If you're looking for a great full-sized keyboard with a dial knob, the S$159 Corsair K70 Core RGB is a good pick. This wired mechanical keyboard from Corsair offers a great typing experience, cool RGB lights, and a dial that you can use to adjust your volume, or zoom in and out while editing pictures.
Quick specs
- Connectivity: USB 3.0 Type A
- Lighting: Individual RGB LED
- Corsair MLX Red linear
- Up to 1,000Hz hyper-polling
The K70 Core uses Corsair's own MLX Red switches, which are similar to the Cherry MX Reds. It features a 45g actuation force, a 1.9mm actuation distance, and a 4mm total travel. These linear keys let you type really quickly without requiring much force. You won't hear much clicking noise either, thanks to its two layers of EVA foam that helps with the sound dampening. You get a duller thwap-sound when typing, which doesn't sound as sharp as other keyboards. I do prefer more tactile keys, but the K70 Core's smooth feel lets you really glide over the keys as you type or press a ton of buttons while playing games such as Diablo IV.
If you don't like the switches, the bad news is that you can't swap them out. The K70 Core doesn't come with hot-swappable switches. I do like the ABS Double shot keycaps, which are nice to touch. Other features include height adjustment, but I find it too low for me still. My review unit doesn't come with a wrist rest, and I feel you kind of need it with this keyboard since the angle is too low to use without. There's an optional magnetic palm rest, but it's only available on Corsair's global store. Note that the cable isn't detachable, but it's not that big an issue for me.
Credit: Aloysius Low/Can Buy or Not
The K70 Core lets you store five profiles, and you can manually switch the lighting settings on the keyboard. It's much easier to do so with Corsair's iCue software, and you'll need it to enable additional functions for the dial. Speaking of which, the dial is my favorite part of the keyboard. You can hit Fn+F12 to switch between volume control, horizontal scrolling, or zoom in and out of your pictures, while editing in Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. I recommend disabling some of the functions you won't be using, so you can quickly toggle to what you need. I mostly used it to adjust the volume on my PC.
Available on Shopee or Lazada, the Corsair K70 Core RGB is a pretty good gaming keyboard. It won't break the bank at S$159, too. I do find its profile a little bit too low for my tastes, but nothing a palm rest can't solve.
Note: Review unit provided by Corsair.
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