Corsair K70 RGB TKL With OPX Switches Mechanical Keyboard Review

Corsair K70 RGB TKL Champion Series Cherry MX Speed ​​Gaming Keyboard, you get all the benefits of a mechanical keyboard in a compact design. Because it doesn’t have a numeric keypad, this keyboard is smaller. So you can easily take this K70 to the tournament, where you can continue playing with your settings.

You can also disconnect the USB cable from the keyboard when you take it in your bag. This way, you will avoid cable breaks. This model features Cherry MX switches for fast response times without bumps or clicks. These switches require only 45g to push, making them even faster than red switches.

However, there are various points to be emphasized depending on the product, and the product to be selected also depends on what the gamer wants.

The newest addition to the CHAMPION SERIES, CORSAIR OPX Opto-Mechanical Switches, boast an incredibly short actuation distance (1.0mm). Their smooth, linear motion is suitable for high-level competitive gaming, and each switch is guaranteed to withstand an incredible 150 million keystrokes. The key switches are housed in the iconic K70 aluminium chassis, known for its durability and portability; thanks to its compact profile and detachable USB Type-C cable, the keyboard is easy to take with you and connect to any system. Durable keycaps are made using PBT double molding technology.

The new model is supported by CORSAIR AXON Hyper-Processing technology, which provides hyper-polling at 8000 Hz, transmitting keystrokes 8 times faster than standard gaming keyboards. However, to comply with the strict rules of tournament play, the innovative Tournament Switch on the back of the keyboard instantly locks backlighting to static color. It disables macros to keep your keyboard ready for battle.

PROS	CONS
Up to 8,000Hz polling rate support	Expensive to buy
Physical Tournament Mode switch	Hard to use Software
Detachable USB-C cable
RGB backlighting, supports iCUE sync
Authentic Cherry MX key switches

Design & Ergonomics

The K70 RGB TKL Champion Series resembles other K70 models, such as the K70 RGB MK.2. The new keyboard uses an elegant aluminium cover, above which the keycaps seem to float. As a TKL model, the K70 RGB TKL Champion Series does not have a numeric keypad. But at the top, there are additional multimedia buttons and the Corsair logo. As expected, RGB lighting was included (the pictures show a relatively new watercolour effect). But, unlike the K70 RGB MK.2, the palm rest must be abandoned.

However, the K70 RGB TKL Champion Series has some improvements in other areas. The bottom row of keys is now made in the standard layout. The keycaps are made from double moulded PBT, similar to the latest Corsair keyboards. They feel better, and Corsair promises better durability as well.

The aluminium cover on the front rises to the primary keys and the additional ones at the back. The lightweight metal is relatively thick, so it looks noble and improves strength.

To the left above the keypad are four flat media control buttons. They no longer rely on Cherry MX switches but have RGB backlighting.

On the right are a metal volume wheel and a mute button. In practice, they have proven themselves well. The three buttons next to it allow you to switch between profiles, adjust the brightness of the backlight, and lock the Windows key.

Large rubber feet provide a secure grip on the surface. The legs recline at the back, and in the folded state, they prevent slipping. As a result, the user can choose two angles of the keyboard.

The cable connects to the USB Type-C connector in the centre of the rear panel. To the right, there is a toggle switch that switches between normal mode and tournament mode. The latter switches the backlight to static red, disables macros, and activates the standard profile. Below the switch is a paddle that can be moved up by locking the toggle switch in Tournament Mode. A red LED is installed under it, which can signal to the tournament organizer that the corresponding mode is enabled.

