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Tech · Corsair · 2022

Corsair K70 RGB PRO

An aluminum-topped board built to outlive the software that drives it.

Three things retire a mechanical keyboard — #3

Overall

7.8

out of 10

Axis scores

Tech is scored on these 5 axes. The total is their plain average — nothing is weighted.

Corsair K70 RGB PRO — axis scores out of 10Horizontal bar chart of editorial scores out of 10 across 5 axes. Bars run from a shared zero baseline; longer is better. Corsair K70 RGB PRO: Performance 8.4, Value 7.2, Durability 8.8, Ease of use 7.4, Design 7.4.PerformanceCorsair K70 RGB PRO — Performance 8.4 out of 108.4ValueCorsair K70 RGB PRO — Value 7.2 out of 107.2DurabilityCorsair K70 RGB PRO — Durability 8.8 out of 108.8Ease of useCorsair K70 RGB PRO — Ease of use 7.4 out of 107.4DesignCorsair K70 RGB PRO — Design 7.4 out of 107.4Editorial score out of 10 — higher is better
  • Performance — How well it does the core job
  • Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
  • Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
  • Ease of use — Setup, daily operation, cleaning, maintenance
  • Design — Build quality and how it sits in a room

Specs

Layout
Full size
Top plate
Brushed aluminum
Switches
Cherry MX, soldered
Extras
Detachable USB-C, media wheel

As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.

Is it for you

Buy it if

  • A keyboard that will be on the same desk in eight years
  • You want genuine Cherry switches rather than a clone
  • A physical volume wheel is worth desk space to you

Skip it if

  • You do not want iCUE resident in the background
  • Desk space is tight — this is a full-size board with a wrist rest

Owners cite the volume wheel more than any other feature as the reason they would not switch back. A physical rotary control, separate from the media keys, beats any software alternative for speed, and it earns the desk space it occupies.

Build quality is the other argument. A brushed aluminum top plate over a steel frame leaves no flex anywhere, and Corsair keyboards routinely outlast the computers they were bought with. The second half of that longevity case is the switches: genuine Cherry MX, not a house-brand clone.

The detachable USB-C cable improves on the older braided-and-fixed arrangement in a practical way. A damaged cable is now a replacement, not a dead keyboard. The board is easier to transport too, despite its size.

Lighting, macros, and profile management all run through iCUE, a large resident piece of software for what is fundamentally a keyboard. The hardware stores a limited number of profiles onboard, which mitigates but does not eliminate the dependency. Anyone who keeps background processes to a minimum will feel it every time they want to change a setting.

Switches are soldered. A chattering key means desoldering or replacing the whole board, and given how long the chassis will otherwise last, that is a real limitation.

It is also a full-size board with a wrist rest attached, so it occupies substantially more desk than the 75 percent alternatives and pushes the mouse further right.

Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.