PRELUDE: For the last few months I have been in the market for a mechanical keyboard. I did my research and came across plenty reviews from manufacturers like, Das, Rosewille, Mionix, Filco, and IBM to name a few. Reviewers unanimously noted that mechanical key switches were the way to go, and that quality came with them, regardless of manufacturer. (excluding Razer) With that in mind I set up the criteria I was looking for.
The first one I tried was the Mionix.
Aesthetically it was 10/10, quality felt 10/10 but I knew the Mx Blacks would be tiring considering how much I type, plus the price ($140)was little to high for my budget.
The next was the Razer Black widow ultimate Battlefield 3 edition.
That too was a letdown because of the price ($140), ricer looks, and as nice as the Mx Blues were to type on; they were simply to loud.
The SIIG was last and the simplest.
It had no media keys, wrist rest, or backlight. Despite that the White Alps were comfortable to type on and the price was perfect at $70. Unfortunately the Alps were as loud if not louder than the Mx Blues so I went home disappointed. Browsing Newegg that night I came across the pre-order of the Corsair Vengeance K-60. At $100 it was in my budget, and the non tactile MX Red keys seemed quiet enough. Furthermore it was clean looking, had media keys, and built by a company with a reputation for taking care of their customers. I waited the next few weeks to check out the upcoming reviews of it; yet not many ended up coming out. Release date came and went yet I was still apprehensive as my local hardware store didn't have it on display. Finally Christmas came, and today, the day after I went to pick it up.
Here are some picture of the unboxing and parts:
I want to keep this relatively short despite my earlier discourse. I will be discussing this keyboard on 4 different qualities. Aesthetics, Build Quality, Functionality, and Price point.
Aesthetics, this is going to be the most subjective part of the review so bear with me.
The brushed aluminum and lack of colored LEDs gives the K-60 a professional look. Appearance wise everything has an obvious function and nothing is included that serves no purpose. The styling is simple and I love that. However I find two things a bit out of line though. The single palm rest and windows key. I will talk about the palm rest more in the other sections, as for the windows key it doesn't fit the overall design. The keys, the media keys, the overall design is quite angular, yet the windows key is circular. I think it would have been better implemented in the same shape as the other media keys, yet its such a small point that its almost moot.
One big suggestion I would give to Corsair is this. Consider color. I realize you had an overall style for the Vengeance peripheral line but I think the silver color is a poor choice. Looking around my desk I don't see anything silver. My speakers are black. My computer case is black. My mouse is black. My mouse pad is black.
The bezel on my monitor is black, hell even the cords going to and from my computer are black.
I know I am not the only one with this set up. Yet this silver keyboard alone stands out of synch with this look. Corsair did a fantastic job with the styling of the 800 and 600d cases, and key to that was the BLACK brushed aluminum look. For that reason I would suggest releasing this keyboard with black aluminum as an option. Not only would it fit in better with other peripherals, but in my opinion it would look even more bad ass.
Build Quality:
As a mechanical keyboard the quality and reliability are all there. The K-60 is solid as a rock compared to most other keyboard it seems quite capable of withstanding gamers occasional fits of rage. The fact is for a keyboard this thing seems pretty much indestructible. Included in the palm rest is a key removal kit which works very well. The most impressive quality of this keyboard is the raised keys. This makes cleaning the keyboard a million times easier, and should seriously add to long term reliability.
Unfortunately this quality doesn't extend to the palm rest.
It is made out of light, thin plastic. Worse yet the clip onto the keyboard is made out of the same cheap plastic which is really disheartening. Frankly it just doesn't feel solid, and it wouldn't surprise me if that was the first part to break. As a suggestion to Corsair magnets do a wonderful job holding things together, and unlike plastic they don't break. Maybe you should try this to attach the palm rest to the body.
Next the keyboard is not 100% mechanical. The F keys, ESC, and the 9 keys including delete and insert are all standard keys. Granted most people don't use any of those keys nearly as much as others, I still find this to be detracting from the overall quality because it shows that Corsair cut corners. Furthermore I don't think I would have as much of a gripe if the Escape and Delete keys were mechanical as well. Also I knew that information before I bought the keyboard, but found it to be a decent trade off for the price. Lastly, and the most frustrating oversight was the lack of rubber on the feet used to prop the keyboard up. If you on a slipper surface the rubber pieces on bottom do a great job keeping the keyboard in place, but if you put up all the feet its like putting a Ducati on ice. I would like to see Corsair fix that in the next generation.
Lastly I find the volume up /down wheel to by seated loosely . This results in a low quality feel. I think greater resistance on that wheel would make it feel better as well as make it easier to use.
Functionality:
As far as functionality is concerned this keyboard has it all. The media keys work just how they were intended to, the keys type beautifully and I don't look like a 12 year old while I'm doing it. Even the size is just right. Nothing is wasted in this design. I do have a few complaints though. The media keys sit far lower than the rest of the keys, which results in me hitting the dash or star button on my way to them. I think this could be easily fixed by using raised media keys, or putting them up on the top by the Corsair logo. The only other advice I have is offering this board in another Cherry switch. Reds are great for what I do, but no one would complain about using this keyboard in Browns, or Blues either. In the end its all about personal preference and I think in this case variety will sell.
