Did you know that Corsair never used to have a 75% keyboard in its vast lineup of boards? Neither did I but the new Corsair K65 Plus Wireless 75% Mechanical gaming keyboard is the company’s first. I’m a huge fan of the 75% form factor which deftly straddles the line between being small enough while still having plenty of keys for functions and navigation unlike 60 or 65% boards. It’s kinda odd that Corsair would call this K65 instead of K75 but whatever.
Retailing for $229, the K65 Plus is significantly cheaper than the Asus ROG Azoth and Razer Blackwidow v4 75% but mostly gives you all the same functionality. The K65 Plus comes with pre-lubed Corsair MLX switches, sound dampening foam, hot-swappable PCB in case you don’t like the switches and a snazzy multi-function volume dial and support for 2.4Ghz Slipstream wireless, Bluetooth and USB wired connections.
I’ve been using the K65 Plus for several weeks now for work, gaming and for the most part, I really like it. It does everything it needs to do well and doesn’t get in your way. It’s not perfect of course but overall, I think most people will be more than happy with this board.
Corsair K65 Plus Wireless 75% review
The K65 Plus has a typical Corsair design, with duotone key caps and a silver Corsair escape key, volume dial, and a column of navigation keys that also serve as Bluetooth pairing keys. Despite being made of plastic, the board feels sturdy and durable. Some may be hesitant about the $230 price tag for a plastic keyboard, but the K65 doesn’t feel cheap by any means. It weighs 1.2 kilograms, making it easy to carry in a backpack, but if portability is a priority, consider the ROG Falchion RX.
There are ports and switches on the back edge, including USB Type-C for wired use and charging, a power toggle, a Windows/Mac toggle, and a USB Type-A port for storing the Slipstream dongle. On the left side, there’s a small circular switch to control the keyboard backlighting. Underneath the board, there are height-adjustable feet with two levels.
Corsair uses a top-plate design with two layers of foam sound dampening to minimize noise and pinging. While it’s not completely silent, the typing noise won’t disturb people around you. The keys are stable in their sockets, and typing feels satisfying due to the long travel and crisp feel of the Corsair MLX Red switches. The switches have a 1.9m actuation with 4mm travel distance which feels great and this is coming from someone who prefers tactile switches.
One notable feature is the hot-swappable PCB, allowing you to easily swap out the switches to something of your choice. This is good because Corsair only offers the one switch which is odd but maybe they will add more in time. At the time of writing this, Corsair is offer a 50% off voucher to any buyers of the K65 Plus towards buying Holy Panda switches, nice.
The keyboard is equipped with ABS keycaps, which are smooth and solid. However, they are not shine-through, making it difficult to see legends in darker settings. This may pose a challenge for those working at night, despite the vibrant and colourful per-key backlighting. Nevertheless, this issue can be addressed by replacing the keycaps.
A notable feature is the multi-function control knob, which allows adjustment of media volume, backlight brightness, and can even be used for zoom in/out and scroll up/down functions. The functions can be switched through quickly using Fn+Arrow keys. The knob provides a wonderful tactile feel during rotations and can be pressed down to mute volume. It would be nice to assign more functions to this feature, like taking a screenshot.
Corsair offers numerous physical shortcuts to manage the keyboard, including the ability to record macros directly on the board. Additionally, toggling between Mac and Windows PC usage is simple, allowing for customised key functions. This high level of customisation extends to the iCUE configuration software, enabling adjustments to key assignments, custom macros, and RGB lighting effects. The software is relatively intuitive and user-friendly, facilitating easy setup of the keyboard according to individual preferences.
The K65 Plus performs flawlessly. It’s super fast and responsive, and with all the keys and macros, it’s awesome for all kinds of games. Some hardcore gamers might not be happy with the 1000Hz polling when other keyboards can offer faster, but for me, I don’t notice the difference in my everyday gaming. The K65 Plus supports N-Key rollover and anti-ghosting, so your frantic keypresses during intense gaming sessions won’t be missed.
A big part of its performance is the rock solid Slipstream connectivity. You can choose between the 2.4Ghz low-latency connection or Bluetooth with AES encryption. I keep the K65 Plus connected to my gaming PC with the dongle and also connect it to my work MacBook over Bluetooth. The board can pair with three Bluetooth devices and easily switch between them with a quick press of Fn+Home, PgUp, PgDn keys. Apart from a slight lag waking up from sleep in Bluetooth, I’ve never noticed any connection issues with this keyboard.
Slipstream wireless also allows you to pair another Corsair device like the Corsair Nightsaber or the Corsair HS80 Max via the same dongle as the K65 Plus. This is incredibly handy for saving up ports. Not to mention you can sync up your RGB if you’re into the whole ecosystem.
I also have a wireless mouse and a ROG Raikiri Pro controller all crowded at the back of my PC, and I’ve never experienced any dropouts or stutters. You can also use it wired if you absolutely don’t want any compromises, but in my testing, I literally couldn’t measure any difference in latency compared to the Slipstream wireless.
Battery life is great too, with the K65 Plus lasting a good 266 hours on a charge with all the lights turned off. I use a mix of both Slipstream and Bluetooth through out the day, and of course, I always have the RGB on. The board required charging only once since I first unboxed it two weeks ago.
Verdict
The Corsair K65 Plus Wireless 75% keyboard is great all around. It’s not flashy and doesn’t have a fancy OLED screen, but it gets the job done. Whether you’re a gamer or a professional, this keyboard is a solid choice. The ROG Falchion, which I recently checked out, is only $50 more than the K65 Plus and is better for portability and feels more exciting overall. But compared to the Razer BlackWidow V4 75%, which isn’t even wireless, the K65 Plus is a much better buy. Overall, Corsair’s K65 Plus is a fantastic addition to the 75% keyboard market, and I think you’ll dig it too.
Corsair Australia kindly provided the K65 Plus to PowerUp for the purpose of this review
