Corsair K68 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review

Corsair K68 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review

Corsair K68 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review

FORQuiet for a mechanical keyboard
Not afraid of spills
Fair price

AGAINST
Grease-magnet keycaps
Sub-par wrist rest
No drainage system

what's up guys in today's talk we're gonna take a look at the Corsair k68 RGB mechanical keyboard Corsair just released this RGB variant of the very popular red LED k68 and i'm gonna tell you why i think it's an excellent keyboard for both gaming and for those of us who just spent countless hours working in our computer i'm a super heavy computer user so I probably spend 10 to 12 hours a day of my workstation so using top-of-the-line accessories is always something that I look for so that I can improve productivity and I like overall economics and workflow my goal with every product review is to give you an overview of the features of the product but in a way that really relates to real life so that it can help you make a buying decision if you find that this review was helpful please let me know in the comment

want to take this time to thank Corsair for sending me this keyboard to review alright so let's start out by looking at some features of this keyboard and then we'll go ahead and go into them in some more detail the coarser k68 RGB mechanical gaming keyboard uses Cherry MX red key switches that are super responsive it also offers a 100% anti-ghosting with full key rollover to make sure that each simultaneous keystroke is registered accurately and I'll talk more about this a little bit later it's dust and spill resistant with IP 32 rating and has practically unlimited backlight color combinations it also has dedicated volume and multimedia controls that offer on-the-fly adjustments and then finally it's fully programmable with Corsair utility engine or cute alright so let's start looking at the Corsair k68 RGB in a little more detail I want to start

out by talking about the build quality select the red LED version the k68 RGB is super well built it's durable hard plastic chassis is super salad and the keyboard itself has substantial weights from the internal reinforcements overall the keyboard is very rigid and has really really nice build quality Corsair used a hundred percent gold contact Cherry MX key switches that have been super responsive and accurate for me the Cherry MX red key switches are rated for over 50 million key presses so you're probably going to be good for a while if you're not familiar the Cherry MX Reds are linear keyboard switches so they don't have tactile or audible feedback to let you know that you're past the actuation point which is a 1.5 millimeters so when you're using the keyboard you either end up bottoming out or you just learn with practice where the actuation point once you get used to it I really like the way that they feel they've

worked great for me when I'm programming or designing or editing videos a super important feature for me is that the k68 is water and dust resistant with the rating of IP 32 so this doesn't mean that you could submerge it in water or dump gallons of water on it but it will protect your keyboard from accidental spills that could happen on your workstation full disclosure I've been known to spill some things in my workstation and while I know that k68 is not fully waterproof I really appreciate this extra level of protection for like such an important part of my workstation courser implemented this protection by adding a translucent silicon sheet above the printed circuit board or PCB so the way it works is if you splash water down on it it will deflect down the rubber and then out through some internal channels and drain holes all right so let's move on to the function of the k68 RGB model beyond the long-term reliability of the Cherry MX Reds you're also getting a hundred percent anti-ghosting and full key rollover if

you're already familiar with gaming or higher-end mechanical keyboards you know exactly what that means but just in case you're not familiar let me explain it anti-ghosting and key rollover both have to do with what happens to a keyboard when multiple keys are pressed simultaneously now this can happen when you're gaming or when you're typing really faster if you're just working really fast within certain programs some keyboards have a limit of two keys some keyboards have a limit of six keys and keyboards like the k68 have full key roll over or nkr oh so all the keys can be pressed and incorrectly registered simultaneously and that doesn't include modified keys like shift and control ghosting refers to what happens when you exceed the concurrent key press limit for your keyboard so for example if your keyboard is rated a 2k arrow or two key roll over and you press three Keys down at the same time what can happen is that the keyboard will actually register that you clicked a completely different key

altogether so not even one of the three that you clicked and of course you don't want that in any environment whether you're playing a game or working anti-ghosting like what we have here on the k68 prevents that from ever happening so it's important for you to take away from this is that the combination of anti-ghosting and NK ro means that every key press that you make no matter how fast it is is going to be registered correctly going back to the Cherry MX Reds they're pretty quiet so they're not as clicky as some key switches are this is also a function of the silicon cover that we have on the keyboard to protect it for water because it helps dampen that sound some people like the clicking s some people don't it's not something that ever bothers me in a keyboard I'm just gonna say that they've been really nice for me to use and I definitely feel a positive difference over the keyboard that I was using before now on the right above the number pad you'll find dedicated media buttons so you have a stop previous play pause and next buttons and above that row of button you'll see a mute button as well as volume up and