The fact is this keyboard works exactly as intended with few quirks. Its not perfect but its damn well near.
Price Point:
This is really the finest point of this keyboard. I picked it up for a mere $80. For what it does that is a serious bargain. If Corsair has done anything right, that is it.
Conclusion:
Corsair seriously offered it all with this keyboard. You get great looks, stupid good build quality, great functionality and an incredible price point.
If you guys have questions please ask as I know I missed some stuff.
The first three pictures are not mine, and I do not claim to own them, they are they property of their respective owners.
Update 1: I have now owned this keyboard for around 3 months and I have a few things to add.
The next morning I plugged it in. Nothing. I waited another day and plugged it in again. This time I was getting glichy input. Press the k bottom and a 9 might pop up.
The next day I decided I was going to have to take it apart. Using the key cap puller offer I started by removing all the key caps. The non mechanical key caps are kinda a bitch to remove, and I stress that one takes extra care when removing as I could see them cracking.
To my memory the keyboard came apart pretty well, although I was afraid I was going to break something because of the internal plastic clip which took some convincing to get off. After that I opened it up, cleaned and dried off the inside.
I put everything back together, replaced the keys and waited another day.
I plugged it back and and tada! everything worked fine. However I had one more problem, the keys were sticky, or better said unpredictably tactile. I couldn't stand it so the next day i I took all the mechanical key caps off and carefully inserted a drop of Windex into each switch. From their I replaced all the caps and set off to typing.
As of now I only have one key, the 8 key which is still sticky, every other key types just like the first day.
Overall I would say the quality help up fantastically, although I would like to see Corsair be a little more intutive with their construction as the 20 some odd screws, tough non mechanical keycaps, and a final internal clip made taking the K60 apart a bit hairy.
MORAL OF THE STORY, DON'T DRINK AND TYPE, AND THE CORSAIR K60 IS TOUGH AS NAILS.
- Comfortable to type on (wrist rest please! also no shortened keys)
- Relatively silent because of the roommate (no mx Blues, Alps, or bucking switch)
- Clean look (no ricer trash)
- Media keys, or fn equivalent
- Backlight if possible
The first one I tried was the Mionix.
Aesthetically it was 10/10, quality felt 10/10 but I knew the Mx Blacks would be tiring considering how much I type, plus the price ($140)was little to high for my budget.
The next was the Razer Black widow ultimate Battlefield 3 edition.
That too was a letdown because of the price ($140), ricer looks, and as nice as the Mx Blues were to type on; they were simply to loud.
The SIIG was last and the simplest.
It had no media keys, wrist rest, or backlight. Despite that the White Alps were comfortable to type on and the price was perfect at $70. Unfortunately the Alps were as loud if not louder than the Mx Blues so I went home disappointed. Browsing Newegg that night I came across the pre-order of the Corsair Vengeance K-60. At $100 it was in my budget, and the non tactile MX Red keys seemed quiet enough. Furthermore it was clean looking, had media keys, and built by a company with a reputation for taking care of their customers. I waited the next few weeks to check out the upcoming reviews of it; yet not many ended up coming out. Release date came and went yet I was still apprehensive as my local hardware store didn't have it on display. Finally Christmas came, and today, the day after I went to pick it up.
Here are some picture of the unboxing and parts:
I want to keep this relatively short despite my earlier discourse. I will be discussing this keyboard on 4 different qualities. Aesthetics, Build Quality, Functionality, and Price point.
Aesthetics, this is going to be the most subjective part of the review so bear with me.
The brushed aluminum and lack of colored LEDs gives the K-60 a professional look. Appearance wise everything has an obvious function and nothing is included that serves no purpose. The styling is simple and I love that. However I find two things a bit out of line though. The single palm rest and windows key. I will talk about the palm rest more in the other sections, as for the windows key it doesn't fit the overall design. The keys, the media keys, the overall design is quite angular, yet the windows key is circular. I think it would have been better implemented in the same shape as the other media keys, yet its such a small point that its almost moot.
One big suggestion I would give to Corsair is this. Consider color. I realize you had an overall style for the Vengeance peripheral line but I think the silver color is a poor choice. Looking around my desk I don't see anything silver. My speakers are black. My computer case is black. My mouse is black. My mouse pad is black.
The bezel on my monitor is black, hell even the cords going to and from my computer are black.
I know I am not the only one with this set up. Yet this silver keyboard alone stands out of synch with this look. Corsair did a fantastic job with the styling of the 800 and 600d cases, and key to that was the BLACK brushed aluminum look. For that reason I would suggest releasing this keyboard with black aluminum as an option. Not only would it fit in better with other peripherals, but in my opinion it would look even more bad ass.
Build Quality:
As a mechanical keyboard the quality and reliability are all there. The K-60 is solid as a rock compared to most other keyboard it seems quite capable of withstanding gamers occasional fits of rage. The fact is for a keyboard this thing seems pretty much indestructible. Included in the palm rest is a key removal kit which works very well. The most impressive quality of this keyboard is the raised keys. This makes cleaning the keyboard a million times easier, and should seriously add to long term reliability.
