The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is a versatile keyboard with outstanding gaming performance. It's available in a few different switches, including Cherry MX Brown, Red, Blue, Silent Red, and Speed, so you can get the switches you prefer. The Cherry MX Brown switches we tested are light to press, great for gaming, and offer a great overall typing quality. This keyboard has a ton of extra features like customizable RGB backlighting, the ability to set macros to any key, and a USB passthrough. It's a well-built keyboard, but the edges of the aluminum plate on top feel sharp, which could be annoying.
Our Verdict
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is an outstanding gaming keyboard. Every key is macro-programmable, and you can customize the RGB backlighting on a per-key basis. It's available in a few different switches, but our unit has Cherry MX Brown switches that have minimal pre-travel distance and are fairly light to press.
- Available in a few different Cherry MX switches.
- All keys are macro programmable.
- Full RGB backlighting with individually-lit keys.
- Aluminum edges of the top plate feel sharp.
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is good for office use. It comes with a detachable wrist rest and has an incline setting. You can get it with the Cherry MX switches you prefer, the keys are stable, and overall, it has a great typing quality. On the downside, the spacing between the keys might take some time to get used to.
- Available in a few different Cherry MX switches.
- Wrist rest helps with fatigue.
- Great typing quality.
- Spacebar feels wobbly.
- Aluminum edges of the top plate feel sharp.
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 isn't designed to be used wirelessly.
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is very good for programming. You can set macros to any key and change the RGB backlighting on a per-key basis. The typing quality with the Cherry MX Brown switches we reviewed is great, but you can get the switches you prefer. It has acceptable ergonomics as it has a wrist rest and an incline setting. Sadly, the dedicated software isn't available on Linux.
- Available in a few different Cherry MX switches.
- All keys are macro programmable.
- Full RGB backlighting with individually-lit keys.
- Software not available on Linux.
- Aluminum edges of the top plate feel sharp.
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is inadequate for use with home theater PCs. It's a wired-only keyboard, so you need to run a cable running from the couch to the computer, which isn't ideal if you have kids or pets. Additionally, you need a separate mouse because there's no trackpad.
- Available in a few different Cherry MX switches.
- Full RGB backlighting with individually-lit keys.
- Aluminum edges of the top plate feel sharp.
- Wired-only
- No trackpad.
- Available in a few different Cherry MX switches.
- Aluminum edges of the top plate feel sharp.
Changelog
- Updated Feb 14, 2024: We've added a link to the newly-reviewed Corsair K70 CORE to the Build Quality section of this review.
- Updated Nov 29, 2023: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.3.1, which adds a new estimated PCB latency test to the Single-Key Latency section and a new Analog test to the Switches section of this review. You can see the full changelog here.
- Updated Oct 30, 2023: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.3, which overhauls how key input is evaluated. We've added new tests for Single Key Latency, Multi Key Latency, Data Transmission, and Chord Split. We've also introduced a new Raw Performance usage and adjusted how the Gaming and Office usage scores are calculated. You can see the full changelog here.
- Updated Jun 15, 2023: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.2. This update introduces new Backlight Features and Backlight Clarity test boxes. We've also added a new Switches test box, added additional test comparisons to our Hardware Customizability test box that we introduced with our last Test Bench. For an in-depth look at our changes, you can see our full changelog here.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We reviewed the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 in black. It's also available in white, which is sold as the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 SE, and there's also a low profile variant. The K70 RGB MK.2 is available in a variety of switches, while the other variants are available with limited switch options. The differences between them are listed below.
| Name | Color | Backlighting | Cherry MX Switches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsair K70 LUX | Black | Red | Brown, Blue, and Red |
| Corsair K70 Rapidfire | Black | Red | Speed |
| Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 | Black | RGB | Blue, Brown, Red, Speed, and Silent |
| Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 SE | White | RGB | Speed |
| Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Rapidfire (Low profile) | Black | RGB | Red and Speed |
If someone has a Corsair K70 RGB that's different from ours, let us know in the discussions and we'll update the review.
Popular Keyboard Comparisons
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is an outstanding full-sized mechanical gaming keyboard. Although it doesn't have dedicated macro keys like the Corsair K95 RGB PLATINUM XT, most people should be happy with it. It's also available in a wide variety of switches, more so than some other gaming keyboards we've tested, like the HyperX Alloy Origins. Also see our recommendations for the best gaming keyboards, the best mechanical keyboards, and the best RGB keyboards.
The Corsair K100 RGB is better than the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 for gaming, mainly due to its lower latency. Also, the K100 has dedicated macro keys, making it a great option for MMOs. The K100 is available with two types of linear switches, while the K70 is available in a variety of Cherry MX switches, so you can get the ones you prefer. The K100 has a multi-function wheel, and the included wrist rest is more comfortable.
Overall, the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is much better than the Corsair K60 RGB PRO Low Profile, although it's mainly due to its superior typing quality. The Cherry MX Brown switches on our K70 provide tactile feedback, and their higher pre-travel distance lead to fewer typos, as the low profile switches on the K60 can be overly sensitive. However, the K60 has a better build quality, and its low profile might be more comfortable to type on for some.
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is better overall than the Corsair K68 RGB, but the two keyboards are very similar. The only differences are that the K70 has an aluminum plate on top, it's available in more switches, and it has on-board memory.
The SteelSeries Apex 7 TKL and the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 are both outstanding gaming keyboards. The Corsair is a full-size keyboard with companion software that’s compatible with Windows and macOS. The unit we tested has tactile Cherry MX Brown switches, and it has many variants available with a range of Cherry MX switch types, as well as a variant with low profile switches. The SteelSeries has an OLED screen that you can use to adjust settings without minimizing games, and it has onboard memory for storing configuration profiles from the companion software. The unit we tested had SteelSeries Brown switches, though it’s also available with linear Reds and clicky Blues.
Test Results
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