Key Features

• Built for Champions: Designed and tested by the best eSports pros, CORSAIR CHAMPION series products help you win with a competitive keyboard.
• Powered by CORSAIR AXON hyper-re-engineering technology: Transmits your input to your computer 8x faster than conventional 8000Hz hyper-translation gaming keyboards.
• Compete in style: Sturdy and refined aluminum frame illuminated with fully programmable per-key dynamic RGB lighting to bring out the colors of your team.
• Tournament Ready: Toggle the tournament switch and focus on winning those big games by automatically switching to distraction-free static lighting and turning off accidental macro activations
• Double Shot PBT Keycaps: Precision molded keycap set with standard bottom row location resists wear, fading, and gloss; 1.5 mm thickness provides tough stability.
• 100% CHERRY MX RGB Red Mechanical Switches: Delivers linear movement combined with minimal spring force for silky smooth keystrokes for high-performance gaming.

OPX Switches

As you can imagine from the product name “TKL” (Tenkeyless), the K70 TKL OPX is a 10-keyless type keyboard for gamers. Including the multimedia buttons lined up on the back side, the layout has 91 keys arranged in 7 rows. Except for the multimedia buttons, it’s a standard 6-row layout keyboard.

Compared to Corsair’s flagship keyboard, the K100 RGB, it doesn’t have macro keys. Instead, it has multimedia buttons, keyboard LED brightness control keys, and volume control dials on the top of the keyboard. The layout is easy to accept from the viewpoint of “no extra keys are needed”.

Corsair’s K70 TKL series has three lineup types with different key switches. The model released almost a year ago used Cherry MX RGB Red or Cherry MX RGB Speed.

As for the key switch, there are feelings and compatibility with fingers, so the switch you like will be different depending on the gamer. Some people buy a specific key switch by name.

The OPX Mechanical adopted by the K70 TKL OPX is an optical switch that detects the amount of push of the switch with infrared light. However, even if you look at some publicly available information, the details other than the use of infrared light are not disclosed. As you can guess from the published figure, the amount of pushing of the stem (center axis) is seen by infrared rays (and the sensor that detects the folding back).

OPX Mechanical of K70 TKL OPX. It is a cross-axis type compatible with Cherry MX. Durability is said to withstand about 150 million pushes nominally. This is large since the contacts do not wear.

The advantage of being an optical type would be that chattering due to the structure does not occur. Corsair also emphasizes this point as the most outstanding merit.

In the case of a general mechanical key switch, when the key is pressed to switch on and off, a “bounce phenomenon” that repeats on and off momentarily occurs. This is the cause of chattering. The on/off time is a short time of several tens of μs to several ms, but it is a time that can be sufficiently recognized from a modern PC operating at high speed. Therefore, the same key will be input continuously if nothing is done.

The device to avoid chattering is called “debounce“, and it is processed by ignoring the on / off that occurs during the bounce time, but there is a delay until that amount recognizes the key input. It ends up. Corsair emphasizes that “general rebound delay is 2ms. On the other hand, OPX Mechanical does not cause chattering. Therefore, there is no 2ms delay, which is the biggest merit.”

Another point of the K70 TKL OPX is the speed of the USB report rate. A general keyboard for gamers sends key input information from the keyboard to the PC at 1000Hz, at intervals of 0.001 seconds = 1ms. On the other hand, the USB report rate of the K70 TKL OPX is up to 8000Hz, which means that key input information can be sent to the PC at 0.125ms intervals.

Corsair has achieved this by adopting a dedicated processor called “AXON“. Corsair says OPX Mechanical is the right key switch for AXON’s quick input. In the case of a general mechanical key switch, pressing and pushing are judged by four scans, but OPX Mechanical can judge on / off at one time. This is the strength of OPX Mechanical and by extension, the K70 TKL OPX. Due to the existence of the tournament mode described later, it can be said that it is a product aimed at people who challenge the game stoically.

These are the significant features of OPX Mechanical and K70 TKL OPX. Looking at other than the optical key switch, the keystroke is about 3.2 mm, the depth of the actuation point is about 1 mm, and the spring pressure of the actuation point is about 45 g. The keystroke feel is linear, and when you operate it, it feels similar to the Cherry MX RGB Speed.

