One of the current market leaders in gaming peripherals is Corsair. The company has numerous exclusive agreements with Cherry, the most established name in mechanical key switches, giving it a slight edge over its rivals. The company’s first wireless mechanical keyboard, the K63, is presented in this issue of Corsair’s K63 Wireless review, a product based on the well-received K65 keyboard and designed to be a mechanical keyboard that can be used in environments where a wired keyboard is impractical. See the article.
Design
There are no surprises because the Corsair K63 Wireless is an exact replica of the wired model that came before it. Similar to other Corsair keyboards, the K63 Wireless should be recognisable to you if you’ve used or seen any of them. One of the most elegant and contemporary keyboard designs in the business is that of Corsair. The frameless design is uncomplicated and has a tasteful top bezel that adds just the right amount of flair and provides room for dedicated media controls. Despite the K63 Wireless’ lack of the aluminium top frame found on the K70 and K95 keyboards from the same manufacturer, the peripheral’s premium plastics are rigid and sturdy all over. The floating keycaps are covered by a blue backlight that is subtle but effective. Given that most wireless keyboards frequently do away with backlighting systems entirely in favour of longer battery life, we are impressed that Corsair preserved the feature. A K63 Wireless Special Edition with ice blue backlighting that is intended to match the lighting on the Corsair One is also available, and it is equally priced to the standard edition. Only the addition of a power switch and a mini USB charging port on the back of the keyboard are actually new design features. We hope Corsair would improve its palm rests, which continue to be two fragile clips attached to a piece of stiff plastic with a thin sheet of textured rubber on top. Razer and Cooler Master have both switched to magnetic palm rests that provide support with comfortable cushions in the interim. The fact that we frequently have to remove the clipped-in palmrest before plugging the keyboard into Corsair’s updated Lapboard for couch-side PC gaming only serves to compound our dilemma.
Corsair K63 Wireless review: Keys
Cherry MX Red switches, which are employed in the keyboard, produce an audible “ding” rather than the irritating “click” associated with mechanical switches seen in earlier mainstream keyboards. Although Red switches are still not exactly perfect for late-night covert PC gaming while your significant other is asleep, Cherry MX Blue switches do in fact deliver that crisp audible clicky feedback. Mechanical keyboards that are geared for video games frequently have Cherry MX Red switches. They have a 45g actuation force, which means that amount of pressure is required to press the keycap in order to register a keystroke using hardware. This is because a soft spring ensures a smooth transition between keypress and actuation by delaying tactile feedback until the switch is fully depressed.
RGB lighting
Unfortunately, the K63’s illumination is only available in “blue” and “ice blue,” with no RGB lighting options, which makes sense since RGB greatly reduces battery life. However, we would not be at all surprised if Corsair soon releases a full-size wireless keyboard with RGB illumination. The body of the keyboard is very solidly built and shows no signs of deflection; it doesn’t tip over horizontally like the K95, and the kickstand on the back works as expected. The wrist rest, however, is a bit of a letdown. You can also learn more in our article on the Corsair K63 Wireless Review.
Corsair K63 Wireless review: Software
The customization magic is performed by the company’s Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software. Users can set up predetermined key illumination, lighting effects, event assignments, key remapping, and other features in custom profiles that load with a particular game. The software also uses a “default” profile that users can change to greatly simplify routine chores. Corsair’s iCue software is beautifully crafted and allows you to change various settings within the keyboard, but is less effective when used on keyboards without configurable RGB, such as the K63 Wireless. The backlight can be used to set up your own macros and perform various animations.
Connectivity
A USB dongle is used for pairing. The wireless connection is 2.4 GHz, and it is rather robust. We never had any lag, doubled letters, or dropout difficulties, not even in our signal-saturated San Francisco apartment. Would we be able to depend on it to protect the United States from a nuclear attack? Most likely not. Nevertheless, wireless accessories have advanced significantly in recent years, and the K63 is no exception. For the vast majority of people, it’s a damned fine option, and we’ve discovered that it’s ideal for casual couch gaming. The Bluetooth option is also available, and it appears to be reasonably stable, but we’d prefer to rely on the 2.4 GHz connection.
Corsair K63 Wireless review: Performance
The Corsair K63 Wireless is a great wireless gaming keyboard, despite the optional accessories and awkward to use accessories. I never experienced any typing delays or dropouts, so much so that I sometimes forget that this keyboard is wireless; the 2.4GHz connection is totally stable, even in a wireless-heavy office environment in downtown New York City. At home, I enjoyed playing games while sitting on the couch, with the keyboard connected to a PC on the other side of the house. The K63 Wireless is a very portable keyboard, thanks to its wireless configuration and small tenkeyless design. While I can’t yet imagine using this wireless keyboard at a major esports event in place of a well-established wired keyboard like the Logitech G Pro, I can imagine bringing it to a friendly LAN party, and Corsair has done just that with the K63 Wireless claims to be able to run for up to 75 hours on a single charge with the backlight turned off. The keyboard’s runtime is reduced to 25 hours even at 1/3 of maximum brightness, and only 10 hours at maximum backlight brightness. Our results are consistent with what Corsair expected: the Cherry MX Red switches offer consistent, linear actuation with inaudible keystrokes and 4mm of key travel, even though this editor is not a fan. The only other truly outstanding feature is gaming.
Corsair K63 Wireless review: Battery life
Connecting the keyboard is easy, requiring only one USB 3.0 port for the included dongle. Battery life is 15 hours, but can be extended to 25 hours when brightness is reduced and 75 hours when completely powered off.M If you also use the wireless Dark Core mouse, you need two USB dongles, which is unfortunate, but Corsair says that to support this without affecting latency the Corsair states that the technology is not yet advanced enough to support this without affecting latency.
Conclusion
The Corsair K63 Wireless Gaming Lapboard, a redesign of the previous Corsair Lapdog that is thinner and wireless this time around, is what we technically received in exchange for our evaluation. And the K63 performs admirably in that situation. However, most people don’t need a gaming lapboard, and guess what? The K63 is extremely strong on its own. We’ve used it separately from the Lapboard casing for a surprising amount of time considering its portability, durability, and reassuringly comfy typing surface.
