Corsair K70 RGB Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

About the Corsair K70 RGB Pro

There are five variations of the Cherry MX key switches included within the Corsair K70 RGB Pro. The two versions we tested used the Cherry MX Red and the Cherry MX Blue key switches. All variations fully support Windows, macOS, Microsoft Xbox, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.

Like other full-sized K70 keyboards, the K70 RGB Pro has an extra row above the F keys containing a volume roller and mute button, a screen for displaying num and caps lock status, and profile switch, brightness, and Windows lock buttons. Corsair also includes a magnetic wrist rest.

Corsair K70 RGB Pro specs

• Price: $170
• Connectivity: USB Type-C to Type-A cable (included)
• Polling rate: Up to 8,000Hz
• Switch type: Cherry MX Red, Blue, Brown, Silent Red, and Speed Silver
• Dimensions: 17.5 x 6.54 x 1.58 inches (without palm rest)
• Weight: 2.54 pounds (without palm rest)
• Material: Aluminum with black-anodized brushed finish (top plate only)
• Special features: Full RGB, individually lit and per-key programmable, media controls, included detachable palm rest, storage for up to 50 onboard profiles, tournament switch

What We Like

Simple layout that’s built to last

Alongside your traditional 104-key layout (a full-sized keyboard with a Numpad), the K70 RGB Pro has dedicated media controls and a volume roller. The media controls allow for streamlined control of movies, music, etc. at the push of a button, and the Corsair’s signature aluminum roller allows for granular control of volume levels.

In the majority of the games I play, I use the WASD keys for movement, so the placement of the volume roller in the upper right-hand corner made it convenient for me to turn down the volume without taking my left hand off the keyboard. (The volume roller’s tactile pattern makes it easier to grip with your fingertips, too.) The tall height of the keys themselves allowed me to pinpoint their position without the need to look down.

There are also four hotkeys: mute, profile switch, brightness, and Windows lock. The brightness hotkey adjusts your display’s brightness in increments of 20%, while the Windows lock hotkey allows you to disable the Windows key on the keyboard. The profile switch key allows you to cycle through software and hardware profiles, both standard and custom.

These hotkeys are perfectly placed in the upper left-hand corner. You might not use them too often, but when you do there’s no confusion about what each button does thanks to the symbols printed on them. However, it would have been nice to have some sort of tactile way to make it easier to tell the profile key apart from the Windows lock key without looking down. A simple, raised dot or two on each key (like the raised dot on the F and J keys that help with touch-typing) would be a good solution.

When it came to gaming, I didn’t have any issues linking these keyboards to either my PC or Mac. Plugged in via provided USB Type-C to USB Type-A braided cable, you are immediately up and running without needing to do anything else.

Competitive-level performance

To put this keyboard through its paces, I fired up Destiny 2 and a first-person, open-world factory building game, Satisfactory. Right out of the box the K70 RGB Pro was able to handle any and everything I threw at it while recording every single keystroke without issues.

Thanks to this keyboard’s 100% n-key rollover (NKRO), every single one of my keypresses was registered regardless of how fast I pressed said key. If I pressed a few keys at the same time, all of the letters show up on my screen, too.

But the heart of the K70 RGB Pro mechanical gaming keyboard is the Axon Hyper Processing technology, which seems to live up to its claims. It combines ultra-fast key scanning, hyper-processing, and hyper-polling to detect keystrokes much faster and transmit them faster to your computer, which also helps decrease latency.

I tested Horizon Zero Dawn, Destiny 2, and Microsoft Flight Simulator, and compared the K70 RGB Pro’s performance to Logitech’s MX Keys Mini, which has a 1,000Hz polling rate. The difference in performance came with adjusting the K70 RGB Pro polling setting to 8,000Hz via Corsair’s iCUE software. You might not notice a difference if you are simply typing an email or writing a story, but I definitely noticed a difference while gaming.

I put myself in various split-second situations to test my reaction time and that of the keyboard. Using the K70 RGB Pro with the polling rate set to 8,000Hz, I found myself always able to make last-minute shots or perform last-minute dodges in order to keep from failing a mission or my character dying.

With the MX Key Mini, the same or similar situations were a mixed bag, only successful about 60% of the time. (Logitech’s MX Key Mini is not a gaming keyboard, but I wanted to illustrate how much of a difference there is between a non-gaming keyboard and a mechanical gaming keyboard with an 8,000Hz polling rate.)

It’s worth noting that if your in-game settings are set higher than what your computer is capable of handling, any framerate lag will mask the performance of the Axon tech since your computer will struggle to render frames in a timely manner. So if you have the polling rate set to 8,000Hz but you’re still not seeing a difference, try lowering the game’s graphics settings.

All the colors of the rainbow

This keyboard also has a comprehensive RGB lighting system that is fully controllable and customizable from the keyboard itself and Corsair’s iCUE software. You have ten dedicated presets mapped to the function (FN) key and numbers one through zero. If you want to truly customize the lighting, you can download custom layouts and install them on the keyboard for a unique visual experience.

The original K70 had only three profile presets, so you’d need to rely heavily on Corsair’s iCUE software to create a unique visual experience; My go-to preset on the K70 RGB Pro is FN + 6, which has a lighting ripple effect that spans the entire keyboard and layers on top of one another with every keypress.

What We don’t like

Wired only

The K70 RGB Pro keyboard is powered by a Type-C USB plug, which is also supported by all my computers, Pixel 6 Pro, and iPad Pro so I never have to worry about losing or misplacing a cable while traveling. However, I do wish this keyboard was wireless.

Keyboards like the Corsair K63 Wireless and Logitech G915 offer the best of both worlds, while the K70 RGB Pro is limited to wired connectivity.

I’ve gotten used to wireless everything as it's a convenience I prefer—but I also understand that to get the best performance, wired is the way to go, especially if you are gaming on a competitive level. That’s likely the reason why Corsair omitted a wireless option on the K70 RGB Pro (and why the base K70 also doesn’t support wireless.) But still, I like having the option!

Lack of PS5 support

Unfortunately, this is an area where the K70 RGB Pro falls short of the competition. This keyboard provides support for PC, Mac, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S|X consoles, but you can’t use it with the PS5. Competitor products like the SteelSeries Apex 7, the Logitech G613, and even Corsair’s own K55 RGB Pro keyboard support Sony’s home console.

Maybe Corsair will have a future for a software update to allow PS5 support, but as it stands now the console will recognize its input, but you can’t actually use it. The system will detect the keyboard, however, it won’t function with the console browser, online store, or any of the games for the console that support keyboard and mouse functionality.

Should you buy the Corsair K70 RGB Pro?

Yes, it’s still one of the best gaming keyboards you can buy

I’ve used a slew of full-size keyboards over my 30-plus years of gaming and nothing has quite come close to Corsair’s K70 RGB Pro. Few high-end gaming keyboards have a solid aluminum build, durable and long-lasting keycaps, and tech like Axon and RKNO for a broad spectrum of use cases outside of gaming, too.

Some may balk at the K70 RGB Pro’s price ($160 from Corsair directly), but when you stack it up against the likes of the SteelSeries Apex 7 or the Razer Huntsman V2, Corsair’s keyboard has a wider range of mechanical switch options and can store five times as many keybinding profiles. Not to mention that we’ve seen it go as low as $110 on sale.

However, if PS5 support is important to you, I would recommend looking at something like Corsair’s own K55 RGB Pro or Logitech’s G613 as viable options.