Just over a year ago, I had the opportunity to test drive Corsair’s excellent K70 MAX Gaming keyboard. In the review, I was impressed with the overall build quality and Corsair's then-new MGX magnetic switches. Fast-forward to today and Corsair has released a new edition to the K70 lineup: the K70 Pro TKL Gaming Keyboard. This new TKL version carries many elements that make the K70 MAX great along with some new and interesting features to help it stand out from its big brother.
Features MGX Hyperdrive magnetic switches, an impressive 8000Hz polling rate and a new customizable control dial, the K70 Pro TKL works hard to set itself apart from the MAX while still holding to the foundations that have benefited the K70 line. Are these new features, along with its smaller form factor enough to warrant swapping your gaming board? Grab that coffee and let's find out in our review of the K70 Pro TKL provided by the good folks at Corsair.
Specifications
- Current Price:
- Key Switches: Corsair MGX Hyperdrive magnetic Pre-lubricated
- Onboard Profiles: 5
- Keyboard Software Support: iCUE
- Compatibility: PC, MAC, Xbox One/SeriesX|S, PlayStation 4/5
- Connection Type: USB 3.0 Type-C to Type-A Detachable Cable
- Keyboard Report Rate: Up to 8000Hz with Corsair AXON
- Key Rollover: NKRO with 100% Anti-Ghosting
- RGB Support: Individual LED Lit
- Additional Controls: Dedicated keys and customizable control dial
- Wrist Rest: Magnetic detachable with memory foam cushion
- Weight: 967.14g
Same Beautiful Board…But Smaller
The K70 Pro TKL is a beautiful board. Its sleek, brush-finished aluminum top cover is a nice digression from the K70 MAX's more distressed look. The top right corner houses the new game mode switch, Audio mute Switch and the new customizable control dial. Together this upper right area of the K70 Pro TKL offers a host of customization and control.
Back, however, is the foam-padded magnetic wrist rest that worked so well on the MAX. Like its predecessor, the K70 Pro TKL is a well-built board that feels sturdy and premium. Featuring a similar 7-layer construction to that of the MAX, the Pro TKL offers two layers of damping material which translates to a quiet, comfortable typing experience.
This is further bolstered by the inclusion of Corsair MGX hyperdrive magnetic switches. These linear-style switches are designed to provide a completely smooth keypress response for the user much like the traditional red linear switches found in many mechanical keyboards. These pre-lubed switches differ from traditional mechanical switches in that the traditional mechanical switch has been replaced with a magnetic sensor and offers a completely customizable accusation experience.
Overall the K70 Pro TKL feels well-constructed and premium to use. The sleek, design is a personal favourite and helps the K70 Pro TKL seem more polished than the MAX. While both look great in their own right, the K70 Pro TKL simply offers a more toned-down and refined look. What has carried over from the K70 MAX, though, is its overall exceptional design and build quality.
Corsair K70 Pro TKL - Features and Performance
As noted, the MGX hyperdrive magnetic switches, which were first introduced in the MAX, have returned in the K70 Pro TKL version of the board. As such all of the incredible features and functions are present in this more streamlined form factor. Thanks to the use of magnetic switches Corsair can offer some impressive quality-of-life customization for gamers.
The first of these is the fully customizable actuation point of switches. This was a personal favorite on the MAX and I’m glad to see it return on the Pro TKL. In essence, the MGX hyperdrive magnetic switches allow the user to create individually customized actuation points (the point at which the pressure on a key activates the key) giving them the freedom to truly adapt the board to fit their setup. A second actuation point can also be set to essentially give any key multiple keystrokes within a single press. It works exceptionally well in this new TKL form factor.
For pro-level gamers, the Corsair also supports rapid trigger settings that can virtually eliminate the delay between actuation and reset on each switch. This allows a key’s set and reset point to be individually set meaning it's easy to mash a key and maintain consistently rapid responses. Thanks to the ability to pre-program up to five unique profiles leveraging the onboard memory, it is possible to set up different profiles to accommodate various games or work settings.
The MGX hyperdrive magnetic switches also allow Corsair to leverage their FlashTap feature. Similar to Razer Snap Tap, Flash Tap allows for press priority between competing keys. The best example of this is pressing both the A (left strife) and D (right strife) keys at the same time while playing an FPS. When pressing these competing keys on a traditional board simultaneously, your in-game character would stop dead in their tracks due to the cancellation effect of the two opposing directions.
Thanks to Flash Tap, the K70 Pro TKL now simply prioritizes movement based on the first or last key pressed based on your pre-programmed setting. The result is more fluid movement and faster mirror strifing all without the risk of stopping while navigating enemy fire. It works quite well and even as a novice FPS player, does aid my gameplay experience. While I won’t be topping charts in COD Black Ops 6, I do feel the difference while strafing around a map.
On the note of gaming, Corsair has included a new game mode switch beside the aforementioned Control knob that essentially locks down the board with a series of preset options such as disabling the Windows key, reducing latency, adjusting specific key accusations and even locking the RGB settings to a single solid color on the fly. The idea is to allow for quick swapping between a standard, everyday profile and a gamer-focused mode with ease and once again it works well.
The control dial, likewise is another handy way to quickly adjust preset functions with ease. The dial itself can be configured to manage a wide range of settings from RGB control to volume to scrolling thanks to Corsair’s iCUE software. Once configured the dial allows you to quickly adjust those features without ever needing to fire up the software again.
Thanks to Corsair AXON, gamers will also enjoy up to a poll rating of 8000Hz. This translates to instantaneous response times while gaming and provides a seamless gaming experience. The Pro TKL offers the same level of control and speed as the MAX simply in a smaller format. The poll rating can easily be adjusted from 1000-8000Hz thanks to the aforementioned Corsair iCUE software.
The iCUE software itself, while helpful and robust in features, does come with a bit of a learning curve. Its layout and UI are not as intuitive as some and require a bit more time to learn over other software that offers similar customization and control. However, once you have had some time to learn the ropes as it were, iCUE is quite powerful and offers a lot of customization to the K70 Pro TKL.
Final Thoughts
The K70 Pro TKL from Corsair is an excellent addition to the K70 lineup. Offering many of the features and functions that make the MAX such a great board, the Pro TKL ups the ante by offering a sleeker, perhaps more premium form factor and look. If you are a fan of the TKL format then the Corsair K70 Pro TKL is an excellent board to consider. Priced at a competitive $179.99 (ABS-Doubleshot) / $189.99 (PBT-Doubleshot) the K70 Pro TKL is a superb keyboard.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.