down buttons and what's super nice about that is that you have immediate access to those functions now I end up using this all the time because when I'm working I always have something playing in the background and then when I get our phone call I need to mute it immediately so now I can just mute the video immediately and then pause it later and I don't have to fumble by reaching for the speaker to turn it down or using some combination of keys or figuring out how to do it with the mouse I can just boom hit mute it's done and I'm ready to pick up the phone now there's also a dedicated key for controlling the brightness of the keyboard so you can use it to alternate between three levels of brightness and then an off state and finally there's a key that lets you lock the Windows key and this is super important for gamers because you don't want to accidentally hit that and then dump yourself out into the desktop while you're in the middle of the game all right so let's talk a little bit about the look and feel of the k68 RGB now I know some people might not care what their keyboard looks like

but I love when my tech also looks cool the k68 RGB a super sleek looking and has a matte black finish just like the red LED version and it gives it a really nice and elegant look and feel now the space bar is the texture and it gives it a very unique look and it's something that felt a little foreign in the beginning because I've never used a keyboard with a texture space bar before but now that I'm used to it I really like it and the k68 uses fairly large type under keycaps and it definitely looks different than other keyboards that I've used but I like how much of the LED light passes through this wide font which brings me to the colors which is something that I love about this keyboard the RGB model of the k68 offers perky RGB backlighting which means that you could technically program each key to be a different color now some people are gonna love this level of customizations and others are gonna be super happy with the preloaded effects now using the Corsair cue software you'll have access to the entire RGB spectrum of over 16 million colors so you can choose from any hue combination you can think of and again if you don't feel like messing around with this you can just select from the 11 included patterns which include things like Spiral rainbow rainbow wave visor and a

bunch of other ones and with each preset you can actually select the speed and the direction of the movement so it's super cool now I'm not someone who's gonna spend hours creating and customizing my own lighting effects I'm more than happy with the provided effect but one of the things that I really like about the Corsair ecosystem is that if you go to their website you can find tons of profiles that other people have created and uploaded and then you can just download one that you like and use it of course they're also included a detachable palm rest to add comfort and support and my desk can actually move up and down so I always make sure that the keyboard is at the optimal height but I like the additional support that this clip-on wrist rest offers it's plastic so it doesn't actually add padding per se but if your keyboardist position at the appropriate height there shouldn't be a lot of pressures on your wrist to begin with and it's extremely comfortable for prolonged use and finally there's these little feet on the back of the keyboard so you can be flipped up to tilt the keyboard a bit it's something that you might use if you like this added angle I don't actually use the keyboard that way because it adds

stress to my wrist and the keyboard together with the palm rest work great for me overall the k68 RGB is a really nice mechanical keyboard it's super cool looking and the ability to practically have unlimited combinations of backlighting colors it's something that I enjoy every time I look at my setup the Cherry MX red key switches are super responsive and a 100% anti-ghosting and full key rollover make sure that every one of my keystrokes is always registered correct I also love the fact that it's dust and spill resistant with an IP 32 rating and then the accessibility of the dedicated multimedia and volume controls is something that I appreciate much more than I thought I would if you're a casual or competitive gamer or even if you don't game but you're just a super-heavy computer user I definitely recommend that you check out

both the red LED and the RGB models of the courser k68 now the k68 RGB sells for right under 120 bucks and the red LED version sells for under 90 bucks I'll put links in the description to both models as well as the k95 and they're always specials and discounts and these links will always be updated with the lowest prices

Corsair K68 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard review

Design

The Corsair K68 RGB has a straightforward design with a boxy-shaped main body of the keyboard that feels incredibly sturdy. There are some sharp corners around the face and smooth curves around the base. Meanwhile, a groove runs along the length of the keyboard, above the function keys and around the sides.

Aside from steel tread design of the space bar, there’s nothing about the physical looks that are overtly gamery.

The cable coming straight of the back is a tad thicker than what we’re used to, and the USB connection is reinforced a little too much. This cord seems bulky for only aesthetics as there’s no USB pass-through on this model like there is on the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum.

There are legs on the bottom of the K68 RGB that allow for a very slight angle adjustment. While a snap-on wrist rest is included in the box, the soft, textured plastic used for the wrist rest feels flimsy, and isn’t really soft compared to something with a bit more cushion.

The keycaps feel nice, with just enough of a concave curve to help our fingers get centered. But, they do a bad job of hiding grease.
Features

The highlight feature of the K68 RGB is its water resistance. Corsair manages this by surrounding the key switches with rubber housings. The RGB lights are also nestled underneath that same translucent wrapper, which creates an entrancing diffuse glow. The lighting is as good as we’re used to seeing on Cherry switches, with well lit characters at the top of the keycaps and the lower half of the keycaps being not so well lit.

While we enjoy the way the default rainbow lighting shifts across the keyboard, all of the backlighting is customizable on a per-key basis. The Corsair Utility Engine (iCUE) isn’t the most friendly software for customizing the appearance of the keyboard, but it does offer templates for quick customization, and the tools are all there to style the lighting however you like, Users can also link profiles to different programs, as long as you’re willing to put in the time.

