Corsair K70 MAX Keyboard Review

The Corsair K70 MAX is a full-size keyboard that takes up considerable desk space. You can remove the wrist rest to reduce the keyboard's overall footprint.

The Corsair K70 MAX has impressive overall build quality. The bottom case is made of plastic, the faceplate is made of brushed aluminum, and the entire deck exhibits no flexing. The keycaps are made of high-quality doubleshot PBT plastic (except for the included alternate spacebar and Corsair branded 1u keycap, which are both made of thinner ABS plastic).

Four large flip-out feet on the bottom of the keyboard do a good place of keeping the board in place while you type. The included wrist rest also feels quite high quality and is very comfortable.

Additionally, there are two layers of sound-dampening foam inside the case, but the impact this has on the sound and feel of the keyboard is minimal compared to many other keyboards with added foam layers.

This keyboard has acceptable ergonomics. It provides two incline settings with flip-out feet on the bottom of the keyboard. It also has a plush leatherette wristrest that attaches magnetically and is quite comfortable. This wristrest is also a marked improvement over the hard plastic wristrest included with the previous generation Corsair K70 RGB PRO.

The Corsair K70 MAX offers impressive customizability. It has plate-mounted stabilizers and standard-sized right modifier keys. It's also technically hot-swappable, though the PCB sockets are only designed to accept hall-effect switches and don't have traditional pinouts.

Like other keyboards with hall-effect switches, you orient them North or South-facing, but note that the LED is North-facing to provide the best clarity for the shine-through keycaps.

This keyboard has full RGB backlighting with individually backlit keys. You can customize the lighting directly on the keyboard using hotkey combinations or the configuration software.

The above images feature the default PBT plastic spacebar installed out of the box by default. There's an alternate "Radiant Spacebar" included with a more elaborate shine-through pattern. For reference, you can see an image of this exact style of spacebar installed on the very similar Corsair K65 PRO MINI, here.

This keyboard provides outstanding backlight clarity. The keycap legends are easy to read in darker rooms, and the white-only setting is very clear without any blue or reddish hues.

The braided USB-C power cable retains some kinks from its packaging.

This is a wired-only keyboard that you can't use wirelessly.

This keyboard has no dedicated macro keys, but you can record macros to any key directly on the keyboard or using the configuration software.

The Corsair K70 MAX has many extra features, including dedicated media keys and a programmable scroll bar. You can also record macros, adjust the backlighting, and change switch actuation points directly on the keyboard.

There's a panel at the top of the keyboard with various lock key indicators.

On the top left, there's a group of buttons that includes a dedicated profile button, a backlighting brightness button, and a Windows Lock Key that you can program to disable other key combinations using the configuration software.

Lastly, there's a tournament switch on the top edge of the keyboard that overrides custom profiles and disables RGB lighting effects, custom actions, and macros.

For a complete list of extra features and key combinations, you can see an online version of this keyboard's user manual on Corsair's website here.

• Corsair K70 MAX
• USB-A to USB-C braided cable
• Wrist rest
• Alternate ABS plastic "Radiant Spacebar" with shine-through pattern
• Alternate 1u CORSAIR logo ABS keycap
• Keycap puller
• User documentation

This keyboard offers good typing quality. The PBT keycaps are textured and feel nice to the touch, and there are two layers of sound-dampening foam inside the case.

There's standard spacing between keys, and typing feels generally quite smooth with only occasional scratchiness. All keys have a slightly worse-than-average wobble when typing, and the spacebar makes a noticeable rattling sound.

Typing on this keyboard isn't very loud. The switches are linear and don't produce any distracting high-pitched clicking noises.

The Corsair K70 MAX uses CORSAIR MGX linear switches, which operate with magnets rather than standard metal contact points used by conventional mechanical switches or infrared light used by optical switches.

These switches allow you to adjust the pre-travel distance. For more information about this feature, see the keystrokes section.

The CORSAIR MGX linear switches require light actuation force and offer a responsive, linear feel without any tactile feedback. You can customize the actuation point of individual switches directly on the keyboard using hotkey combinations or using the configuration software.

