Neowin: Corsair Vengeance K90 mechanical keyboard review

[Neowin]

Back in March, Neowin's Paul Ferson checked out the Das Keyboard Professional S, an excellent mechanical keyboard with a robust set of features and a pleasing clicky tactical feel that's also remained a favorite of TechSpot's staff for several years. Now our friends at Neowin are following up with another mechanical keyboard review, this time involving a high-end model from Corsair.

Unlike the Das Keyboard, which is aimed at professional typists, the Corsair Vengeance K90 has gamers in mind; specifically MMO gamers with the set of 18 macro keys. It is the big brother of Corsair's K60 keyboard for FPS enthusiasts and actually comes with a better set of features all-round.

Appearance

The Vengeance K90 is one great-looking keyboard, which you would hope as this one comes with a premium price point. The main body of the keyboard is a solid piece of brushed aluminium sitting atop a wedged plastic bottom that conceals the innards of the keyboard, and not only does it look amazing but it also feels solid and expensive. The portion of the keyboard that houses the macro keys is made of black plastic, but rather than detracting from the premium feel, it actually contrasts well with the silver aluminium.

Read the rest of the review.
This article is brought to you in partnership with Neowin.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/48472-neowin-corsair-vengeance-k90-mechanical-keyboard-review.html

 

[Mister_K]

Really nice keyboard, might have to get when I get some money :3

 

[kg4icg]

I have the K90 along with the M90 mouse and they are a very good combination.

 

[Caradoc]

Although I own a bunch of these keyboards, there are some very important issues not mentioned in the review.

1) The keyboard has a tendency to stick on the delete key. Its not a mechanical issue but appears to be something to do with the Keyboards programming. If you visit Corsairs forums you will see comments on the issue.

2) These are not molded key cap letters , they are painted then laser etched they will wear out or as is the case with one of the keyboards I ordered which had a chip in the space bar paint spew light.

3) The membrane keys are really irritating. When you have rhythm in your typing then you hit an end/delete/insert it sucks, as it is like stubbing your finger.

Now having said all of the above.... This is still one of my favorite keyboards. The rigid metal keyboard face and the key switches tactile feel are fantastic giving a very precise feel to typing. My old Logitech keyboard feels like a wet sponge after using the K90.

 

[slh28]

I'm waiting for Corsair's next keyboard effort, I can't believe they cheaped out on those membrane keys. Love the media buttons/volume roller, that's a feature that's missing on many mechanical keyboards.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

I'm waiting for Corsair's next keyboard effort, I can't believe they cheaped out on those membrane keys. Love the media buttons/volume roller, that's a feature that's missing on many mechanical keyboards.

Unless you absolutely need media symbols on the keycaps (which you can buy new keycaps for, I guess), you can configure your own media keys in five minutes with AutoHotkey. I prefer shift+function keys for mute, volume down, volume up, play/pause, previous track, next track:

+F1::Volume_Mute
+F2::Volume_Down
+F3::Volume_Up
+F4::Media_Play_Pause
+F5::Media_Prev
+F6::Media_Next

 

[slh28]

Unless you absolutely need media symbols on the keycaps (which you can buy new keycaps for, I guess), you can configure your own media keys in five minutes with AutoHotkey. I prefer shift+function keys for mute, volume down, volume up, play/pause, previous track, next track:

+F1::Volume_Mute
+F2::Volume_Down
+F3::Volume_Up
+F4::Media_Play_Pause
+F5::Media_Prev
+F6::Media_Next

Yeah but I guess the point of having dedicated media keys is that you only need one finger to operate them. For most people the media keys get used just as much as some other ones.

The media controls on my Razer BW are very awkward to use with the Fn key being on the bottom right, and to change the volume requires 2 hands.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Fair enough, I guess it's not much of a concern for me as I have fairly large hands. I can perform the combos listed with my left hand, though I don't think that'd be the case with the BlackWidow. I haven't tried this before, but looking at my keyboard, I could probably get away with configuring Insert/Home/Page Up/Delete/End/Page Down as dedicated media keys with their originally functionality on a modifier like shift. Just an idea.