The actuation point of Cherry MX RGB Speed ​​is about 1.2mm, but OPX Mechanical is about 0.2mm shallower than that. If you compare them, anyone who is always touching the keyboard for gamers will be able to experience the difference. On the other hand, if you are new to this product and touch a keyboard for gamers, you should feel as if you were typing a key just by touching it.

In any case, the difference between the key switches is primarily due to their taste and familiarity. Some people may find the Cherry MX RGB Speed ​​more suitable than the OPX Mechanical. Perhaps because of that, the K70 TKL series has no price difference even if the key switch is different, and you can choose according to your preference.

iCUE Software

The Corsair iCUE utility can be used for all Corsair products. The first page just displays supported devices. In addition to selecting profiles, scenes are now available that allow you to customize lighting for multiple products. It also displays system sensor information.

If devices are equipped with built-in memory and support hardware profiles, then the utility separates them from software profiles. In the case of the K70 RGB TKL Champion Series, backlight settings and key bindings can be stored in both a hardware and software profile. Moreover, the keyboard supports up to 50 hardware profiles, which you can switch without iCUE.

The backlight can be customarily adjusted for each key separately. Of course, a wide range of effects is available.

You can specify what the Windows key will block in the options item. You can display the device setup menu at any time. Among other things, the USB polling rate is regulated there. For compatibility purposes, the default frequency is set to 1,000 Hz. As Corsair points out, the 8,000Hz maximum requires a powerful PC with a modern CPU. In addition, the input device must be connected to a USB port, which works directly from the chipset. If in doubt, check your motherboard manual.

Lighting

The “lighting effect” (and hardware lighting effect) controls the LED backlight. This can also be set one key at a time, and there is also the concept of layers. For example, it is possible to turn on the whole in white and change the color only for the input key.

There are plenty of lighting-type presets, and you can make a wide range of customizations, such as lighting with a rainbow for gamers or lighting only the keys that are often used in the game title.

Performance” determines the behavior when the [WinLock] button is on. If you turn on the [WinLock] button, you can also disable the [Alt + Tab] key and [Alt + F4] key, and you can also set the LED color when it is on.

The important thing in setting the K70 TKL OPX is “device setting“. Here, you can manage the USB report rate of the K70 TKL OPX (polling rate on iCUE), the backlight LED color in tournament mode, and the profile stored in the built-in memory.

The USB report rate is easy to understand because it selects an arbitrary setting from the list box, and the frequency and scan cycle are written. The following 7 types can be selected.

• 125Hz / 8ms
• 250Hz / 4ms
• 500Hz / 2ms
• 1000Hz / 1ms (default setting)
• 2000Hz / 0.5ms
• 4000Hz / 0.25ms
• 8000Hz / 0.125ms

Switching between USB report rates takes a short time, so you won’t feel any stress when trying out which value is suitable for you.

You can also immediately check the backlight color in tournament mode by turning on the tournament switch. Furthermore, when turned on, the K70 TKL OPX disappears from the iCUE, so you can experience what the tournament mode is like.

The tournament mode color will be monochromatic, and the LED brightness will also be set in the “Brightness” field of the device settings (left). On the right, the settings are saved in the built-in flash memory.

Conclusion!

Our Corsair K70 RGB TKL Champion Series used Cherry MX Speed ​​switches under the PBT keycaps, a linear version with a short travel of 1.2mm to the actuation point. In shooters, the switches provide a feeling of playing at your fingertips; the keys actuate almost instantly. Possibly the 8,000 Hz USB polling rate also has a positive effect. It is also announced for the Saber RGB Pro Champion Series mouse. Subjectively, we could not feel the difference between 1.000 and 8.000 Hz.

The MX Speed ​​switches are well suited for typing; the actuation force is low. Unless the digital panel would not interfere with work. The accuracy of dialling has traditionally been on top. It is a pity that there is no palm rest, but thanks to the folding legs, you can set the angle of attack, which is very comfortable for extended use. The noisiest key turned out to be a space bar, and when pressed hard, a bounce appeared.