The Corsair K65 Pro Mini is out and has made several design improvements. From beveled edges to sound dampening, Corsair has taken a lot of prior feedback and implemented it well. It’s a great 65% keyboard, but do these improvements push it beyond the previous model’s quality and performance? We think so and are ready to tell you exactly why this is a keyboard you won’t want to miss.
Specifications
- MSRP: $129.99 (Corsair)
- Switch: 100% Corsair OPX optical-mechanical | Linear | 1.0 mm actuation | 45g force
- USB Wired: Type-C to Type-A | Up to 8,000Hz hyper-polling
- Onboard Storage: 8MB | Up to 50 profiles
- Rollover: Full n-key rollover (NKRO) | 100% Anti-ghosting
- Programming: Per-key lighting and action | FN + modifier layer
- Dimensions: 12.4 x 4.1 x 1.4 in
- Weight: 0.58 kg / 1.28 lbs
The Corsair K65 Pro Mini is out, and it is a quality 65% keyboard for those looking to limit their peripheral footprint and maintain quality performance. Unboxing the K65 Pro Mini was quick and easy. Along with the keyboard, the box contained a braided USB Type-C to Type-A cable, safety booklet, warranty booklet, and alternate spacebar. While there was no keycap puller, it was easy to pull the default spacebar and replace it.
Corsair has made several design improvements to the K65 Pro Mini while maintaining the quality of earlier versions. It's a solid keyboard; I barely noticed any flex while typing or testing it by hand under pressure. The edges are now beveled, removing any sharpness, making it comfortable to handle. The Type-C port has been recessed further at the top of the board to prevent additional stress on the connector when moving the keyboard. Corsair also added height adjustment feet to the back of the board. The feet are rubber-tipped, which is a nice touch. The K65 Pro Mini feels higher quality while handling it when compared to the K65 RGB Mini.
The key lighting is excellent. Almost every key is clear at a glance. The font used is cleaner than many other keyboards I have used. The only issue some users may have is with a few keys with an alternate function on the bottom side of the keycap. These are unlit and can be hard to see in darker lighting. Installing the iCUE software was an easy process. After heading to the Corsair website, I downloaded the installer quickly, and it detected the K65 Pro Mini without issue.
Corsair’s software is a great experience. I could navigate it without much issue and layer my effects to create custom lighting or pick a default mural effect if I wanted to set up my lightning quickly. The pop-up tutorial/info windows helped with learning the basics quickly. I also liked the widgets used to monitor various system temperatures through the iCUE software. It was nice to see a few additional plugins that I could use to integrate certain other 3rd party devices. I did notice the software could use some system resources at times, but it never impacted my gameplay.
I have been using the K65 Pro Mini for a week now. The gaming and typing performance has been excellent, with no ghosting. Two layers of sound dampening are now part of the K65 design to reduce the sharpness of key clicks when they bottom out. It makes a noticeable difference, and the keys now have a much more satisfying, rounded out and isolated sound. The only exception to this is the spacebar. It still has a bit of that metallic key click when used. It didn’t bother me much while gaming, but I noticed it more when typing anything beyond a short email.
At first, using the K65 again was tough due to how sensitive the keys are with the low travel while gaming and typing. In some cases, just resting my fingertips on certain keys accidentally caused them to activate. The slightly rough texture of the keycaps feels nice on the tips of fingers. While I noticed that the keycaps have a bit of a wiggle, it didn't impact me at all when using the K65 Pro Mini for long periods.
Once I got a few hours into a gaming session, I found my fingers flying across the keys without issue. The K65 Pro Mini key layout has changed a bit as well. The right Shift key is shorter to accommodate dedicated directional keys and four macro keys. It’s an excellent change, and I had no issues using these keys during gameplay. Again, the iCUE software makes it easy to program these keys depending on the need.
Final Thoughts
Corsair has made several great design improvements with the K65 Pro Mini 65% keyboard. It is a study board that has excellent gaming and typing performance. The low-travel keys are a joy to use for long play sessions once you get used to them. While the extra sound dampening does a great job of changing the sound profile of most keys, the spacebar is still a bit noisy in comparison. For anyone that wants high performance with easy-to-use customization software, the K65 Pro Mini is an excellent option.
The product discussed in this article was provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of review.
