We reviewed Corsair’s new compact, K60 PRO TKL RGB mechanical keyboard, and came back with impressions that you should know
About Corsair and the keyboard market
The hardware and peripherals manufacturer Corsair sent us its new compact mechanical keyboard model K60 PRO TKL RGB. In a world where the supply of keyboards is endless, we looked for the uses and potential target audience of the mid-sized gaming keyboard.
In recent years the world of keyboards for personal computers has grown and grown to large dimensions with many different niche groups. As of now, the largest group of users in the market is mainly those who use the standard office keyboards on personal computers, these are large and varied keyboards with different functions but usually have medium mechanical reliability due to the use of standard rubber membrane buttons.
There is an audience that uses various mechanical keyboards bought that are sold in computer and electrical stores. There is also a slightly more ambitious crowd that buys mechanical keyboards in limited editions with a host of features and higher quality materials. The talking freaks also like to assemble the keyboards for themselves with different printed boards and custom buttons along with a lot of work and investment of many hours.
Corsair is mostly known for the market share of those who want gaming and typing solutions from the various computer stores. This is the K60 PRO TKL, the new keyboard that uses self-made buttons and comes in a compact size standard. You can call it an 80 percent keyboard, but the name TKL or Tenkey-less means that this keyboard has no number keys. This keyboard is priced at 99 dollars or 500 shekels here in Israel.
The right side contains direction buttons along with useful functions for navigation such as Home and End. The letter area is fairly standard and includes everything you would expect from a PC keyboard to include including the Windows button. The top row contains the F to F12 keys with secondary functions activated by the FN button.
The keyboard is made of plastic while some of the buttons receive an aluminum shield. The keyboard is well built and does not creak or bend when force is applied to it.
This keyboard receives power through a USB Type-C connector using a cable to the Type-A connector that comes with it.
The button that Corsair uses is called OPX. A linear opto-mechanical button which registers a press after a distance of one millimeter. The meaning of these words is that these are buttons that have the same level of resistance at each stage of pressing, which many users prefer over variable pressure.
The button covers are made of polycarbonate, a simple and effective material. The premium of this market is considered the use of ABS plastic, often multi-layered. The Mahdrin even choose ceramic or metal.
The stability quality of the keys on top of the buttons is average at most. Unfortunately, there is a lot of freedom and swing of the keys, which is not an optimal situation.
The bottom of the keyboard is made entirely of plastic. There are two legs for lifting at an angle of 8 degrees. There are also some small rubber pads for stability.
The keyboard indicator lights include using CAPSLOCK, Windows key lock and scroll lock, Scroll Lock.
The keyboard we have contains an inscription in English only and the buttons are in the traditional QUERTY configuration. The K60 PRO TKL keyboards sold in Israel will also come with an engraving in Hebrew that will allow the RGB lights to pass through them.
The keyboard has RGB lights for each of its buttons.
Corsair’s iCUE software is used to control the keyboard. You can set the different RGB configurations, update firmware and decide on things like Polling Rate, the rate at which information is sampled from the keyboard. This value can be set to 8,000Hz for 8,000 samples per second. Although, for the absolute majority of users even 2,000 or 4,000 are more than enough given the average response time of a user.
The experience of use and summary
For us using the TKL keyboard is a transition from a full size keyboard. In the last year we got used to using the K70 RGB PRO (review here). For us, a full keyboard has been a normal part of the work routine for many years, as sometimes arithmetic operations come easily with the numbers on the right side.
The first thing that happens when switching between such keyboards is what we call the phantom effect. The hand wants to access things that no longer exist on the new keyboard such as the volume wheel and number keys. So it’s something you have to get used to, so after a few days you start to adapt.
Another thing is the switch from Cherry MX Red buttons to OPX buttons which are significantly softer and significantly more sensitive. As mentioned, a click is recorded as a single millimeter of movement in the button.
For the past few days, writing content and general use has been done on the K60 PRO TKL and the experience is generally good. Soft buttons and blind writing in Hebrew come relatively easily, but something that needs a little longer adaptation is the sensitivity of the buttons themselves. The reason OPX buttons are so sensitive is mainly the gaming crowd.
Corsair’s claim is that sometimes a large distance of pressing may result in a long delay before a command and in fact a delay when it comes to reactivity in games. We have to admit that at least in this area Corsair managed to hit the target. In gaming using the keyboard feels very reactive, very fast. Whether it’s in shooters or Pizza Tower (play it, you lose if you don’t), the overall responsiveness of the K60 PRO TKL feels superb.
In writing, the situation is a little different. It is easy to accidentally press a key or twice while leaning or resting on the keyboard and this is something that cannot be changed, all OPX buttons work. If we had one wish for this product, it would be to be able to change the point at which a click is registered. If it was possible to change it from 1 millimeter to 2 or 3, it would improve the typing experience for us and remove a respectable amount of errors and double typing.
Of course, the time of use is a big part of reducing errors, and after a few days of use, the amount of wrong and double clicks was reduced.
Corsair’s K60 PRO TKL is a simple keyboard in its design philosophy. A compact keyboard with a weight of one kilogram, intended mainly for gaming. The OPX feel buttons are great for gaming but getting used to them for general typing takes some time.
Is this keyboard worth 500 shekels? Well, that’s not the lowest price we’ve seen for a mechanical keyboard in the TKL configuration. Mechanical keyboards in the TKL configuration are common in the price range of NIS 300-400 for various Cherry MX buttons. This means that the premium is embodied in the use of the OPX buttons. Those who can import from abroad are expected to pay a little less, so half consolation here.
Specifically, we think that a local price and also a slightly lower official price could have given Corsair a bit more of a positive reputation on the subject, since this market is very competitive and if you want a special feature to penetrate the market you need to have users who will adopt it. We are sure that later this year and maybe on Black Friday we will find discounts, and at a slightly lower price recommending the K60 TKL PRO will be significantly easier. A lower price will also make up for the relative freedom in the buttons we found on the keyboard, which is a characteristic of less precise plastic that grips buttons a little looser.