Corsair has created a mechanical keyboard for laptop computer keyboard lovers, however will it have the ability to flip us?
Up to date: Oct 5, 2022 7:44 am
The Corsair K100 Air is likely one of the most unusual wi-fi keyboards we’ve obtained for assessment in a very long time.
It appears prefer it was ripped straight out of a gaming laptop computer, however beneath its anodized brushed aluminum pores and skin, there are some fascinating components at play.
Probably the most fascinating of which is Cherry’s all-new ultra-low-profile mechanical swap expertise, which hasn’t been seen on a Corsair gaming keyboard but.
Regardless of our enthusiastic mechanical keyboard evangelism right here at WePC, we have now to confess that there’s a important quantity of individuals on the market preferring laptop-style keyboards, so with that in thoughts, let’s see if the Corsair K100 Air is the reply they want.
Corsair K100 Air specications
Corsair K100 Air wi-fi keyboard
Swap kind
Cherry MX Extremely Low Profile Tactile
Type issue
100% Full-size
Connectivity
USB Sort-C, 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 4.2
Professionals
- Tremendous clear design
- Very good construct high quality with little or no flex
- The perfect low profile switches we’ve examined
- Tremendous skinny, 10mm at it’s thickest level
Cons
- Far too costly
- Some would possibly discover the design uninspired
Cherry MX Extremely Low Profile Tactile
USB Sort-C, 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 4.2
Cherry MX Extremely Low Profile model
What’s within the field & setup
- Corsair K100 Air wi-fi keyboard
- Corsair Slipstream wi-fi dongle
- USB-Sort C cable
- Instruction guide
- Guarantee info
Given the $279.99 value, we anticipated extra from the K100 Air packaging. You get no foam, no protecting bag, and the cardboard is fairly primary. Our pattern arrived in good situation, nevertheless it’s nonetheless price mentioning.
Opening the field you discover the K100 Air beneath a plastic shell to guard it from impacts and scratches and beneath the board, we discover a USB Sort-C charging cable.
Earlier
Subsequent
The dearth of a dongle initially confused us momentarily, till we found it hiding in slightly alcove on the prime of the keyboard, which is helpful for portability.
The keyboard involves life as quickly as you plug the dongle into an empty USB port and switch it on with the swap on the highest on the left-hand aspect of the board.
It really works superb as is, however if you wish to play with the RGB lighting, you’ll want Corsair’s iCUE software program, which can also be helpful because it permits you to mess with different settings too.
Design
It’s flat, like actually flat, in truth, the keyboard is 10mm at its thickest level and about 4mm at its thinnest. The spectacular engineering work to make this occur leads to a considerably villainous look.
It is because the whole lot is sharp, the corners of the board, the sides of the keys, and the shallow angle of the board. It’s all very extreme, and wouldn’t look misplaced being slapped by Christian Bale within the Batcave, whereas Robert Pattinson would most likely paint flames on it.
Sharpness apart, the K100 Air superficially resembles most of Corsair’s current full-size keyboards in design. With the basic sails emblem entrance and middle, surrounded by a shiny clear ‘window’.
Beneath that is the place the indicator lights for stuff like caps lock and scroll lock dwell, however even when all these are illuminated, it’s a fairly empty house general.
Earlier
Subsequent
To the proper of this space, you get a full complement of media controls: play/pause, ahead/again, mute, and the shallowest quantity curler we’ve ever encountered, however that’s kind of the entire level with the Corsair K100 Air.
You additionally get bodily buttons to lock the keyboard, cycle by means of profiles, and alter the brightness of the RGB lighting, which is helpful as locking all these controls behind the software program is a cardinal sin in our books.
Construct high quality
The construct high quality of the Corsair K100 Air would possibly go a way towards explaining the excessive value as, regardless of the thinness of the board, it feels actually impressively stable.
That is thanks in no small half to the aluminum prime plate, which doesn’t look very substantial, however when you think about the general dimension of the board, it’s undoubtedly creating numerous additional structural solidity.
Earlier
Subsequent
The provided cables and dongle are nice too, the cable particularly is braided with tremendous smooth black material that enhances the stealthy vibe of the K100 Air.
We will’t converse to the standard of the switches themselves as this board is not hot-swappable, nevertheless, we’re sorry to report that the keycaps are bathroom customary ABS, so you’ll be able to count on them to wear down and change into shiny ahead of you’d like.
The K100 Air does exhibit slightly little bit of flex when urgent on the middle of the highest plate, however general, the development may be very inflexible and our complaints regarding the construct high quality are restricted to the ABS keycaps solely.
Typing and gaming efficiency
We talked about in the beginning of this assessment that there are lots of people preferring the flat chiclet-style of keyboards usually present in laptops, so we’re going to try to place away our choice for thocky mechanical keyboards for this part.
For such a thin board, the switches really feel fairly good, with a fairly heavy actuation pressure that offers approach with an impressively tactile thunk. There isn’t any audio suggestions for the switches on this board, however Cherry additionally makes clicky variations of its ultra-low-profile switches.
So, for many who desire a laptop computer keyboard, that is the best possible you will get as Cherry has finished a fantastic job of miniaturizing their mechanical swap expertise, and Corsair has finished an equally commendable job of integrating them into the K100 Air.
With regards to typing, these of you who’re used to an everyday keyboard would possibly discover the pre and whole journey of the switches too quick, leading to bottoming out approach too early and approach too onerous, which initially led to some fatigue for us.
After a number of days, nevertheless, our keystrokes softened and the Corsair K100 Air turned completely ample for day-to-day workplace use, and that fatigue went away.
We don’t assume that this board is right for avid gamers, nevertheless, because the very quick pre-travel signifies that the keyboard isn’t tremendous exact, so customers can be topic to a very drastic studying curve in the event that they selected to change to this board.
Regardless of this, we will’t fault the K100 Air by way of pace as Corsair’s 2.4GHz Slipstream wi-fi expertise leads to no noticeable latency, and you may join as much as 3 gadgets to a single dongle, so in case your setup is predominantly Corsair already, you aren’t shedding any extra USB ports.
Corsair K100 Air assessment: Closing verdict
Sure, we desire massive chonker mechanical keyboards right here at WePC, and this isn’t going to alter and not using a appreciable paradigm shift in keyboard expertise.
Nevertheless, Corsair and Cherry have finished inarguably spectacular work right here in creating the K100 Air because it’s far and away essentially the most tactile laptop-style keyboard we’ve skilled.
So, for the folks on the market who actively desire this model of keyboard, the Corsair K100 Air wi-fi is the most effective you will get, however the $280 value could be onerous to swallow, no matter how good the keyboard is.
