such.) also had some quirks initially but they've slowly been fixing it up since that first public beta release.
(Think it's still considered beta but it's fairly usable now though there's likely more to be done still before it replaces V.1 entirely.)

Corsair does tend to re-release their keyboards using newer switch types come to think of it, whether it's the earlier MX Silent or these MX Speed.
(0.8mm difference compared to MX Red seems kinda trivial but perhaps there's other changes with these, need to read through the rest of the review.)




I could be wrong but 3.0 compatibility and only needing one port would be a nice update eventually, if doable of course.
(3.0 USB should be native on most recent motherboard models, not quite the same for 3.1 though even with the new Intel z270 boards.)

Then again if it's for USB throughput I guess people would want the keyboard to have 3.x as well, at least for stick memory or similar higher-speed devices.
(Not so much for say input devices or headphones I'm guessing.)


Though I guess with these mechanical keyboards the real improvement for them would be if pricing could come down a bit, this has some extras but 199$ and whatever it'll be here in Europe (Probably a bit more.) is a bit of money after all though the components themselves such as the actual switches and the on-board memory are probably not that easily lowered in price even if Corsair here does seem to have some deal with the switch manufacturer.

But keyboards and mice do hold up pretty well so not something you usually "upgrade" that often short of the hardware itself failing.

Posted on: 02/07/2017 04:41 PM

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Increasing the price and gutting the additional macro keys from the K95 line seems like a poor decision.

Posted on: 02/07/2017 04:51 PM

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Had a K95 for about 2 years now, can tell you the only thing a hate about it are those ****ing extra macro keys, make the board extralong and I literally never use them, reaching over it just a pain in the ass.

Posted on: 02/07/2017 06:03 PM

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Nice music videos. We want more like this.

Posted on: 02/07/2017 06:32 PM

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I'm spinning dat **** like a DJ brother

Posted on: 02/07/2017 06:36 PM

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I was in the market for a new keyboard for some months now. My CM Storm Trigger keyboard went past the 5 years mark some time ago and it started showing its age, main problem being constant disconnects/reconnects (at first I thought it was the cable, but it's something internal). It got to a point where this would happen while gaming, and in a game like BF1, well, it led to some serious nerd rage all right.

That being said, I was eyeballing this model ever since it got in stock at my favorite store and now after reading Hilbert's review I took the plunge (except mine has MX Brown switches). It is by far the most expensive keyboard I ever bought, but as with my ol' Trigger (which btw was pretty expensive too for that time), I plan on using it for a minimum of 4 years. I'm not a fan of RGB, but the the overall design and quality of the build convinced me. I mean, it looks great even with lights off. I will probably end up with a white/red (maybe some blue) color profile, which should look good, but at the same time not crazy rainbow.

Posted on: 02/07/2017 08:09 PM

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My point is that having a bunch of macro keys was the only major difference between it and the scads of other mechanical boards. Now they're gutting that and charging more. Someone may as well buy a K70 instead if they want to stick with Corsair.