eternitykh Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 My buddy and I just picked up the last 2 black K70s from the local Fry's yesterday, and what a beautiful keyboard! I already owned a K90 since launch, and Im still impressed at the aesthetics and elegance. My buddy switched from his razer blackwidow. First off, switching from the K90 to the K70 means i'll forgo all the macro keys. Do i miss them? not really. Did i use them? only to launch programs and games. but on the bright side i got rid of the plasticky part of an otherwise stylish looking keyboard. Arguably the best looking keyboard out there. The black brushed metal looks very sleek and professional. The optional contoured/textured gaming keycaps (that still have the letters glow through) are a nice touch (with one small flaw i'll explain later). The individual programmable lighting is also very nice to have, making your keyboard really customization for whatever games or use you may have for it. Though im not a fan of the windows 8 logo on the windows keys, corsair actually made the key labels line up with one and other on the bottom roll this time, making it look uniform and actually light up better. The K90's window keys were slightly lower than all the other labels. Good attention to details there, corsair. The wrist rest is identical to that of the K90's, just shorter to match the K70's width; a very smooth soft-touch surface, nothing that would attract finger prints. Another good side effect from upgrading to full mechanical switches is now the lighting is very even and uniform across the entire keyboard. The K90 had some membrane keys which the lighting had to be built differently from the mechanicals, making it much dimmer than the rest of the keyboard. The 3 level brightness adjustment has a good level of choices for everyone; all off, subtlety lit, normal, or very vivid, the red glows a soft aura over the black brushed metal, making the keys look like they are 'floating". So enough of it's appearance, let's move on to it's functionality. The Red switches is somewhat of a dilemma for some people. They DO take time to get used to, I know i needed some time when i first purchased the K90. They ARE more sensitive and require very little pressure to actuate. But once you get used to it, it types very nicely and you will feel less stress while typing and gaming. Again, the key is getting used to it. I have typed on Blues, Browns, and Reds. I ultimately prefer the reds for it's light and sensitive touches, it may not be every's choice, but that's my take on it. The media keys are pretty much like any other keyboards, except for it's also made of metal which gives it a higher quality feel. The Metal volume roller is useful and gives it a classy look on the keyboard. when i game or play music, i actually find myself use the volume roller and/or mute keys quite often. USB bypass, pretty standard here, nothing to comment about. i've used this slot on the K90, and i will continue to do so on the K70. I connect the bypass port to the Charger+ port on my asus motherboard. No comment on the BIOS switch as i do not have issues myself with using this keyboard with my system's BIOS. But from what i can tell, that's a very handy feature to have for those systems that DOES have compatibility issues. Overall the keyboard has an excellent build quality and feels very durable. The main cord is very thick and wrapped in quality material, the ends are nicely integrated into the device, the USB plugs are in a matching red with the keyglows. Now the only real objective flaw i can find is surprisingly the optional contoured keycaps. They leak light on the side where the contoured tips are clipped on to the keycap itself. This can be easily remedied by putting some solid dark paint on the inside where it's leaking light. Again, not really that bad. Overall this is another GREAT keyboard coming from corsair's vengeance line. With a full mechanical layout, corsair can now give a lot of the hardcore mechanical keyboard brands a run for their money. Now if corsair would allow custom orders of what switches we want, what lighting colors and what not........ but that's all upto corsair. Overall, I give this a 9/10 Just as reference, I'd give the K90 a 8/10 I hope this gave anyone looking into a K70 a good overview of what they are expecting. It's a nice switch-over even from the K90. If you absolutely need the Macro keys, then wait for the K95, It'll be just as good, with the functionality of the extra macro keys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizzuk Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 thanks for that review :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheoParke Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Great review. Just one nitpick: The media keys are not made of metal. They are plastic, and they appear to be the same plastic as the keycaps. Only the volume roller is metal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted May 15, 2013 Corsair Employees Share Posted May 15, 2013 Thanks for the review! I will be sure to share your opinions with the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternitykh Posted May 17, 2013 Author Share Posted May 17, 2013 Great review. Just one nitpick: The media keys are not made of metal. They are plastic, and they appear to be the same plastic as the keycaps. Only the volume roller is metal. good catch ;): that was an assumption on my end because the k90's was silver and i actually thought it was metal that whole time, hahaha.... now i have to look at the k90 again when i get home tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogoku Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 I wrote a review on gdgt.com that sums up my feelings in exuberance! http://gdgt.com/corsair/vengeance/k70/reviews/xbn/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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