Before I get to the interesting part (the switches and their adjustment options), a short summary of my optical and haptic impression. You probably already noticed during the unboxing that I really liked the minimally revised design of the K70 MAX. The transparent base is very attractive and the polished corners give the keyboard a discreet elegance. Otherwise, not much has changed in the design, so the new palm rest, which has increased considerably compared to the K70 RGB Pro and is correspondingly softer padded, turned out to be the biggest change.
At the beginning, the high rest still felt unusual because the hands are at a completely different angle to the keys than with the flatter rest of the “predecessor”. In the end, however, this position relaxes the wrist, at least in my opinion, which allows relaxed typing even over a longer period of time. Overall, the keyboard with its high-quality PBT keycaps feels very comfortable and can also fully convince in terms of the even and colorful illumination. However, I was a bit annoyed by the USB-C cable: The built-in jack does not offer a particularly tight fit (I tested two other cables besides the included one) and thus it can happen that the connection is briefly interrupted when moving the keyboard on the desk. Something like that shouldn’t happen with a high-end device in this price range.
Typing feel and adjustable switches
At this point I have to deviate a bit from my usual gaming and productivity tests for keyboard reviews, because of course no general statement can be made due to the customizable switches.
Basically, the Corsair MGX Switch with its 45 grams of release force, 2mm release travel and 4mm total travel in the standard setting has exactly the same key data with which the extremely popular Cherry MX Red also knows how to shine. With the difference that you can’t perceive any spring noise with the MGX and the keystroke also feels a bit smoother. In short: The MGX is already the better MX Red in the standard setting.
Things get really interesting when you play around with the actuation point and the secondary actuation point and to anticipate: It is really impressive how clearly even the smallest setting has an effect. You actually have to have tried it yourself to really get the picture. At the end of the day, however, it is exactly as you would expect: The shorter the actuation point is set, the shorter the distance that has to be covered and the faster the button is triggered. When the firmware and software are mature, Corsair even wants to add a so-called Rapid Fire Mode, where the keys trigger at the slightest touch.
I have to admit that the MX Speed with its 1.2 mm was already beyond my horizon and caused a number of unintentional key releases, but I’m probably not the right target group for such extreme input devices in my mid-30s and far away from any competitive gameplay. The fact is, however, that this Switch can reduce the input device’s reaction to a level where the human factor suddenly becomes the limiting factor – at least when you are on a level where milliseconds can decide about victory or defeat. Whether casual gamers can gain a noticeable advantage from this is something everyone has to decide for themselves.
Increasing the actuation point noticeably reduces the accidental triggering of neighboring keys during typing, but it also leads to some letters not being registered at all when typing, if you haven’t hammered the key deep enough into the board in an unfavorable position in a hurry. Nevertheless, this new possibility of individualization is of course a small milestone in the history of input devices and has to be appreciated accordingly. For me personally, it would be even more interesting if the spring resistance and the physical stroke could be freely configured, but that is probably still future music.
Sound
The recordings were made as usual with the Elgato Wave XLR including the corresponding XLR interface. I couldn’t believe it myself that the spring noise (ping), which is usually very dominant on Corsair keyboards, is actually no longer perceptible at all on the K70 MAX. Overall, however, the sound could be a bit more muffled and bassy for my taste.
Normal writing:
5 x spacebar, 5 x backspace and 5 x enter
Operation of the volume control and multimedia keys
Operation of the special keys
Power consumption
Of course, the obligatory measurement of the power consumption should not be missing.
With a maximum consumption of about 880mA, the K70 MAX stays within the USB 3.0 specification even in the worst case (white illumination at maximum brightness).
On the other hand, changing the USB polling rate (adjustable from 125-8000Hz) as well as changing the trigger point of the magnetic switches doesn’t affect the power consumption at all.
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