Corsair Gaming K70 RGB Mechanical Keyboard Review
by E. Fylladitakis on September 22, 2014 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Keyboard
- Peripherals
- Corsair
- mechanical
- RGB Backlighting
Introduction
It has been twenty years since Corsair's first retail products hit the shelves and the company has undoubtedly come a very long way since then. What started as a small memory manufacturer is now a major global supplier of advanced computer components and peripherals. Today is the dawn of a new era for Corsair, as the company announced the establishment of their own gaming brand. The new division has been christened "Corsair Gaming", and with the name comes a new department and logo. The focus will be on the development of high performance gaming peripherals.
Alongside the announcement of their new department, Corsair is also releasing several new products, with the much-anticipated RGB keyboards being among them. The company dropped the "Vengeance" series name and the new keyboards are just called by the brand name and model. That means we're now looking at the Corsair Gaming K70 RGB (and not the keyboard formerly known as Vengeance K70 RGB or some variation on that theme).
This keyboard has probably had more hype between its announcement and release date than any other keyboard in the history of humankind. Ever since the first demos of the keyboard found their way into pictures and videos back in January, there have been myriad rumors about the capabilities of the keyboard and the new Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software. Some people even suggested that this is "just a Vengeance K70 with RGB LEDs", which could not be further from the truth. The truth is that the new Corsair Gaming K70 RGB introduces many new functions and far greater customizability than any previous Corsair mechanical keyboard.
Today we finally have a chance to go hands-on with the shipping hardware. Join us as we examine the keyboard, its capabilities, and the new CUE software.
Packaging & Bundle
We received the Corsair Gaming K70 RGB in a well-designed, attractive cardboard box, capable of providing more than enough protection during shipping. Inside the box is a minimalist bundle of just a few leaflets and a full size wrist rest. The wrist rest has a corona-treated surface that gives it a soft, comfortable rubber-like feeling. Corsair apparently ditched the extra set of contoured, textured "gaming" keycaps that we saw supplied with the Vengeance K70 and the Vengeance K60. As we mentioned in several previous articles, very few (if any) gamers would actually swap keycaps before gaming so Corsair understandably realized that this was little more than an unnecessary extra cost.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
91 Comments
View All Comments
lehtv - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
So they sent Dustin over to Corsair, and in return, Corsair sent Fylladitakis to AT? Makes sense.Sabresiberian - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
I don't have a problem with it. I find his writing to be quite thorough and logical. Certainly in the grand scheme of today's internet writers it stands well above the average.You might also consider that English might not be his first language (though judging by name is far from accurate, especially in the modern world), or that he comes from a country where English varies slightly from American--English. Regardless, minor grammar or editing mistakes don't mean the writing is "poor" overall. I get that many people talk like a politician running for office these days - in other words, grossly exaggerate or use inflammatory language - but that is no excuse for calling a person's writing "poor" when it isn't.
I suggest you make such remarks very specific, about the exact phrase or word that bothers you. You might also consider sending him a polite PM instead of posting in a public thread.
JarredWalton - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
FWIW (and this is for the OP and thread in general, not to Sabresiberian) I do an editing pass on all of E.Fyll's work as you're correct: he's not a native English speaker. Sadly, I've been known to miss a typo or two, or even introduce my own errors -- our CMS does have a spell-checker, but I did the editing pass on a different PC early this morning and didn't realize the spell-checking wasn't turned on. Even then, the CMS doesn't catch potential grammar issues, and copying into Word and back becomes rather tedious. I just made a second pass looking for spelling errors and found several that I had missed, but I'm sure there are a few others.Personally, I view our reviews (and most computer hardware reviews) as being more useful from an informational standpoint than literary works that need to have perfect grammar in order to convey their intended message. We try to catch errors, but in the world of the Internet and with sometimes short review periods it's inevitable that we'll miss some things. Hopefully most of you can still enjoy the technical content, even if we sometimes mangle the English language. :-)
bebimbap - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
Overall I enjoyed the review and agree with your conclusion. I don't care about he "advanced key options" and the extra 60% cost compared to the vengeance series is too much.I find your writing good, as I am able to read it without becoming confused or rattled.
I believe what people are complaining about is the smoothness of the style. On the last page, the first paragraph begins in 2nd person as "you" are the target audience. But later in that same paragraph the audience is switched to 3rd person "the user". 2nd paragraph is written in 3rd person, and the 3rd paragraph is written in 2nd person again. The 6th paragraph is written in 1st person, and so forth. For some people a single skip on a CD track makes the entire CD unusable, but not myself, as long as it keeps flowing. This style does not bother me. I read for information, and you have gotten your point across on every front. Writing is first and foremost the exchange of information, and you have accomplished that.
If you take Dr Ian's writing style as an example he usually keeps most of his paragraphs in 3rd person, and is written more like a lecture or a scientific paper at times which I enjoy reading.
Dustin's writing has a lot of passion and is more colloquial and less traditional, and writes in mostly 1st person. He writes with rhetorical questions which engage the reader which I also enjoy reading.
In the end every author writes differently and they should. I do not want the same person writing every review.
E.Fyll - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
I do see your point and appreciate your feedback. Actually, I am to blame for this. You could say that it is the price I pay for "not being myself". My usual writing style is in third person: it also is very formal, short and abrupt. I have been (rightfully) accused of having a bland, cold writing style. I do realize that a strict, formal and direct text is not exactly suitable for this line of work, so I try to "liven it up" a little by either trying to write as if I am lecturing or by narrating my own ideas and experiences - hence the inconsistency. The switching is not ideal but, for example, it is difficult to narrate your own experience in third person without suggesting that it is not your own experience but "a universal truth". Clarity is always my top priority, I do not want to leave room for misconceptions, so it will always take precedence over uniformity when necessary.I suppose that it might work best if I stick with the third person writing for the majority of the text and switch to first person in paragraphs that describe my own views and experiences.
Dustin Sklavos - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
Write in whatever voice you're most comfortable with and then slowly develop from there. My early stuff here was really stilted because I'm *not* comfortable writing academically. Once I realized I could use my preferred style, it got much easier.Academic and formal is almost more appropriate for AT than my writing style ever was. Ignore the local yokels and just write how you want to write.
nathanddrews - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
On the contrary, I thought it was an excellent article. I'd be all over this keyboard if it came with MX Black keys.YazX_ - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
i have no problem with the writer, he did a great job here and in other articles, if you have a problem then its your own problem and i would suggest you move on or go else where.typos are common when writing any article, so stop crying like babies and get to the core of the article not the writer.
DigitalFreak - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
If you want to see some bad review writing, try reading video card reviews at HardOCP. Almost painful.Dustin Sklavos - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
While I'd almost take that as a compliment, I remember getting comments just like this one when I started at AT. I had one person say I needed to be fired.Your feedback isn't constructive, it's not helpful in any meaningful way, the only purpose it serves is to be hurtful while you hide behind the internet. E.'s writing is fine, it's just more academic in style than mine was. Different is not worse or better, it's different. But E.'s methodology (at least with cases and cooling) is more sound than mine was, E. can do extremely detailed PSU reviews, and he happens to be picking up peripherals.
As for the typo you guys are griping about, I was corrected roughly once an article. It happens.
E. has my complete confidence, support, endorsement, whatever you want to call it. I *like* my successor. If it had been up to me I *still* would've chosen him.