with its Factory tuning and data center DNA an Intel 730 series SSD is an
amazing choice for gamers and performance
enthusiasts the corer K40 spec list has
got some pretty good stuff going for it it's got a 16.8 million color
customizable backlight with cycling and pulsing modes it's got n key rollover
and anti- ghosting over USB which is no mean feet and it's six programmable G
keys with three different layers of functionality can be configured through
software or on the Fly using the Mr Button just press it select a g key type
in your combo and press Mr again and on
top of all that Corsair software which I just mentioned has gone from needs work
to actually pretty good in the last few years and now we're at the point where
changing the color scheme managing the profiles on the PC and the one saved to
the keyboards on on board memory and programming the keys with alternate
functions or macros is Legree and happens in real time without any weird
Behavior the backlight configurator is especially fun to play with since it
changes the colors and settings as you dink around with it but honestly I
didn't find the backl itself to be that amazing sure you can set it to whatever
color you want but it isn't super bright and like I mentioned in my Corsair RGB
mechanical keyboard coverage at CES it's one one of those Lighting systems that
is theoretically capable of 16.8 million colors but in reality you can only
achieve a handful of distinct vibrant
colors now the keys themselves are not as linear like an MX black or red but
reminded me of Browns if Browns were spongier less tactile and generally more
membran honestly it was a little weird going back to a rubber Dome keyboard
since I've been using mechanical for so long I'm not used to needing to bottom
out anymore so that was an adjustment um
it didn't slow down my typing much which surprised me but my wrists are
noticeably more tired having used it for about a week at work I'm not sure if
that's directly related to the switches but it's an observation nonetheless the
keyboard looks quite attractive like Corsair's other offerings but uses a
matte black and silver plastic body instead of a metal body with a shiny
Corsair logo the layout is solid I don't really have any complaints here and
includes dedicated medium keys to go
along with a dedicated Windows key lock as well as a brightness key that goes
from off to a thir to 2/3 to full strength on the backlight but one
problem with the layout that I actually didn't even notice when just looking at
the keyboard is that I found the F keys are too close to the number Row for me
it actually took me a couple days to figure out why I'd been mashing f11 and
F12 all week when I was reaching for the backspace all right so it's competitive
landscape time in this price range there's some generic stuff like the
Gigabyte Ava gkk 8100 which I actually
used for a while and kind of like it's not a terrible keyboard there's some
unique stuff like the Razer death stalker with its lowprofile chicklet
keys and some downright goofy stuff like that cooling fan for your left hand on
the tte sports challenger but in my mind
some of the biggest threats to the K40 actually come from Corsair's own lineup
and from the fact that no matter what checkboxes it ticks on a product Matrix
it is still a membrane keyboard and
single color backlit mechanical keyboards like the quickfire Pro and
Poseidon can be had for a mere $10 more
I mean guys the keyboard is all right the feature set particularly the RGB
backlighting is competitive if you like membrane Keys which some people do but
while I can't complain about this product I guess if I had to complain
about something I have a bit of an issue with the design philosophy here normally
I wouldn't even mention this kind of thing in a review but kind of like the
coach's son on a baseball team I've got to make an example of course there once
in a while to prove I'm not favoring them for being a longtime sponsor the
K40 feels like a very corporate driven skew from the ground up it is low risk
it slots into a small Gap in the product stack between the k30 and k50 it likely
improves profitability at that price point compared to the K65 Compact and it
tis all the right boxes on the aord mentioned product Matrix against its
competition but that's not supposed to be the Corsair way Corsair is supposed
to be a bunch of enthusiasts who build the coolest thing they possibly can and
then price it at whatever they need to to support their business and the K40
just doesn't seem Enthusiast driven to me with that said I can't go too hard on
them because they are innovating in the category metal finished keyboards
weren't mainstream until Corsair did it and their new RGB backlit mechanical is
a Quantum Leap past what everyone else is doing for backlit keyboards so maybe
that's the problem I mean if it seems like I came into this review with a bit
of a grumpy mindset that must be the underlying issue I'm sitting here
waiting for the RGB mechanical and they send me this to review in the meantime
honestly it's fine but you give a hungry dog a pat on the head and you might
appreciate the pat on the head it might be an excellent pat on the head but he's
still waiting for his bone give me my bone Corsair I cannot wait you are
sitting over there on the most amazing keyboard I have ever seen and I want it
now guys we should start like a chant in the comments demanding the Corsair RGB
keyboard I know their PR guy watches these videos so you know yeah I'm on to
you let's get it going anyway guys like
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