Corsair K70 Pro TKL review: Freaky fast
Corsair's first magnetic ten-keyless keyboard features a unique design and fantastic performance.
Corsair’s K70 Pro TKL is the company’s first ten-keyless keyboard with Hall Effect magnetic switches, and it’s super fast.
Hall Effect keyboards have been all the rage throughout 2024, and major brands in the gaming peripheral industry have continued to release their versions of the product.
Corsair released the K70 Pro TKL last week. It features its iteration of Wooting’s Rappy Snappy Tappy called FlashTap, Rapid Trigger, adjustable actuation, and more.
I’ve been testing the keyboard over the last couple of weeks, and can confidently say that I think Corsair has a winner on its hands.
Key Specs
- Switch type: Corsair MGX Hyperdrive Magnetic
- Keycaps: Double-shot PBT
- Connectivity: USB-C
- Form factor: Tenkeyless
- Lighting: Per-key RGB
- Features: 8,000Hz Polling Rate, sound dampening, wrist rest, low latency, FlashTap, Rapid Trigger
- Price: $189.99
Design & Features
Corsair’s legacy design aspects pop out as soon as you look at the K70 Pro TKL. Your eyes are quickly drawn to the knob and buttons in the top right and the RGB lighting across the whole keyboard is gorgeous. The knob is programmed to the industry-standard volume control, while one button acts as play and pause while the other turns on game mode.
For branding, you’ll find a Corsair logo right above the arrow keys and a tastefully placed ‘K70’ on the left side of the keyboard. If you decide to use the magnetic wrist rest, the company included its text logo on that as well. I absolutely love it when major brands don’t plaster their name all over a product, and Corsair’s design decisions are much appreciated.
As stated in the name, it’s a ten-keyless (TKL) keyboard so there’s no space-wasting number pad on the right side. The case is quite slim, too, making the whole keyboard smaller than other keyboards of the same form factor.
It’s outfitted with double-shot PBT keycaps on top of Corsair’s in-house MGX Hyperdrive magnetic switches. They do offer ABS keycaps for $10 less, but the loss in quality isn’t worth the savings.
The switches aren’t hot-swappable, which is a bummer, but it kind of makes sense in something like the K70 Pro TKL. Compatibility with other Hall Effect switches needs to be programmed into the keyboard software, and Corsair wants to get more fingers on its MGX switches. As the company continues to grow its Hall Effect offerings, maybe we’ll see this change in the next version.
Just like the NuPhy Field 75 HE, the Corsair K70 Pro TKL doesn’t offer wireless connectivity. It does, however, offer an 8,000hz polling rate and extremely low latency with its onboard processing technology that Corsair calls Axon.
It’s not clear why we haven’t seen an HE keyboard with 8,000Hz polling and at least one wireless option, but I can only assume it’s because of some sort of wireless interference with the magnetic switches causing slower response times.
Software
As with all Corsair peripherals, the K70 Pro TKL uses the iCue software to control various aspects of the keyboard.
Once installed, you’ll be greeted with the landing page for all of your connected peripherals as well as different submenus for each product to control things like RGB, macro programming, and settings for features like FlashTap and Rapid Trigger.
Each menu is easy to find, and everything is well explained the first time you boot up the software. It’s kind of like jumping into a video game for the first time, except its the software for your new keyboard.
Performance
The K70 Pro TKL is fast. One of the fastest magnetic keyboards I’ve used so far, actually, all thanks to Corsair’s Axon technology and high polling rate.
FlashTap is amazing in games like Warzone and Deadlock, but don’t be surprised if your favorite game punishes you for using it. I haven’t had any issues, but your mileage may vary. Rapid Trigger is free game, though, and works just as expected.
Just typing on the K70 Pro TKL is another positive experience, as Corsair has included two layers of sound-dampening foam inside to help create one of the best-sounding big-brand HE keyboards I’ve used so far.
The Verdict - 4/5
The Corsair K70 Pro TKL may be the fastest Hall Effect keyboard created by a major brand, and the company deserves all the kudos for managing to do so in an attractive package.
Its primary purpose is gaming, but the included wrist rest and overall sound and feel make it an absolute joy to type on throughout the day. The K70 Pro TKL is going on my list of Hall Effect keyboards to recommend, which you can expect to see on the site in the coming weeks.
Disclaimer: Corsair provided this keyboard in exchange for a review, but did not get to see the review before it was published.