When you hop onto the gaming grid to engage in combat, the keyboard you type on for work just won't do. You don't want a keyboard, you want a weapon, crafted for reliability and fitted to your specific needs. Corsair has delivered just that with the Vengeance K60 gaming keyboard ($109.99 direct). It's a solid gaming keyboard that offers a little something extra by way of a specially shaped and positioned wrist rest and 10 swappable keys sculpted and textured to make navigating through a digital combat zone as easy as walking in real life.
Design and Features
The K60 has a two-toned color scheme with a bare brushed aluminum deck studded with black plastic keycaps, similar to its Editors'-Choice-winning sibling, the Corsair Vengeance K90 ($129.99 direct, 4.5 stars). The plastic caps are made of black plastic, and use Cherry MX Red mechanical switches?the same used on top keyboards like the Vengeance K90 and the Das Keyboard Model S Ultimate ($129.99 direct, 4.5 stars)?for all of the typing keys and the numeric pad, but uses cheaper silicone dome switches under the lesser-used function keys. There's also no backlight, so gaming in low light may leave you in the dark, so to speak.
On the keyboard itself, you'll find a few extra controls for media, like buttons for stop, play/pause, forward and back search, as well as a rolling volume control and mute button. A Windows lock key turns off any pesky functions that might interfere with your gameplay, and a USB pass through lets you plug in a mouse or flash drive without having to snake a cable behind your tower. A durable braided USB cable gives you six feet of length, and two USB connections. A braided cable sheathing prevents tangling, while reinforced plugs and cable connections will stave off any of the wear and tear that plagues cheaper keyboards.
Two features found on the K60 that the Corsair K90 lacked, however, are the unique one-handed wrist rest and switchable keycaps. The wrist rest gives you an ergonomic boost to your gaming, shaped with a comfortable thumb rest and positioned to put the WASD keys directly under your fingertips. Enhancing this further is the inclusion of 10 switchable keycaps, letting you swap the standard black keys for bright red, textured keys, sculpted to make navigating in games even more comfortable.
The wrist rest actually functions as storage for the swappable keys, opening up to hold the unused set and storing the included key removal tool. The molded keycaps also have a pattern of raised triangles texturing the surface of the keys, providing some traction, but also helping you recognize the keys by feel. The same textured pattern covers the space bar, which is not switchable.
The only issue we can claim is that the swappable gaming keys are almost too specialized. The number keys have no secondary characters shown on them, making it a bit of a blind hunt to find the correct keys for some symbols. The WASD keys are also perfect for maneuvering in an FPS game, but terrible for typing. If your PC use switches between leisure time gaming and daytime productivity, it can be a hassle to constantly swap out key-sets.
It's not just the molded keys and mechanical switches that make this a solid gaming keyboard, however. Anti-ghosting lets you press any number of keys simultaneously, while 20 key rollover with a 1ms response rate keeps up with your typing no matter how fast your fingers fly. We tested the keyboard in daily use and in the throes of pitched battle, and it served us well in every instance.
Corsair's Vengeance line of gaming peripherals has proven itself to be both well made and perfectly suited to gamers' unique needs. The Corsair Vengeance K60 differs a bit from the Editors' Choice Vengeance K90?with less comfortable keys, no backlight, and no programmable functions?but it's still a unique offering that should satisfy anyone who picks one up.
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Corsair Vengeance K60 with several other keyboards side by side.
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