Corsair K95 Platinum RGB Keyboard With Cherry MX Speed Switches, Hands On

[scolaner]

When you’re on top, we suppose that iteration is a smart move, which is why Corsair apparently decided that its new flagship keyboard, the K95 Platinum RGB, would simply be a slightly spruced up version of the rest of its lineup.


Corsair K95 Platinum RGB Keyboard With Cherry MX Speed Switches, Hands On : Read more

 

[dstarr3]

Why did they have to get rid of the 18 programmable keys and just leave us with six? I had a first-gen Logitech G15 with 18 programmable keys, and I used every single one of them very regularly. That keyboard died, and I had to buy a K95 because it was the only keyboard on the market with the same 18 programmable keys. But now even Corsair doesn't make a keyboard with that many keys anymore.

I'm getting really worried for the day I have to buy an actual programmable keypad to supplement an ordinary keyboard. Problem with that is that those programmable keypads cost a bloody fortune. They cost more than the K95.

 

[Nintendork]

Because they market that Keyboard for gamers/avrg user and 18 is most the time too much and annoying. 6 keys to the left takes the usual space you would have for extra buttons on cheapo kb's (back/close button) so no ones feels it bizarre.

 

[Urzu1000]

I bought the K95 RGB back on launch. I was really disappointed with the lighting of all things. Colors bleed into each other if keys are different colors near each other (somewhat expected), and most keys aren't even fully lit up. The lights are positioned near the tops of the keys, so for example on my !1 key, the ! is lit up brightly, but the 1 is mostly dark. Perhaps my expectations are unreasonable, but I'll probably switch brands after five or six years with this one. I wouldn't recommend coughing up money for the "platinum" variant unless you see it in person, or unless you see keys lit up in a DARK image where you can actually see the color bleed/etc.

 

[dstarr3]

Yeah, there is quite a lot of color bleed from one key to the other. The default lighting profile is all keys are red, except WASD which are white. But the effect is that the neighboring keys are a bit pink on the neighboring edges. I don't particularly care, because all I want is just one static color across all keys, so I don't have to deal with it. But, if you are concerned about color bleed like this, yes, it is a problem with this board.

Otherwise, though, I do have to say I really enjoy it. It is a really solidly built piece of kit. Although no USB passthrough is pretty stupid, especially considering it requires two USB plugs to operate. Maybe they've added that to the Platinum, not sure.

 

[Jim90]

Yet another keyboard where the space between keys is awash with light. I might be in the minority but I only want the actual key writing to be illuminated - and definitely not have any bleed whatsoever into surrounding areas between the keys. Doing this This HAS to improve clarity and reduce visual distraction (I'm not a touch typist).

I purchased a Logitech G910 mainly because it can do this properly. Amongst other features, any key can be set to a different colour, and different colour profiles set for any .exe / game (good for in-game / utility keys)

 

[Spazzy]

I agree DSTARR3, I use all 18 as well. I use the bottom 6 for movement and the other 12 as action buttons while gaming. While not gaming, I use them for Windows macros.

 

[Elysian890]

The 18 keys are really useful to play MOBAs or strategy games where you need to press multiple keys at the same time, program a macro for perfect timing on each key and that's all, in my case 4 are for camera movement, 6 for character abilities and the rest are different ingame macros, profiles also help a lot
looks like K95 platinum is aiming more to the average user, oh, and yeah, you need a big surface to use this keyboard plus a mid or large mouse mat

 

[dstarr3]

I don't even use them for gaming, I use them all for app launching, in-app shortcuts and macros, Windows shortcuts, etc. When you get used to having everything you do on a computer just one keypress away, it's hard to shift away from that.

 

[scolaner]

I don't even use them for gaming, I use them all for app launching, in-app shortcuts and macros, Windows shortcuts, etc. When you get used to having everything you do on a computer just one keypress away, it's hard to shift away from that.

Do you *also* use the numpad? Because there are a few keyboards out there now that have a removable numpad, and you can flip it to the other side of the keyboard and use all those keys for macros. Tesoro has one, and Asus' Claymore is designed that way.

 

[dstarr3]

I don't even use them for gaming, I use them all for app launching, in-app shortcuts and macros, Windows shortcuts, etc. When you get used to having everything you do on a computer just one keypress away, it's hard to shift away from that.

Do you *also* use the numpad? Because there are a few keyboards out there now that have a removable numpad, and you can flip it to the other side of the keyboard and use all those keys for macros. Tesoro has one, and Asus' Claymore is designed that way.

Yes, I do.

 

[scolaner]

I don't even use them for gaming, I use them all for app launching, in-app shortcuts and macros, Windows shortcuts, etc. When you get used to having everything you do on a computer just one keypress away, it's hard to shift away from that.

Do you *also* use the numpad? Because there are a few keyboards out there now that have a removable numpad, and you can flip it to the other side of the keyboard and use all those keys for macros. Tesoro has one, and Asus' Claymore is designed that way.

Yes, I do.

Then there is no hope. 😉

But perhaps there's a place in various company's keyboard product stacks for a standalone bank of left-side macro buttons. If they build a left-side USB port onto their keyboards, it would be a really simple add-on accessory.