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I’ve all the time wished an extremely low profile gaming keyboard. I might satisfied myself it could give me a velocity benefit, and on paper the Corsair K100 Air appears to vow that, in addition to masking all of the bases an ideal gaming keyboard ought to. With its extremely low profile Cherry MX keyswitches, miniscule actuation, and excessive 8k polling, it dangles the hyperfast esports highlife in your face, teasing you with an unfathomable price ticket.
Corsair has pulled out all of the stops with the Corsair K100 Air gaming keyboard. The factor screams high quality, and I used to be enamoured with the suave appeal of its svelte design the second I acquired it out of the field. It took a day or so to interrupt within the unique Cherry MX key switches, however since then typing has been heavenly. These are Cherry’s lowest profile providing, requiring simply 65g of drive and actuating at 0.8mm. Coupled with 1.8mm full journey distance and a few unbelievable tactile suggestions, I really feel like a maestro plunking away on a wafer skinny piano in my day by day work.
My solely situation with all this ultra-low profile goodness is that my longer nails are inclined to by chance activate the incorrect keys, with F12 being the bane of my existence proper now. Shorten the nails, nevertheless, and man do these infants sing—that is each in-game and when speeding to get a month-overdue overview executed. Pair that with 8,000Hz polling and I may by no means blame my keyboard for tardiness in work or play ever once more.
Bashing out a overview on the K100 Air has been met with the rock strong high quality of a beautiful CNC-milled piece of package. There isn’t any bend whenever you push the center, or attempt to twist it, and the brushed aluminium end completely screams high quality. In-line media controls are all the time a plus on a keyboard, however must be anticipated for the worth Corsair is charging—extra on that later.
Corsair K100 Air specs
Swap: Cherry MX extremely low profile tactile
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2 x3. Wi-Fi, USB 3.1 Kind-A
Battery life: 50–200 hrs
Dimension: Full measurement
Polling price: 8,000Hz
Actuation: 0.8 mm
Backlights: Per-key
Passthroughs: No
Options: NKRO, anti ghosting, 4x macros, 8MB onboard reminiscence (50 profiles), dongle holder, 1ms response, As much as 33ft (10m)
Media controls: Pause/play, skip ahead/again, mute, horizontal quantity wheel
Macro keys: 4
Wrist relaxation: No
Weight: 0.78kg (1.71lbs)
RRP: $280 (opens in new tab) / £280 (opens in new tab)
On prime of a slim and sturdy physique that makes even this full-size keyboard supremely moveable, Corsair has doubled down on versatility with unbelievable connectivity, too. Not solely can the K100 Air hook up with as much as three units through Bluetooth, and one gadget through the wi-fi dongle—each with unbelievable vary and a constant connection going for them—you can too change between connection sorts simply utilizing the Gkeys. I discovered this a novelty, however for somebody consistently switching between completely different units, it may be a godsend.
The Gkeys double as macro keys in addition to one other of the K100 Air’s tips: Elgato Stream Deck (opens in new tab) integration. Now Elgato has been assimilated into the Corsair ecosystem that is the type of factor we get. And whereas it is nothing new {hardware} clever—your common macro already provides this performance—Corsair can at the least say the method of setting it up is just a little simpler with all the things rolled into one.
Corsair’s iCue software program is simple sufficient to make use of, too, and fairly unintrusive which might’t be mentioned for some—Razer Synapse, I am taking a look at you. The per-key lighting choices are multifarious, and possibly just a little pointless with the choice to go 20-layers deep with the lighting results. I’ve to say I had enjoyable taking part in round with it, although.
The principle wi-fi contender for the K100 Air is the low profile Logitech G915 (opens in new tab), coming in at $230 it at the moment sits on the prime of our greatest wi-fi gaming keyboard (opens in new tab) information, although our most important situation has all the time been its worth. Examine this $50 cheaper board and you actually need to ask your self what you are getting for the additional value.
Each provide 40+ hours of battery life with RGB on, very good actuation, and devoted media controls, however apart from impeccable fashion theres not a lot in it. The K100 Air’s 8,000Hz polling price is its most important bragging level over the Logitech board, however even that finally ends up being superfluous in most conditions—it’s a must to be principally superhuman to detect it anyway.
Positive, the Logitech might not be a full sized board, nor does it include multi-device connectivity, or fancy Stream Deck integration, however are any of these options actually value the additional $50 over the keyboard that at the moment tops our decide for the most effective wi-fi gaming keyboard?
Equally the Corsair K100 Air’s wi-fi functionality, devoted media controls, and extremely low profile Cherry MX Switches appear to provide it the higher hand towards the Wooting Two HE (opens in new tab)—our present greatest gaming keyboard. And whereas these are all nice options, the Wooting provides scorching swappable analogue switches, with adjustable actuation, for a not-unsignificant $85 much less.
Velocity and flexibility are evidently on the prime of Corsair’s priorities for the K100 Air, and unique switches from a world-leading producer will put it firmly on the radar for keyboard red-switch likers. However that exclusivity comes at a worth. Ultimately, value is king. Whereas the K100’s smashing spec grants an distinctive expertise, bringing it very near perfection, I might have anticipated one thing really ground-breaking for the $280 price ticket. I did not even get a wrist relaxation.
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