Foreword
In this review, I actually wanted to present you with a comparison test between the Corsair linear Red Switches and the legendary Holy Panda Switches, which Corsair also provided as part of the test. Unfortunately, the shipment from America didn’t make it in time, so I wasn’t able to do the comparison test before the keyboard was released. However, I will definitely test the Holy Pandas and publish a small follow-up article.
Practical test
Corsair MLX Linear Red with PBT Keycap
Operating force: 45g
Pre-travel: 1.9 mm
Distance: 4.0 mm.
Pre-Lubed: yes
The red Corsair MLX Switch was completely unknown to me until now and I was pleasantly surprised. For example, the MLX Red is clearly superior to the typical Cherry MX Red and, thanks to its lubrication, also feels much smoother than its Kailh and Gateron Red counterparts, for example. The latter makes the MLX Red particularly interesting for gaming use. I compared both the typing feel and the sound of the keyboard with the Nerdytec Cykey and the Sharkoon S3, the two most recently tested keyboards with a similar form factor.
The Cykey easily outperforms the K65 Plus both in terms of typing feel (PBT) and sound. Although it is slightly inferior to the Sharkoon in terms of sound (the Sharkoon is even duller and the sound of the Sharkoon space bar is simply incredibly satisfying), the typing feel is at least on a par and more a matter of taste, as the Corsair MLX red is slightly “softer” than the Gateron G Pro Yellow. Overall, typing on the K65 Plus is very pleasant, but as a frequent typist I still prefer tactile switches.
Overall, the standard linear switch from Corsair is a lot of fun, especially when gaming, thanks to the factory lubrication. For gaming “good to very good”, for productivity “just satisfactory”.
Power consumption
Of course, I also measured the power consumption again to make sure that the keyboard does not exceed the USB specifications in the worst-case scenario (white illumination with 100% brightness, in this case also charging the built-in battery). With the K65 Plus Wireless, everything was in the green zone even in the worst-case scenario.
As always, I measured with “lighting off” (lowest consumption), “standard setting” = rainbow wave with approx. 75% brightness (typical consumption) and “static white with 100% brightness” (maximum consumption).
Battery
Since our community obviously attaches great importance to sustainability and is generally very skeptical about permanently installed batteries, we have once again gotten to the bottom of this issue with the K65 Plus. Corsair has obviously taken the criticism to heart and has provided information about the built-in battery. Although you shouldn’t necessarily have two left hands to replace the battery, in principle it can also be done by a layman and only requires a small Phillips screwdriver and possibly a small pair of needle-nose pliers to remove the small connector.
Once the housing has been opened using the aforementioned screwdriver, the keyboard can be “unfolded” into two parts. At the bottom of the housing we find a thick silicone mat.
The silicone mat dampens the case and gives the keyboard a richer sound when typing. A few modifications could certainly be made here to make the sound even richer.
The flat battery is located under the silicone mat and is fixed to the base with double-sided adhesive tape. To replace the battery, simply unplug it and plug in a new one. An easily removable battery in a commercially available format (e.g. 18650) would of course be even nicer at this point, but this is likely to be quite difficult for space reasons.
Incidentally, the battery life is supposed to be up to 266 hours with deactivated lighting and Bluetooth connection, which I was unable to test during the review. With “normal use” (activated lighting, 2.4 GHz connection), the lighting went out after two days of use (an energy-saving measure described in the manual), so the battery actually lasted another two days. Depending on the charge level and usage, it takes up to 5 hours to recharge the battery.
Sound check
The sound check was recorded as usual with the Elgato Wave DX on the Elgato Wave XLR interface. There was no amplification.
Normal typing
5x Space, 5x Backspace, 5x Enter
Turn/push knob and light button
Interim conclusion
With its “mass-compatible” linear switches, the K65 Plus is probably aimed primarily at the well-heeled gamer – at least that’s where I see the keyboard’s strengths. It is quite quiet and doesn’t sound as “tinny” or hollow as some of its larger predecessors did. Corsair has also got the loud “pinging” of the springs under control, which I find very pleasing. Overall, the sound could be a little more muffled for my taste, but they are definitely on the right track here.
Long texts can also be typed well, but due to the relatively low windage and the fact that the switches are linear, it’s easy to hit an unintentional letter in between if you accidentally hit a neighboring key. I find the choice of keycaps (relatively flat and dye-sub) a bit of a shame, as the intense lighting cannot shine through and the symbols cannot be read in the dark.
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