[ad_1]
Corsair’s getting in on the 60 percent keyboard gold rush. The $109 K65 RGB Mini, a pint-size refresh of the company’s K65 TKL design, removes everything but the essentials to create a minimalist mechanical keyboard that’s compact and portable. In a superficial sense, the K65 is a highly successful 60 percent adaptation. The keyboard is small, but the layout doesn’t feel compressed as compact designs sometimes do. At the same time, with a wave of 60 and 65 percent keyboards launching from major manufacturers this year, there’s no feature or component that makes the K65 Mini particularly noteworthy. It’s a solid, but ultimately bland choice in a keyboard category that’s heating up.
Fewer Keys, More Room to Breathe
First of all, we should point out that the K65 Mini is a 60 percent keyboard. It has 61 keys, which is actually just under 60 percent of a 104-key, full-size layout. To reach that point, the K65 removes the number pad, function row, editing keys, and navigation keys. It also ditches the large spaces between the keys; it’s a single block. The result is a mechanical keyboard that measures 1.78 by 11.53 by 4.00 inches (HWD).
Unlike many 65 percent keyboards that cram five or so extra keys into the same space, the K65 Mini doesn’t rearrange the classic keyboard layout or reduce the keys’ size. This eliminates the minor, fleeting discomfort of switching to a compact layout.
To compensate for all the keys that were cut, almost every key features a secondary input, activated with the FN key. Every 60 and 65 percent keyboard has these, but Corsair went all out with its shortcuts. In addition to adding the missing keys and media controls, it also features an onboard profile cycle key, lighting controls, and buttons to control your mouse cursor with the keyboard. These inputs, standard and unique, are marked with sidecaps on the keys’ inner edges. That’s important because there are many inputs to learn.
Similar Products
Fnatic Streak65 Gaming Keyboard
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Fnatic Streak65 Gaming Keyboard Review
Kinesis TKO Gaming Keyboard
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our Kinesis TKO Gaming Keyboard Review
HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Gaming Keyboard
See It
(Opens in a new window)
Read Our HyperX Alloy Origins 60 Gaming Keyboard Review
Given that, it may not surprise you to learn that the K65 is a relatively plain keyboard. It eschews Corsair’s anodized-aluminum top panel in favor of a smaller, tighter, base without adjustable feet. Plus, the K65 features black, double shot keycaps that don’t do much to up the keyboard’s visual appearance. It also features a detachable USB-C cable, which has rapidly become the standard among smaller keyboards.
There is one flashy component, however. The space key features a unique fractal design that lets RGB light shine through. While it’s look is unlike any keycap design I’ve seen, the concept of having RGB light pierce the spacebar is one already seen in the HyperX Alloy Origins 60.
Under the caps, the K65 Mini features either Cherry MX Red or MX Speed Silver switches. My review unit features Speed Silver, Cherry’s quickest hair-trigger switches. With slightly less travel than Cherry Reds—1.2mm to actuation/3.4mm to bottom, versus 2mm/4mm—and the same force, it feels like you can press them with a thought. In fact, I find it’s a little too easy to mispress keys, and that the shorter travel isn’t as comfortable as a full 4mm bottom point.
The K65 RGB Mini has a signature feature, though it isn’t especially helpful. It supports up to 8000Hz “hyperpolling,” which raises the keyboard’s input report rate to 0.125 milliseconds. The standard polling rate in most keyboards is 1000Hz, or 1ms, so the higher setting theoretically cuts most of the already imperceptible input lag created by your keyboard.
In practice, it’s impossible to tell the difference between the polling rates. As I’ve said in other reviews, setting polling above the standard 1000Hz delivers diminishing returns, especially on keyboards where your inputs already seem instant. That doesn’t mean it isn’t doing anything, but it’s hard to say that it’s useful when there’s no tangible benefit. It certainly isn’t a good reason to buy one keyboard over another.
Small Keyboard, Small iCue
The K65 RGB Mini is compatible with iCue, Corsair’s peripheral configuration software. The recently redesigned iCue app lets you create keyboard profiles with remapped keys and custom macros, change RGB lighting, and adjust other settings. With the revision, iCue is easier to read than before thanks to a larger, more visually minded interface.
Instead of having a limited number of keyboard profile slots, the number that you can create is predicated on what you change in each profile. Corsair claims you can make up to 50 profiles, but presumably those would each have only a few altered keys and no macros.
My one issue with iCue and the K65 RGB Mini has to do with the keyboard’s 8000Hz hyperpolling. When you switch to 8000Hz, it triggers a warning that using such a high polling rate should be reserved for “higher-end systems.” Corsair doesn’t provide any information about what that precisely means.
Corsair told me that keyboard hyperpolling isn’t as system taxing as mice hyperpolling, and that the language will be changed to diminish the concern. Still, if the potential impact on performance is large enough that Corsair deems it necessary to include a message, then the company should also be more transparent about system requirements and provide recommended specs.
A High Curve to Climb
Strictly speaking, the K65 RGB Mini is a good keyboard. It’s well constructed, comfortable to use, and has a few interesting features. At $109.99, the average price for 60 percent mechanical keyboards, it’s a perfectly fine choice on paper. That said, its less impressive when you compare it to the rest of the rapidly emerging 60 and 65 percent keyboard field. If you’re willing to spend a little more cash, check out the $175 Kinesis TKO, our Editors’ Choice pick that brings new features (adjustable feet, dedicated macros keys) to the table. On the other end of the spectrum, the HyperX Alloy Origins 60 delivers a simple, refined 60 percent keyboard experience for just $99.99.
3.5
(Opens in a new window)
(Opens in a new window)
View More
With the K65 RGB Mini, Corsair successfully shrinks its basic mechanical keyboard design down to 60 percent comfortably, but otherwise, it’s a bit bland.
[ad_2]
Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/corsair-k65-rgb-mini-gaming-keyboard