[REVIEW] Corsair Strafe Gaming MX Red

[Alex9090]

As I said before, if there is any mistake or typo in the review point it out with a comment or a PM. 

 

 

This time we are looking at a rather new keyboard from Corsair, more exactly the Crosair Strafe Gaming MX Red. This model is the successor of the K70 model which was a success for the gaming pheriphals from Corsair. This model comes with no palm rest (compared to the K70 that had one) and with a new design.

The model I’m going to test will have an implementation with the Cherry MX Red switches. The Corsair Strafe comes with a full red illumination in three levels of brightness. The illumination is made by standard LEDs (back-lightning). Also, on the sides the keyboard is illuminated. On paper, the keyboard comes with an anti-ghosting feature that will offer no input lag. Corsair Strafe comes with a polling rate of 1000 Hz also with an USB port on the back.

I’m going to categorize the parts of the review in:

·         Package/Accessories

·         Design

·         Switches

·         Feeling and daily-use

·         Software

·         Conclusion

 

Package/Accesories

Spoiler

 

The package of the Corsair Strafe presents the design of the keyboard and a few specifications. In the box, there is the keyboard (pretty obvious, right?) and also 10 replaceble keycaps with a keycap removal which will help you remove the keycaps and the good old manual.

 

 

 

 

Design

 

Spoiler

If I were to define the keyboard in one word it would have been solid. The keyboard has a weight of 1.2 kg and it feels secure at touching. To offer this weight and stability to the keyboard, Corsair added a metal plate in the body of the keyboard. In contrast with other mechanical keyboards from Corsair (especially the K70), the Strafe keyboard doesn’t have a metal cover, but it remains constructed with hard plastic.

 

 

 

 

The lightning is uniform and it offers quite a good brightness, but we will talk more about the lightning at the Software category (and about the Corsair Engine). If any doubted yet, the LEDs colours can’t be changed, they are red and they will stay like that.

 

Moving on with the design, I can say that is pretty close to the old K70, but in a smaller format without too many media keycaps and also without a wristrest. Some people prefer this type of layout to save space on the desk.

 

 

 

 

On the keyboard there is also a USB port and I think is a well preserved feature from the K70. The keyboard has 2 USB ports for power. The cable is really thick and it doesn’t come with a mesh on it (despite the trend that every cable has a mesh on it). I don’t have anything against this kind of cable, but I would prefer a thiner cable also at the end of the cable there are 2 USB ports coloured in yellow (I don’t know why yellow, but I would prefer it again in black or red).

 

 

 

 

In the up right side there a generous free space and I think that space will be used for a potentiometer for volume or brightness.

On the back of the keyboard there are the flips to tilt the keyboard to a better writing position.

 

Switches

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

The switches that the keyboard is coming with are mechanical and as I said, MX Red, but Corsair will also offer models with other switches (MX Brown and MX Blue). Since this is one of the first reviews of a mechanical keyboard, I would to write a few things about the history of these switches .

 

 

 

The MX switches weren’t introduced recently in the gaming keyboards, on the contrary, they were manufactured since 1983 when they offered a linear version of these switches. The MX switches used „Gold Crosspoint” contacts. The Gold Crosspoint represents an electrical contact switch which has two contacts each of them with a gold-plated prism., one static and one lamella which makes contact with the static one. There is a big variety of MX switches, but the most used today are:

·         MX Black

·         MX Red

·         MX Blue

·         MX Brown

·         MX Green

MX Black is distinguished by  a tactile force required to press, the most hard-pressed to a certain extent, the force required to press the key is between 40 and 80 g.

The MX Red is an alternative that offers a smaller tactile force (around 45g) of the switches MX Black. These switches are much faster (in gaming) and overall, they are not so recommended for typing. The feedback to push is felt only after being it’s being pushed all the way down (4mm). The MX Red switches were introduced in 2008 and those are the newest switches on the market compared to the MX Black that were introduced in 1984 and the MX Brown in 1994.

MX Brown represents a hybrid between the quality in gaming (the speed) and the ability of typing. The tactile force required is around 45 g and the feedback is not acute.

MX Blue are very tactile switches with a strong feedback and a medium required force (around 45-50g). Those switches are more used in typing than in gaming because the force required to press is bigger and the feedback isn’t pronounced as to the alternatives MX Red or Black.

 

Feeling and daily-use

 

Spoiler

As a user that used most of the time a keyboard with „membrane”, using in daily-use a mechanical keyboard was a big change for me because it offers a new feeling in typing. The feedback, the noise made while typing and the force required to press every keycap offers a whole new experience at your desk. The keyboard does not impresses with its design, but with its uniformity. The keyboard can integrate in most of the gaming systems or in a so called „Man Cave” where an illuminated keyboard is almost a necessity. The lack of the wrist rest does not affect the experience, but as a personal preference I wish there was one added to the package so I can choose whether I need one or not.

 

 

 

 

Typing, the difference was actually pretty small compared to typing with a membrane keyboard, around 81 words per minute with a single mistake with the Corsair Strafe and 85 words in a minute with a single mistake with the Sidewinder X6 which I’m using for 2 years.

 

In CS:GO I think it was the biggest struggle for me to accustom with they keyboard. I couldn’t use it in competitive because the layout was different too much to the old Sidewinder X6 (Shift smaller, CTRL wider and the buttons F1 F2 F3 F4 had other positions, for example the F4 button on the Corsair Strafe is just above the number 5 compared to the Sidewinder X6 where F4 is above button 4). Those details actually matter in a game, and changing the pheriphals has a huge impact on the gameplay because muscle memory works without your brain processing all the details, it works like a form of procedural memory when you just know what keycap you will need to push and the exact position of it. I’m not saying that this keyboard isn’t good for gaming, on the contrary, the feedback is fast and the feeling while playing is satisfactorily.

 

 

To prove the advertisement of 100% anti-ghosting there is the classic test where you need to press both SHIFT buttons and write:

·         THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG

If any letter is missing it shows that the keyboard has some ghosting.

For example at Sidewinder X6 there are missing two letters, “T” and “C”.

·         HE QUIK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER HE LAZY DOG

 

This test and ghosting’s existence at a keyboard appears when you are using multiple keys simultaneously and the keyboard is not able to record all the keys that you pressed. In games, you might press more than 3 keys at once and failing to register a single key could bring inconvenience.

 

Software

 

Spoiler

I am surprised to see how many you can change at the keyboard. In addition to macros that can be achieved with different combinations of media keys, the illumination is fully customizable. The software can perform different lighting effects using different schemes manually or using schemes took from the Corsair forums. Overall the keyboard backlight offers everything from the more expensive keyboards, but in one color.

 

 

 

 

The software is pretty light and it doesn’t use too much RAM, also, the keyboard is „plung and play” and the software is completely optional.

 

 

Conclusion

Testing and using the Corsair Strafe was a nice experience, the feeling when you touch the mechanical keys makes you feel closer to the game or the text you are writing. I can’t say that this keyboard is somewhat different to other mechanical keyboards, the MX Red switches can be found in many keyboards, but the simplicity of the keyboard makes you want to include it on a clean desk.

 

[Venomz1337]

Are the numlock, caps, etc lights LED as well?

[Alex9090]

When you say numlocks you are reffering to this part of the keyboard, right?

If so, yes, they have LEDs.

[Overkilled]

@Alex9090 the strafe isn't the successor to the K70

[Alex9090]

Yes, more likely is the replacement of the lower end model Vengeance K70.

[Patrick Bateman]

good review

better than some of the "reviews" on this forum