Corsair K95 RGB Review - with MX blue VS MX Brown sound comparison

[Keponi]

[i'll try to make this as easy to understand as possible! This is my first ever review and English is not my native language so if you see some weird grammar and stuffs, sorry!]

 

So a few days ago, I got myself a Corsair K95 RGB, brown switch. I've been using this keyboard for 4 days now and I wanted to give you guys my opinion on it! Simply put, the keyboard is amazing, although it has some major problems and some nit-picky thing that are more of a preference than anything else. I will be comparing this keyboard to my old CMStorm QuickfirePro at some times to give you guys some kind of comparison.

 

So with that out of the way, let's get into this thing!

 

 

Introduction

 

The K95 RGB is Corsair's flagship keyboard at the time of this review, featuring "16.8 million" color lighting per key and 18 macro keys all together,

 

inside the package you find a detachable wrist-rest, some quick start manual, warranty card, and the keyboard itself.

 

SPECS (from Corsair's website)

 

First Impressions, design and build quality

 

 

 

When I first took the keyboard out of the box, I was already impressed with the super solid feel it has, almost no flex at all! The brushed aluminum finish looks incredible and is really hard to scratch. I've tried scratching the surface with my nails and you could see the white trail on the keyboard but it is very easy to wipe it off with your fingers.

 

The keycaps feels great, they are ABS and compared to the ones on the Quickfire Pro, they're a bit thicker (?). The finish on the keycaps kind of worries me that it will get "shiny" with some use because of it's smooth surface, time will tell!

 

The detachable wrist-rest feels sturdy and has a soft-rubberized texture that I really like, it does feel very comfortable. It snaps onto the keyboard and locks into place with 2 screws on the sides.

 

 

 

Ease of setting up and software

 

 

 

Remember when Linus said he had no idea how to do anything when he got his K70 RGB? This was also the case for me.

 

First, there are 2 USB plug. If I recall correctly, one is usb 2.0 and usb 3.0. You plug the usb 3.0 one and you're done. However, if you only have usb 2.0 port, then you'll have to plug in both, no big deal.

 

After that, I went to Corsair's website and downloaded the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) and the manual, which I discovered later that it was 153 pages long, whoops. Without reading the manual, I went into CUE and tried to figure out everything by myself, frustrated I couldn't even figure out to do the simplest of tasks like "HOW DO I MAKE THOSE COOL GRADIENTS I SEE IN OTHER PEOPLE'S REVIEW?" or "WHERE CAN I GET REACTIVE LIGHTING???"

 

I ended up spending hours and hours watching tutorials on Youtube and browsing on Corsair's forum to learn the fundamentals and downloaded the lighting profiles I found nice. (which is actually okay for me but definitely not okay for people who just want to plug-and-play.)

 

The software is confusing and riddled with little annoying bugs ,not expected from a $190 keyboard at all. Some of the profiles I downloaded didn't work and it kept piling up in the "lighting effects" tab which the only way you can clean them up is to manually delete them yourself. (and risk messing up the other profiles that you want to keep)

 

Downgrading to v1.3.70 solved the profile errors.

 

Actual usage, typing experiences and opinions on MX Brown

 

 

I play game a lot, not games that require insanely fast double-tapping or games that will benefit from the macro keys that much. In CS:GO I was able to program some of the G keys to automatically buy a full loadout for me with ease, so that's one good thing about the macro keys. As a digital artist, I can program the different G keys to do different actions that would otherwise require me to take my hands off the tablet pen.

 

You can also program the keys to switch between profiles and lighting modes, useful when you friends come over to your home and you just want to show off your colorful flamboyant keyboard! ;D

 

Other than gaming, I also type a lot. Like, literally 70% of when I'm using this keyboard, it's typing. I consider myself to be quite fast at typing and being able to type for a long time comfortably is very important to me, and Cherry MX Browns certainly do not disappoint. Switching from MX Blues, I was able to type noticeably faster and more consistent (and not annoy the heck out of whoever is in my room!).

 

Loading up 10fastfingers.com, I got 132 WPM on the first run ever with this keyboard which is unusual for me since I've been hovering around 120 WPM for a few months with the MX blues. Ended up breaking my old record and got a 136 WPM run. I was less prone to making mistakes and I could type more comfortably without my mind having to wait for the "click" to know that the key is pressed. Very nice.

 

 

PROS

 

- insanely solid construction

- programmable macro keys

- a lot of customizability

- quick switch between profiles and volume controller + some media keys

- it uses actual Cherry MX switches instead of Kailh

- it's Corsair (pfffft)

 

CONS AND NIT-PICKY STUFFS

 

- clunky and not so user-friendly software

- that damn 153 page manual

- no cable routing options

- did i mention the really thick cables

- keycaps feels a bit cheap, although I don't really mind!

- that logo is stupid, but again, i don't mind!

- no usb-passthrough

 

Final Score - 9/10

 

Conclusion

 

Although the software is rigged with bugs, the K95 RGB blew me away with it's capabilities. I would recommend this keyboard to anyone looking for a nice, not too gamer-ish looking keyboard (that logo tho ewwww)

that performs well and looks great. The RGB customization is a really nice touch, you can literally adapt this keyboard to any color-scheme your build or your workstation has.

 

Would buy from Corsair again! c;

 

 

Finally, a sound comparison video between my two keyboards and switches!

 

 

More pics!

 

[projectmayhem]

Nice review.

Love the camera work you did.

[Syntaxvgm]

This sucks. I don't really like browns. I love my k70 with reds. I want a k70 or k95 RGB, but I don't wanna buy another red keyboard, I already have one. 
I wish they were available with blues. 
 
Great review thanks for the time. 
Plus it doesn't do this not matter how hard I try.

 

Take it from a K70 regular owner, you'll love it. 

And great pictures! I'm stuck with a motox for a camera lol

[niofalpha]

I have the same keyboard!

Those Glamar shots look great!

[awesomes8wc3]

I am bad at typing lol...can hardly break 75wpm 93% accuracy on a mech (6g), i can get up to 100 on my microsoft multimedia sometimes lol