Beyond the standard keys and numpad, the Corsair K68 RGB includes volume and media playback controls, a backlighting button, and a gamer-friendly button that can disable the Windows key so you don’t accidentally pull up the start menu in the middle of a game. The lock can also be setup to disable Alt+Tab, Alt+F4, and Shift+Tab.
Performance

The Corsair K68 RGB delivers as a high-end mechanical gaming keyboard. Throughout our play sessions, it never hitches, never keeps a key triggered after we’ve let off, or releases a key we’re still holding down. From our testing the full N-key rollover and anti-ghosting works as advertised.

Surprisingly, we feel better about the Cherry MX Reds in the K68 RGB than we usually do. It feels like there may be slightly more travel before the key actuates, so we can more comfortably rest our fingers on the keys without a misfire. This makes the gaming and typing experience wholly satisfactory.

The keycaps do have the typical wobble we’re used to seeing on Cherry MX Red switches, but the rubber insulation beneath the keys helps muffle the typical clack of a mechanical keyboard.

Of course, boasting an IP32 rating for dust and water resistance, the K68 RGB needs to go through a torture test. With rain in the forecast, a week’s worth of dust accumulated on the keyboard, and about a liter of water, we have all we need for the test.

Even with water spilling all over it, the K68 RGB shimmers with all its glowing backlit keys typing as usual (we even wrote up this review using the keyboard still dripping everywhere). That ingress protection sadly doesn’t include any sort of channeling system like Toshiba Thinkpad keyboards.

Instead, the water just pools until it flows over the edges of the keyboard. And, since the angle of the keyboard plays an important part in keeping fluids and debris out, you can’t just pick the keyboard up and shake it off. There’s little to do but wipe off the keyboard and let it air-dry, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep using it in the meantime.

the Corsair k68 RGB keyboard mechanical cherry and X now I'm going from a very old keyboard so this is gonna be definitely awesome improvement so let's go take a look as you can see it's an RGB I am uh upgrading from a very old HP keyboard that's not even mechanical so hopefully this is gonna go awesome with my new gaming PC that I'm building and if you're wondering about the price I did pay$$ plus tax at Best Buy so for those of you that want to pick this up I believe it's a little bit more expensive on Newegg but I would have to double check with the price so first off like any other uh Corsair project they got the yellow on the black going on we're presented with a beautiful keyboard now this thing is it's got some weight to it okay so we only have one USB cable now let's take a look at the keyboard in a second first let's see what else is in the box I know the very awesome orang2 information but that's actually not what I'm looking for this right here the palm rest alright so let's take a look at this it's got a

little bit of grip here nice feel to it this is pretty much where your hand rests more for if you're gonna be gaming pretty much here I like it I'm uh I show you the keyboard I'm currently using it a bit it's it's old-school so there are no USB ports on the top I know I think the the silent MX I forgot the model number of it that one just come with it we also don't have any of the G keys on the side here but we do have this sort of grip here and the sad thing is that we cannot well we might be able to replace this keys but it does not include any keys to replace your so that's maybe a reason why it's a little bit cheaper than the other ones now we do have a volume control here which is a plus for me and this is pretty cool because sometimes I'm like listening to Spotify and skip the track here pretty cool we're gonna check out the RGB is in a second let's see what's behind this we have some stance and they don't have any rubber here so it might be shifting around well we have some here on the bottom that might prevent it from shifting

around but we also have a some more rubber padding in the top side as well and I know you guys are dying hear how it sounds so we're type a little bit check it out sounds pretty cool like it this is the Cherry MX I did want to go with the silent dink but you know fifty dollars is fifty bucks so I decided to go with this alternative pretty much my hands going to be here so this is pretty much what it looks like I'm connecting it to a MacBook so I don't think I'm able to control the the colors so we won't be able to go through those features but I went ahead and added the palm rest on the bottom and let me see if I can type something out you know what we're gonna go to a new egg and check out how much it cost there you guys are interested in purchasing this okay so they don't have the k68 RGB which is this one they do have one that's red LED and that one is $$ but we can also check amazon.com all these links if you guys

are interested in purchasing this keyboard okay so Amazon does have it for $$ so I'll leave that link Below you guys might be interested in this the other thing I'm gonna check is I might check eBay and see if I can get the keys that have the texture on them for the WASD because that's pretty much what I'm going to be using for most of my games that I'm going to be playing other than that this is a very solid keyboard you can tell it's got good quality on it and it looks awesome it's just it's gonna go perfect with my one my PC

Final verdict

The Corsair K68 RGB is a good mechanical gaming keyboard made better with a water-resistant design that can survive the occasional mishap. While it could be improved by a channeling system to get fluids out, the design is still more beneficial than not.

The K68 RGB offers a similar package to what its competitors do while coming in at a lower price. If the wrist rest were more comfortable, and the customization software easier to use, the K68 RGB could have stood out even more.

As it stands, the Corsair K68 RGB is an excellent pick for anyone needing a quality mechanical keyboard with killer lighting and knack for self-preservation in the face of spilled drinks.