Gadgetory

so my first reaction to the arrival of my sample of a retail k70 RGB was like wow gee awesome I'm gonna go plug it in right now I'm gonna get me sweet and I can't wait I then proceeded to calmly and patiently wait for the new course error Utility engine queue software to download and install fired it up and after faffing about for a couple minutes realized I had no idea how to do anything so I checked the box for the manual only to discover that the reason courser makes you download the manual is that it's a hundred and forty two pages long that's when it hit me this review was going to take a while coolermaster neptune series CPU coolers are available in a variety of radiator sizes to perfectly suit your next build click now to learn more we'll start with a physical overview if you've seen one k70 you've pretty much seen them all the layout is a standard 104 key with no deal breaking alterations like a short backspace key and a couple much appreciated additions namely a hardware switch for polling rates I recommend leaving this at the default setting and bios mode which improves compatibility particularly outside of your OS on older hardware it's got a three level brightness toggle a windows lock key 5 media keys and a classy looking textured metal volume wheel Corsair continues to include soft touch rubberized wrist rests and as someone who won't use a keyboard without one I consider this very important and they continue to deliver the same pleasing fit and finish that we've come to expect over the last few years with a gorgeous solid brushed aluminum backplate rubber bottom flip out feet and a braided dual USB power cord although it should be noted that the second connector with two arrows on it is not for a pass-through port but just extra power for the RGB LED lighting and significantly upgraded micro controller when you're using USB 2 if you plug in via USB 3 you only need the connector with the picture of the keyboard on it and you can leave the other one dangling so let's dive right into it shall we you well publicized and much-anticipated special sauce here is Cherry's implementation for now exclusive to Corsair of RGB lighting within their MX series key switches replacing the single three millimeter to lead led embedded on the top of the switch directly below the key cap is a new system that mounts an RGB LED to the PCB of the keyboard and uses a translucent key cap housing and lens to focus the light so from the outside it looks very similar to the older style of course this would all be meaningless if performance was compromised in any way and keyboard enthusiasts will be happy to know that the tactile characteristics of the red blue and brown Cherry MX switches that this keyboard is available with that launch are untainted and another desirable side effect is that the LEDs are less susceptible to failure due to static discharge because their surface mounted in the keyboard so so far sounds good all around but of course if it's impossible to use then this is all a purely academic discussion so let's dive into the documentation for the Corsair utility engine software the main reason this keyboard has been delayed and delayed and delayed some more and find out if a little bit of good old fashioned aren t f'ing M is going to get me through this we'll start with profiles not to be confused with modes which are sort of like sub profiles profiles store their modes and foreground lighting effects and can be switched automatically when certain applications launch or manually using the system tray icon something you may find yourself doing often when setting up lighting effects since sometimes you'll have to change them to get settings to apply modes coexist with profiles you must always have one of each loaded at least they can have their own background color schemes over which the foreground lighting effects will run but they are inexplicably missing functionality like the ability to have continuous wave patterns or their own reactive typing schemes so you'll likely need a handful of profiles to get the variety that you obviously crave because you spent a couple of hundred dollars on a keyboard that lights up funny modes also store button assignments and the options here are basically endless every button on the keyboard even the LED brightness toggle which I rebound to mode switching because the keyboard lacks any dedicated buttons for that or even general purpose macro buttons is completely reprogrammable we're talking text input shortcuts to the homepage of your favorite website or applications or whatever overlaid countdown timers for gamers although that overlay features a bit of a work-in-progress Mouse dpi changes mouse movement nouse clicks separate macro execution for the downstroke and release of the key and even different lighting effects to go along with it it's pretty cumbersome but the groundwork has been laid here for coursers RGB series to be the most powerful keyboards ever made and never mind just for gaming for anything that requires execution of of macros or other complex functionality and we haven't even talked about the lighting yet it took me a few hours to get the hang of it but not at least not entirely because I'm an idiot I spent most of that time being frustrated by bugs like needing to drag a mode to the top of the list and sometimes quickly switch profiles in order to preview what I was doing and not being able to find mode switching within the actions editor because it's the one thing that's not in there no you need to right click the button instead but once I got the hang of it I found myself able to do some moderately cool stuff I can set up different key actions per mode clone my modes entirely within a profile change any key to any color I want even the media keys setup reactive typing on a single key or in a ripple effect I can set up wave starting on the side or in the center with whatever colors I want I can export the file to carry it with me to other computers or share with friends and coolest of all I can just not be arsed to do any of this and download profiles from the corsair forum where folks are already doing stuff but i couldn't figure out how to do but here i ran into another problem when you import someone else profile it adds all of the crap from theirs into yours with the only way to get around that being to manually delete them all or wipe out everything in the software and while I saw stuff that I wasn't sure how to do most of it was pretty simple different time delays longer or shorter trails on in effect more or fewer colors where's the full program ability that you promised Corsair Lua as they call it is not here yet which I guess is both encouraging and discouraging because it means it's less complicated for now but it also means that it's good to get more complicated later in order to unlock the full potential of this bad boy so I guess that leads pretty well into conclusion time and it's not a simple conclusion in the ten years I've been using Corsair products I've seen innovation and I've seen success but I've also seen failure so what is the k70 right now I would say it's both the idea is a success but the endless delays gave their competitors the better part of a year to react and bring their own solutions to market now that it's finally here I'd say the quality of the hardware is a smashing success but the software is to put it bluntly not I mean its features our success compared to other products currently on the market but compared to the expectations that they set they're not and I'm sure they'd prefer if I just ignore the uproar over the course they're gaming rebrand initiative speaking of things that are not that successful right now so the Queen a 70 RGB won't be taking home an editor's choice or anything today but what I will say based on my experience with Corsair is that well this was not a smooth product launch the battle for RGB keyboard dominance is far from over for all their flaws course there's RGB keyboards have a few key advantages versus their competition number one is excitement this is the most anticipated keyboard in the history of computer enthusiasts ever as far as I can tell number two they are first to market they exist people are buying them and more importantly not returning them the bugs appear to be software rather than hardware issues which makes patching the ones in the field relatively simple and gives corsair much-needed capital to continue to develop the product and number three is that Corsair always comes up swinging when they smell blood and I bet they do right now I mean this is the first time an established gaming peripheral maker and in this case two of them has ever reacted so quickly to something little old Corsair has done and if I was those competitors I would make damn good ensure that the chroma and the G 910 are strong reactions the last time Corsair entered a category this aggressively the PC power supply and case industry was dominated by a little company called an Tech and the rest is history ain't it anyway expect to see coverage of the K 95 or K 65 the macro button equipped and 10 keyless variants of the K 70 when I've had a chance to scope out the competition or when Corsair turns their software from something that limps along functionally into something worthy of the course their name or the Corsair gaming name with some bat lifting or whatever it is they're calling themselves these days guys thanks for watching like this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment letting me know do you believe that Corsair can ultimately deliver what they promised with the hardware here and if so are you buying one guys check out the link in the video description to support us you can buy a cool t-shirt like this one you can change your Amazon bookmarks one with our affiliate codes if we give a small kickback and you can even give us a monthly contribution directly all that stuff helps us out a lot thanks again for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe