Review: Corsair K55 Keyboard

As much as I love a good mechanical keyboard, my wife (or more specifically, her hearing) does not. There’s no denying that even though a good mechanical keyboard is the ultimate typing experience they can generate an ungodly amount of noise.

So, I was despatched to my local IT market with an instruction to buy a quieter keyboard. OK, love, don’t have to tell me twice.

The Corsair K55 is what I came home with and after spending a few weeks with it I’m very happy with my decision. It’s not a mechanical keyboard, it used a membrane system like most other devices, but it definitely has that feel about it.

Aesthetically the K55 will not look out of place on any black-themed desk. The mix of high-gloss and matt finishes is modern without going too over the top, and the overall construction feels pretty sturdy, I can see this board lasting me a good long while.

I found typing essays for university very comfortable on the K55, I can type solidly for a good couple of hours without getting much fatigue, it’s an incredibly comfortable experience. What’s more it’s a lot quieter than the mechanical board it replaced, so the wife’s happy. Truth be told it isn’t the excellent typing experience you’d get from a mechanical keyboard, but it’s close.

Along with the board itself you also get a detachable wrist rest thrown into the box. Whether or not you use this will be entirely down to personal preference. I use it and I find the material and texture very comfortable.

In addition to a full qwerty board you also get six programmable macro keys on the far left, as well as media playback keys on the upper right side, a windows key lock button (for gaming), a macro programming button and a killswitch for the RGB.

Speaking of which, being a gaming keyboard in 2019 the K55 features multi-zone RGB backlighting allowing you to make use of a number of pre-programmed routines via function key combinations. Alternatively you can use the Corsair iCUE software to program up more complex designs to suit you rig, or program the lights to behave differently depending on what you’re doing.

I had a quick go at programming up the RGB using the iCUE software, and I must say I found it quite confusing and difficult to use. But if you already use the software to control other RGB enabled devices from Corsair then you’ll be interested to know that this board supports it too.

In terms of the macro keys, I found these particularly useful for gaming and managed to setup the keys to enable me to combine multiple key presses in PU:BG into one easy key press. It’s a good idea if you’re a serious gamer as it will allow you to program up multiple actions into one key, for instance; switching to a certain gun and completing a reload.

The downside to this system is that you’ll need to reprogram the keys for each game that you play, but if you’re massively into one game above all others then this could prove a very useful tool.

Overall the Corsair K55 RGB keyboard is an excellent offering at a very reasonable price. In the UK you can expect to pay just under £50 to make it yours, though you may pick one up cheaper in a sale. At this price it’s an excellent offering for gamers and content creators alike, and should definitely make your shortlist.

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