The actuation test was performed with an actuation point setting of 2.0 mm, which is the default setting out of the box. However, we measured the actual pre-travel distance of this setting at 3.2mm.

All actuation settings are significantly inaccurate and noticeably higher than expected. Below is an example list of actuation settings and the actual measured actuation distances.

• Setting 0.4 mm: 2.8 mm
• Setting 1.0 mm: 3.0 mm
• Setting 1.5 mm: 3.1 mm
• Setting 2.5 mm: 3.4 mm
• Setting 3.0 mm: 3.6 mm
• Setting 3.6 mm: 3.9 mm

The configuration software has a 'rapid trigger ' feature that lets you set the release travel distance of individual switches. In this review, we conducted tests with the lowest (most sensitive) rapid trigger setting of 0.2mm. You can see an actuation graph with this setting enabled here. The top line on the graph indicates the pre-travel and marks the actuation point, and the bottom line indicates the return travel and marks the reset point, demonstrating that the rapid trigger is enabled.

Note: We retested this keyboard several months after our initial review with its newest firmware version (v. 1.10.77) to see if subsequent updates had improved the inaccurate actuation distances. We tested multiple keys and actuation distances and found no change from our initial results. If you have this keyboard and want to share your experience, we encourage you to reach out to us in the comments.

This keyboard has outstanding single-key latency performance, offering an extremely responsive experience for gaming in any genre at any competitive level.

This keyboard was tested at its maximum polling rate of 8000Hz, with the rapid trigger set to its lowest 0.2mm setting and with the lowest actuation setting of 0.4mm. However, during testing, we confirmed the 0.4 mm setting has an actual actuation point of 2.8mm. The latency results would be slightly lower if the actuation was truly 0.4mm.

For more information about the difference between this keyboard's indicated actuation points and the actuation points we measured, see the Keystrokes section above.

This keyboard delivers excellent multi-key latency performance on both key press and key release.

This test was conducted at a polling rate of 8000Hz, with the lowest rapid trigger setting set to 0.2mm, and with the lowest actuation setting of 0.4mm. However, during testing, we confirmed the 0.4 mm setting has an actual actuation point of 2.8mm. The latency results would be slightly lower if the actuation was truly 0.4mm.

For more information about the difference between this keyboard's indicated actuation points and the actuation points we measured, see the Keystrokes section above.

This keyboard has outstanding data transmission performance. It has full n-key rollover and can send multiple keystrokes per USB report. Furthermore, this keyboard has a maximum 8000Hz polling rate and a true 8000Hz effective update rate to match, so performance isn't bottlenecked by scan rate or other latency components.

This keyboard has excellent chord split performance with low 4-chord and 8-chord split delay, meaning it can quickly and accurately report many simultaneous key presses.

The Corsair K70 MAX uses Corsair's iCUE configuration software. The software is easy to use but not especially intuitive. You can customize a range of expected settings, including key assignments, macros, RGB lighting, polling rate, and switch debounce. You can save your custom settings to the keyboard's onboard memory, so you don't have to have the software running in the background.

The Key Actuations section of the software lets you customize switch behavior, including custom pre-travel distance, custom reset points, and secondary actuation points.

Note: Corsair has recently released a 'Rapid Trigger' feature for this keyboard designed to dynamically eliminate release travel distance. There's more information about this feature and instructions on how to enable it on Corsair's website here. At the time of writing, this feature is configured directly on the keyboard, and iCUE needs to be closed to enable it. Corsair has indicated that they plan to add adjustable rapid trigger settings to the iCUE software at some point in the future.

This keyboard is fully compatible with all major operating systems.

In Windows, the software is available, and all default key functions work as expected.

For macOS, the iCUE software is available, but the Print Screen hotkey acts like an F13 key, the F11 key minimizes the active window, and the "Pause" hotkey increases screen brightness.

For Linux, the software isn't compatible, but all default key functions work as expected.

This is a wired-only keyboard that isn't compatible with mobile devices.