A new set of customization options is the name of the game with Corsair’s K70 MAX. Though, does it work in the real world?
The Corsair K70 MAX is a full-sized keyboard that gives us a bit of Deja Vu. Despite looking and feeling like a routine refresh, Corsair has done some work to make the K70 MAX stand out from its roster of keyboards.
But, is there anything else in the new efforts from Corsair that makes it stand out from the incredibly crowded market of gaming keyboards? Well, for one thing, this is one of the first gaming keyboards which uses hall-effect sensors, outside of Wooting’s efforts. Sporting a wildly fast 8000Hz polling rate, does it match up to the enthusiast wonder?
Key Specs
- Switch type: CORSAIR MGX
- Keycaps: PBT Double-shot
- Connectivity: Wired
- Form factor: 100%
- Lighting: iCUE lighting
- Price: $229.99
Design
Once you’ve seen one Corsair keyboard, you’ve seen them all. The K70 MAX blends in with its predecessors, and that’s just fine. The full-sized keyboard is chunky, and most importantly, comfortable to use. Corsair’s decision to go large allowed for a much more natural feeling when sitting down to play games, rather than shrinking down into a TKL keyboard.
In the box, a wrist rest is included and after not using one for some time, we found it changes the game for long sessions in Baldur’s Gate 3.
The keyboard is exceptionally well-built though. Each keycap is a PBT Double-Shot, with a solid toughness behind each press. They feel good on the fingertips, with a smooth feel as you press them in.
We’re also a big fan of the K70 MAX’s, well, maximum size. Having the full keyboard is always appreciated in a world of gaming TKL boards. Along with the wrist rest, it justifies its size via sheer comfort when typing or playing for long hours.
Features
To make this latest variation on the K70 standout, Corsair has outfitted it with a few fresh features, the standout being magnetic hall-sensing switches, and an adjustable actuation point.
The overall typing experience on the Corsair K70 MAX is incredibly similar to their other keyboards. It’s a slick typing experience, with the switches making it feel like gliding through a sentence. Though, this also comes with plenty of mistakes, as it often feels like we were slipping on ice.
Actuation
This incredibly smooth actuation actually works out great in gaming. During intense sections of things like Warhammer 40K: Boltgun and other boomer shooters, we were glad to have the K70 MAX’s reactive design with us. We never felt a step out of place, especially when testing it on higher refresh rate monitors. In esports titles, like Counter-Strike, everything moves much more naturally compared to something like the Keychron K4.
Corsair has also made some adjustments to the keyboard to bring a lot more customization to the table. You can change it between 0.4mm and 3.6mm. Setting this to its most sensitive helped bring another degree of control over our games, but made typing far worse. Also, it is somewhat disappointing to see the degree of control not be refined to 0.1mm, but this is really a nitpick.
It would have been nice to see a “rapid trigger” style feature that Wooting possesses. However, this might be something that we can expect from a future software update.
Customization
Along with this, you can also set two actions per key. If you “half” press it in, it’ll do something else. This is ideal for those with macros, or shortcuts in software like Photoshop.
In the real world, we found this to become a nuisance. It would take weeks of practice and memorization to “get” what Corsair is going for. While it’s appreciated that the option is there, wouldn’t it have been easier to truly go “MAX” and bring back the G keys found on their old MMO keyboard?
It’s all very easy to turn off, and at some point, it stayed off. Trying to turn the whole keyboard into a convoluted macro pad is a smart way to take advantage of the physical actuation of a keyboard.
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We tested this in Diablo 4 and found that the game was a pleasure to play with the K70 MAX – after we turned off the macros. While we see the potential for the feature, it just ended up getting in the way of regular gameplay.
However, the actuation adjustment, we used to its full potential. Being able to quickly fire off spells and blast enemies with unlocked moves made for a faster Diablo 4 experience, held back by the game itself.
In Path of Exile, it did mean we had to be a little more careful with our actions. An errant press and we were out of mana potions at a key moment in a fight.
Polling rate
A lot of this fast action comes down to the 8000Hz polling rate. It’s exceptionally quick and highly reactive. If you’re someone that is – like us – dependent on a heavier switch, even with the actuation adjusted we still felt like we were making mistakes while typing.
The thunk underneath each keypress is satisfying though. We just don’t think if you’re here for typing first, gaming second, that you will be satisfied with the K70 MAX.
Gaming performance
As we’ve mentioned above, gaming on the K70 MAX once you’ve eliminated the dual-action presses, is sublime. That fast polling rate occurs during Counter-Strike, Path of Exile, and even most boomer shooters.
We felt in control the whole time, with its hyper-sensitive feel really helping us through some challenging levels.
Plus, in intense sequences of Diablo 4, we were glad to have the media controls feel far different from the rest of the keyboard. The one bit that requires a bit of stiffness to avoid accidental presses, Corsair made sure to have our backs.
The Verdict: 4/5
The Corsair K70 MAX is packed in with features. some of which might bring joy, while others might infuriate. However, for someone who wants that level of customization and knows that it’ll be useful, this might be right at the top of your list.
Though, if you’re going through the effort to assign double key presses, we’d probably just say to go for a macro pad of some description. It’ll probably be easier.
The K70 MAX is a great gaming keyboard once you strip it all away. The typing experience is still a little too slippery for us, but once again, Corsair has made a highly reactive keyboard that is just a cut above many others, even at its steep price.
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