Corsair Gaming Vengeance K70 RGB

The Corsair Vengeance K70 RGB is quite a nice looking keyboard. It has a uniform black theme which while pretty typical, does at least represent a bit of an achievement with this one, since several different materials were used for its construction. The keys are plastic, while the main body is made from brushed aluminium.

I am not entirely sold on the idea of brushed aluminium peripherals that you are going to spend a lot of time touching, because almost nothing shows up fingerprints as bad as brushed aluminium.

It is the keys that you will be touching the most, but when you do touch the frame, you can tell.

Lettering is handled through translucent white cut outs, rather than laser etching or similar. This is to allow the backlighting to shine through the letter as well as the key's surroundings.

It does not look quite as nice as a printed key in my opinion, but it does have added longevity, since no matter how much you use them, the keys will not rub off.

The keys themselves are quite curious looking from the side, since each one features a clear switch housing. This is again, to let the backlighting really shine through, but it makes them look quite distinct even without power.

However this is no mere clear-plastic Cherry MX switch, but something that was custom designed in a cooperation between Cherry MX and Corsair. These are unique switches not to be found anywhere else, with slightly altered LED mounting for better lighting options and improved LED life span. It is part of the reason this board is so expensive (£140).

Under the hood, these LEDs are linked up with an ARM processor to handle the fancy custom light shows you can create with this board (see later for video evidence).

The switches themselves though are definitely red. While my version packed these, you can also buy the K70 RGB with brown or blue switches, depending on your preference.

Emblazoned along the top is the new Corsair Gaming logo, which I can not decide if it is two swords crossed at the handle, or a naff tramp stamp tattoo. I am not the only one who has pointed this out either, as a petition has been started for Corsair to switch back to its much simpler, and in my opinion cooler, logo: the pirate ship sails. Such is progress.

On the upper right hand side of the board, are your usual media controls. There is the play/pause, stop and skip buttons, right underneath the mute key and a pair of smaller buttons that handle backlighting brightness and lock/unlock the windows keys.

The scroll wheel is quite unique and works well as a volume control. I was also pleased to see that all of the controls work while you are in a game, so there is no need to minimise to change song.

Corsair made quite a big deal out of its media key location, but personally I prefer them on the left hand side of the keyboard, as I am far more likely to remove my hand from the keyboard for something like that, than I am the mouse.

On the back is a switch that lets you alter the polling rate of the keyboard. Can not say that is something I have ever particularly wanted to do, but I suppose it is nice to have the option. Since this is a USB only board too, there is also an option to put it into “BIOS” mode, which will allow it to work with legacy BIOS.

The underside of the Vengeance K70 RGB is your standard black plastic (the brushed aluminium is only a thin top later) with some tilt supports to let you raise the height of the whole keyboard, or just the front or back if you prefer. There are also rubber rests to stop it sliding around when in use, as well as a disclaimer suggesting that experts claim using any keyboard is bad for you, so take a break now and again.

The cable has a thick, black braid covering so should not be torn or chewed through by pets too easily (RIP my brown switch mechanical) and a pair of red USB connectors.

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