Unfortunately this quality doesn't extend to the palm rest.
It is made out of light, thin plastic. Worse yet the clip onto the keyboard is made out of the same cheap plastic which is really disheartening. Frankly it just doesn't feel solid, and it wouldn't surprise me if that was the first part to break. As a suggestion to Corsair magnets do a wonderful job holding things together, and unlike plastic they don't break. Maybe you should try this to attach the palm rest to the body.
Next the keyboard is not 100% mechanical. The F keys, ESC, and the 9 keys including delete and insert are all standard keys. Granted most people don't use any of those keys nearly as much as others, I still find this to be detracting from the overall quality because it shows that Corsair cut corners. Furthermore I don't think I would have as much of a gripe if the Escape and Delete keys were mechanical as well. Also I knew that information before I bought the keyboard, but found it to be a decent trade off for the price. Lastly, and the most frustrating oversight was the lack of rubber on the feet used to prop the keyboard up. If you on a slipper surface the rubber pieces on bottom do a great job keeping the keyboard in place, but if you put up all the feet its like putting a Ducati on ice. I would like to see Corsair fix that in the next generation.
Lastly I find the volume up /down wheel to by seated loosely . This results in a low quality feel. I think greater resistance on that wheel would make it feel better as well as make it easier to use.
Functionality:
As far as functionality is concerned this keyboard has it all. The media keys work just how they were intended to, the keys type beautifully and I don't look like a 12 year old while I'm doing it. Even the size is just right. Nothing is wasted in this design. I do have a few complaints though. The media keys sit far lower than the rest of the keys, which results in me hitting the dash or star button on my way to them. I think this could be easily fixed by using raised media keys, or putting them up on the top by the Corsair logo. The only other advice I have is offering this board in another Cherry switch. Reds are great for what I do, but no one would complain about using this keyboard in Browns, or Blues either. In the end its all about personal preference and I think in this case variety will sell.
The fact is this keyboard works exactly as intended with few quirks. Its not perfect but its damn well near.
Price Point:
This is really the finest point of this keyboard. I picked it up for a mere $80. For what it does that is a serious bargain. If Corsair has done anything right, that is it.
Conclusion:
Corsair seriously offered it all with this keyboard. You get great looks, stupid good build quality, great functionality and an incredible price point.
If you guys have questions please ask as I know I missed some stuff.
The first three pictures are not mine, and I do not claim to own them, they are they property of their respective owners.
Update 1: I have now owned this keyboard for around 3 months and I have a few things to add.
- First I should address the quality. So far it has help up far beyond my expectations. In multiple fits of rage I have slammed both hands down with full force on the keys, and the worst damage I have caused is popping a key off. I spilt a shot of Sailor Jerry's rum right onto the keyboard and a month later its still working (I will go into greater depth later). I have traveled extensively with it, leaving it unprotected in the trunk and again no problems.
- Second I should speak about functionality and habits. After 3 months I can say the media keys are something you get used to. I no longer hit switches on my way to them. The FPS hand wrest thingy is absolutely useless. I picked up a $5 wrist wrest that extends full length and have never looked back. The red keys are also pretty useless, even for gaming because as soon as you want to type something you have to replace them at the risk of severe annoyance.
- Third I would like to give an update on the looks. The silver color is bugging me even more now than it did before. Dirt accumulates on all keyboards, but the silver really shows it where black would not have. Furthermore cleaning is more of a pain than I anticipate.
- Fourth I made the statement that the Cherry Reds were the best fit mechanical keys for an environment where noise could be an issue. I hold to this. My roommate is fine with my keyboard, and has not mentioned a complaint yet. Another thing to note is touch typing. The keys make the most noise when they bottom out, and because they are no tactile they make no noise when they register. That means that you can theoretically type without alot of the noise. So for anyone worried about noise, just know that with a little practice the worst will go away soon enough.
The next morning I plugged it in. Nothing. I waited another day and plugged it in again. This time I was getting glichy input. Press the k bottom and a 9 might pop up.
The next day I decided I was going to have to take it apart. Using the key cap puller offer I started by removing all the key caps. The non mechanical key caps are kinda a bitch to remove, and I stress that one takes extra care when removing as I could see them cracking.
To my memory the keyboard came apart pretty well, although I was afraid I was going to break something because of the internal plastic clip which took some convincing to get off. After that I opened it up, cleaned and dried off the inside.
I put everything back together, replaced the keys and waited another day.
I plugged it back and and tada! everything worked fine. However I had one more problem, the keys were sticky, or better said unpredictably tactile. I couldn't stand it so the next day i I took all the mechanical key caps off and carefully inserted a drop of Windex into each switch. From their I replaced all the caps and set off to typing.
As of now I only have one key, the 8 key which is still sticky, every other key types just like the first day.
Overall I would say the quality help up fantastically, although I would like to see Corsair be a little more intutive with their construction as the 20 some odd screws, tough non mechanical keycaps, and a final internal clip made taking the K60 apart a bit hairy.
MORAL OF THE STORY, DON'T DRINK AND TYPE, AND THE CORSAIR K60 IS TOUGH AS NAILS.
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