Beginning announced dorsum at CES 2022, Corsair's flagship Vengeance K95 was designed to be the company'due south most advanced Vengeance mechanical gaming keyboard, touting a brushed black anodized aluminium chassis, luminous white LED lighting inside each key and Carmine MX Red switches across the board (including office and macro keys).

Later upgraded with RGB lighting, the K95 currently sells for $170 with either Brown or Carmine Cherry MX switches.

Unconvinced that the K95 RGB was the best keyboard it could produce, Corsair has upgraded its flagship again with a 'Platinum' version that purportedly takes performance to another level. In the company's own words:

"Information technology's a premium, best-in-class mechanical gaming keyboard for the hardcore gamer who doesn't settle for anything less than the all-time of the best in gaming peripherals, demands premium cloth finishes, the highest durability, functionality and unreal functioning. Nosotros listened to customer feedback and responded with the keyboard that will fifty-fifty perfectly their style and demands. Every detail of this keyboard is thought out to fulfill the requirements of the well-nigh demanding gamer…"

That sounds not bad -- and we hope it is, frankly, because Corsair's $200 MSRP, which is nearly a xx% premium over its previous flagship keyboard.

The K95 RGB Platinum's aircraft-class aluminum frame remains one of the serial' cardinal features. Corsair says it's highly durable and will allow the board to survive the most intense gaming sessions.

Meanwhile, the independently controlled 19-zone light bar running along the top edge of the keyboard (hence the proper name 'LightEdge') might be the virtually middle-catching part of this package.

This lighting emphasis tin be programmed with effects that run independently from the furnishings being executed on the main keyboard matrix. So, for example, while the primary keys might show a dazzling 'screw rainbow' blitheness, the elevation light bar tin separately brandish a 'visor' animation.

Corsair likewise notes the board's 8MB profile storage with hardware macro and lighting playback. The K95 RGB Platinum utilizes a low-ability simply capable 32-bit ARM Cortex processor which when combined with 8MB of onboard flash storage is capable of driving immersive dynamic LED backlighting effects and circuitous macros.

Called 'hardware macro and lighting playback', this technology lets y'all salvage whatever backlighting effects and multilevel in-game macros to onboard memory and so play them back without the need for whatever external software. All calculations are washed in real-time on the hardware.

Corsair has also upgraded the keycaps to help accept advantage of the new lighting. An updated, modern-looking font allows for additional calorie-free to shine through, making for an fifty-fifty more powerful lighting evidence and experience.

Although the lath is technically outfitted with Ruby MX switches, Corsair used its own patented MX Speed switches, which trigger 40% faster than standard Red MX Reds by reducing the actuation point from 2.0mm to one.2mm. These switches require 45 grams of actuation force and typically take 4ms to activate.

While this isn't a light keyboard at i.32kg, it'south also not shockingly heavy given its size and features.

Down the left side of the keyboard Corsair has placed half a dozen programmable G-keys keys for in-game macros. These keys feature contoured and textured keycaps which expect and experience quite nice.

Around the back you lot will find a single USB pass-through port which I experience is an essential feature of any high-end keyboard. This provides a convenient manner to plug in a mouse or USB headset and other devices such as USB flash drives and prison cell phones.

Thankfully, Corsair also supplies the K95 RGB Platinum with a detachable wrist rest, and it even comes with a bit of a twist. The wrist rest features a double sided rubber insert offer a soft and difficult side depending on your preference. Impressively, the insert is besides magnetized, which allows for it to rapidly marshal itself and fall into identify.

All the essential dedicated multimedia controls are present and this includes an awesome volume roll wheel. Compared to the previous model, the book scroll wheel is now larger and smoother in operation. The four media control buttons are now as well raised college for meliorate access and visibility.

Like previous models, Corsair has also included a gear up of textured and contoured keycaps for FPS and MOBA gamers.

Finally, effectually dorsum nosotros find some useful cable management features along with four large rubber pads and a pair of legs to tilt the keyboard upward.

Software-wise the K95 RGB Platinum is supported by Corsair's excellent CUE (Corsair Utility Engine) which is both powerful and easy to use.

Having used the K70 RGB Rapidfire model for around viii months now I can comfortably say this is the perfect keyboard for not just gaming but besides work. Moving over to the K95 RGB Platinum (which uses the same switches) felt very familiar while its added features and improved lighting certainly upped the wow gene.

The design, features and build quality of the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum are first rate and at that place is certainly nothing better bachelor, at least not for this price, which is admittedly steep.

Considering its MSRP, I'm once over again surprised to find Corsair only bankroll their premium keyboards with a ii-twelvemonth warranty. This is especially puzzling when cheap clones using knock-off MX switches come with three to five-year warranties.

Shopping shortcuts:

  • Corsair K95 RGB Platinum on Amazon
  • Corsair K95 RGB Platinum on Newegg
  • Corsair K95 RGB Platinum on Corsair.com

That event bated, this actually is as good as information technology gets for a mechanical gaming keyboard. For the last eight months I have been using the K70 RGB Rapidfire and as much equally I've enjoyed that keyboard, I'm keen to set information technology aside in favor of the new K95 RGB Platinum.

Pros: Improved lighting and media controls over K95 RGB, detachable/reversible/magnetic wrist rest, strong aluminum frame, USB pass-through, 1.2mm switch actuation, 8MB storage+ARM Cortex inside.

Cons: Expensive at $200, but not unreasonably so for its features. Relatively short ii-year warranty when off-make boards offer three to five years.