Corsair K60 RGB PRO Review
Source: Geeknetic added 17th Oct 2020Corsair K introduction and technical specifications 71 RGB PRO
It has been 9 years since the launch of the Corsair Vengeance K 71 and today is the day that the company presents its successor, the new Corsair K 71 RGB Pro, a keyboard that integrates the latest switches Cherry mechanicals, the Cherry Viola, on a brushed aluminum housing and comes equipped with an attractive independent key-to-key RGB lighting system.
In this review of the Corsair K 71 RGB PRO we will discover what this model offers us and how its Cherry switches behave Viola in tasks of all kinds, from office automation to games.
Technical characteristics of the Corsair K 71 RGB PRO
- Brushed anodized aluminum top cover.
- Actuation distance: 2 mm.
- Total travel: 4 mm.
- Strength:
- First 2 mm: 50 cN.
- From 2 to 4mm: 78 cN.
Design and RGB lighting
Corsair has opted for a simplistic layout on this keyboard, the K 71 RGB PRO is based on a plastic structure on which an anodized aluminum sheet is placed and brushed in black. The edges of said plate are conveniently polished and there is no sharp edge that could be a problem.
The inclination can be adjusted in two levels thanks to two lower tabs.
The keyboard has a Spanish ISO QWERTY layout with the Ñ and full numeric keyboard, even so, its dimensions are quite contained, since they occupy little more than the structure of the keyboard itself, making it quite compact.
This is also helped by the lack of dedicated multimedia keys , since there is no additional key to the standard layout itself, something we can miss on more than one occasion. However, the K 60 RGB PRO does have multimedia functions integrated into the keys themselves, to access them it is necessary to press the FN key, which, unlike many keyboards, is on the right side instead of on the left.
By pressing this key it is possible to control the brightness of the lighting, configurable in nothing more and nothing less than 12 different levels, in addition to off, we can also increase or decrease the volume, multimedia functions stop / play, backward or forward, and by pressing the keys FN + 1-2-3-4 … etc, it is possible to directly apply different lighting effects without the need for the software.
RGB lighting at key ecla is one of the most striking features of the K 71 RGB PRO, not because it is a novel feature, which it is not, but because the Cherry Viola switches, which are semi-transparent and diffuse the light , Together with low-profile keycaps, they make the lighting much more striking by not being limited to a projection on the black aluminum.
Not that means that the keyboard is low profile, in fact, although there is a version with switches of that low profile, the K 71 Standard RGB PRO we reviewed has full-size switches, which gives it a rather curious look, beyond the lighting. It should be noted that does not include any hand rests or wrist rests as standard, a detail that should not be passed on a keyboard that costs 137 euros.
It also does not have a USB hub and the only existing connector is the one that comes out of the USB-A 3.0 cable to the PC
The lighting is independent for each key and can be configured between different modes and predetermined colors from the keyboard itself, or directly and in a much more customizable way, from the popular iCUE software.
Cherry Viola mechanisms
The Corsair K 71 RGB Pro integrates the new Cherry Viola switches, some models that do not belong to the high MX range, but are part of a new line that, as Cherry herself commented when announcing these switches, is aimed at mechanical keyboards with more affordable prices that could is tar below the 60 euros to give the finishing touch to membrane keyboards.
It seems that this is not true in the K 71 RGB Pro , now that its price, despite having these cheap and simplified switches, goes towards the 130, 100 euros. Anyway, let’s review what these Cherry Viola offer.
The most striking to external level is that, unlike conventional Cherry MX and most compatible switches, we have a structure that extends the interior cross with square edges that move in with all the mechanism to give it more stability. This structure is completely translucent and is integrated into the body of the switch, which is semi-transparent and blurs the interior RGB lighting.
At the level of mechanism, Cherry has simplified its internal workings by requiring fewer parts. For example, the Cherry MX mechanisms can have up to 7 pieces, while the Cherry Viola only uses 4, by dispensing with the upper housing and integrating it with the pulsation mechanism itself and simplifying the contact method, without the need to solder. .
The MX vertical contact system has been modified by a small V-shaped piece of metal that closes the circuit when descending from a certain depth. In this way it is a much simpler and cheaper mechanism to produce, but keeping some of the typical properties of MX switches.
Regarding its behavior, the Cherry MX Viola offers the following specifications
- Cherry VIOLA switches.
- Actuation distance: 2 mm.
- Total travel: 4 mm.
- Strength:
- First 2 mm: 50 cN.
- From 2 to 4mm: 78 cN.
It would be an alternative to Cherry MX Red, but with a fairly significant change in its behavior as we can see in this table:
| VIOLA | MX RED | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Travel | 4 mm | |
| Actuation distance |
2 mm | 2 mm |
| Force 0 to 2 mm | 45 cN | 50 cN |
Both switches are linear, without intermediate clicks, they share a total travel 4 mm pulse, and send the pulse signal when traveling 2 mm.
The operating force is 50 cN, however, in the CHERRY Viola, once the 2 mm is exceeded, the force necessary to continue pressing up to 4 mm increases considerably until the 75 cN.
All these changes mean that, although its operation is far above a membrane keyboard, although it is not exactly as homogeneous as a Chery MX Red. At first it takes some getting used to to the increase in force necessary for its pulsation once we pass the actuation point, once we get used to it we can regulate the force in the fingers to avoid reaching the bottom and have a smoother experience.
As for noise, they are not as loud as a Cherry MX Red or Blue, although the mechanism, possibly the spring, when the key is released leaves a rather strange metallic vibration in the air: