Corsair K100 Air review: Skinny keyboard, fat price tag

History runs in cycles. And so, apparently, do tendencies in PC equipment. After a couple of decade of obsession with large, chunky, clicky mechanical keyboards, we’re beginning to see producers return to the thinner, sleeker designs seen within the early 2000s. But with two essential variations: They’re bringing what they’ve realized from mechanical designs to those older type elements, and the costs are completely astronomical. 

So it’s with the Corsair Ok100 Air. This super-thin keyboard is the primary desktop design to function Cherry’s Ultra-Low Profile switches, in any other case seen in high-end gaming laptops. The result’s a board that fuses the satisfying click on and resistance of mechanical keys (albeit with a lot shorter key journey) with a visible aesthetic that may simply be the slickest factor in the marketplace. 

The Ok100 Air is an acquired style. You received’t prefer it if you happen to favor the chunky keycaps and lengthy journey of the present zeitgeist, and the worth tag is frankly ridiculous. But if you would like a keyboard that appears higher than it performs, and cash is not any object, you would possibly have the ability to justify the associated fee.

Note: This evaluate is a part of our ongoing roundup of the best wireless gaming keyboards. Go there to study extra about competing merchandise, what to search for in a wi-fi gaming keyboard, and shopping for suggestions.

Price When Reviewed

$279.99

Best Prices Today: 1

$279.99

$279.99

Skinny click on

The most placing and distinctive function of the Ok100 Air is these model new ULP switches. Cherry mixed components of scissor switches present in high-quality laptop computer keyboards with a teeny-tiny spring, which sits horizontally as an alternative of vertically.

The spring really stretches out as you depress the important thing, as an alternative of compressing down like an ordinary MX change. 

Cherry

The result’s keys that function surprisingly stiff resistance of 65 newtons with a journey of 1.8mm. For the sake of comparability, an ordinary MX Red change has 45 newtons of resistance and 4mm of journey. Considering that the ULP change is simply 3.5mm tall, lower than 1 / 4 of the peak of an ordinary change, it’s a powerful little bit of engineering. (And in contrast to the MX change, it’ll be many years earlier than anybody can legally copy the design—ka-ching.) 

So contemplating simply how a lot thinner the Ok100 is versus a traditional mechanical keyboard, it’s superb how effectively it feels below your fingers. In truth at 16mm tall with out the ft prolonged, the whole keyboard is thinner than one normal MX change, even with out a keycap. But neither Corsair nor Cherry can work miracles. The Ok100 Air feels good to sort and sport on, nevertheless it’s nonetheless basically a laptop computer design in a full-sized desktop keyboard, and also you shouldn’t anticipate greater than that. It’s a actually, very nice laptop computer keyboard, and the stiff, springy keys really feel higher than something near this design with a membrane construction, just like the Apple Magic Keyboard and even the Lenovo ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard.

Michael Crider/IDG

Even so, avid gamers and typists who’ve grown accustomed to extra common mechanical boards would possibly take some time to transition to the thinner setup. I had bother getting right into a groove primarily based on the peak of the deck alone, even with the double-stage ft prolonged. (And by the way, Corsair, it’s awfully cheeky to make a keyboard this costly and not include a wrist rest.) If you’re contemplating the Ok100 Air, I strongly recommend you strive it out in a retail retailer or take a look at the equivalent key switches on the brand new Corsair Voyager or Alienware M15 or M17 (the place it’s an expensive improve) earlier than placing down practically $300 on this keyboard. 

Oh, and one last item: The design of the Cherry ULP switches is such that you simply received’t have the ability to take off or exchange the plastic keycaps, so customization choices are out the window. You’d higher hope the end of the keys stands the take a look at of time. 

The remainder of the board 

Aside from the brand new key tech, the Ok100 Air has nearly each function Corsair might pack into its skinny body. There’s ultra-low latency wi-fi by way of a 2.4GHz USB dongle, Bluetooth if you happen to’d slightly go with out, and four-device pairing to change between them. The keys gentle up with the same old RGB goodness (albeit not as vivid or shiny as some options), and there’s a pleasant choice of media controls subsequent to the all-metal quantity wheel. 

Michael Crider/IDG

Corsair is ostensibly a gaming model, and avid gamers received’t discover the keyboard missing. In addition to 2,000Hz polling in USB wi-fi mode, you possibly can crank it as much as an insane 8,000Hz if you happen to plug within the USB-C cable. The iCue software program will allow you to customise the structure (together with the Fn key!), profiles, and macros, full with onboard storage, and even a PlayStation Mode if you wish to use it along with your console. Other good additions embody the choice to customise the sleeping timeout length (essential if you happen to’re utilizing lighting on a regular basis), join a number of Corsair wi-fi units by way of the Slipstream dongle, and even add some fundamental Elgato streaming controls. 

Michael Crider/IDG

And after all, there’s the lighting. In distinction with the Roccat Vulcan II, which provides you completely dazzling keyboard lights and stubbornly refuses to sync them with something not linked to your PC, the Ok100 Air provides you comparatively tame keyboard lights that can connect with a wide selection of additional devices. In addition to Corsair’s RGB gaming mice, headsets, case followers, RAM, mouse pads, and doubtless doggie beds at this level, the corporate sells a wide and expensive range of room lighting with which to sync animations. Go nuts, as a result of Corsair already did. 

Michael Crider/IDG

Combined with a minimalist, all-black physique coated in brushed aluminum, the result’s admittedly attractive. This is the type of keyboard that Hollywood set designers drool over once they’re constructing a film model of a “hacker’s workstation.” Or maybe for a extra well timed instance, a Twitch streamer’s sponsor-laden setup, full with the perfect (or not less than most costly) of the whole lot. It’s fairly, is the purpose I’m making right here. And if that’s your main motivation for purchasing a keyboard, then you definately’ll purchase the Ok100 Air and be pleased. Just bear in mind that it’d look lots nicer than the whole lot else in your desk, as is the case with mine.

Michael Crider/IDG

If there’s one draw back of the keyboard’s super-sleek physique, it’s the battery. While you possibly can in all probability use it wirelessly for months at a time if you happen to can resist the urge to have the RGB lights react to your each loving keystroke, I discovered that it died after a couple of week of use with the lights on. That’s in all probability not a deal breaker for avid gamers, however it’s pretty gentle (har har) compared to the competitors. 

Sticker shock

Which brings us to the least plausible a part of the Ok100 Air’s spec sheet: the worth tag. At $279.99 it’s simply the costliest of any mainstream gaming keyboard (not counting the boutique fashions), with a stable 10 % premium over its equally wi-fi and low-profile competitors just like the Razer Deathstalker V2 or the Logitech G915. Even if you happen to can abdomen the concept that it’s “only a little more expensive,” we’re nonetheless speaking about virtually $300 for a keyboard, which makes my pro-consumer bile rise. 

For this value you’d assume that perhaps Cherry is pricing every considered one of its patent-protected ULP switches like its personal beloved baby. Either that, or Corsair thinks that avid gamers are keen to pay absolutely anything to have a handsome, ultra-thin keyboard that also counts as mechanical. In both case, I discover the worth unjustifiable, and it makes it inconceivable to advocate when there are wi-fi mechanical keyboards which are much less glossy (however each bit as purposeful) for half the price. 

Michael Crider/IDG

The Ok100 Air is exceptional for its dimensions, its typing expertise, and its interesting appears. But I can’t assist however surprise who it’s really meant for: Most avid gamers will favor extra typical mechanical keys with an extended journey, and anybody else will balk on the exorbitant value. Maybe if Corsair comes out with a extra compact mannequin that may slot in a carry-on bag it’ll be compelling as a super-premium pill keyboard—in spite of everything, it prices about as a lot as an Apple design. 

But for everybody else, it’s simply too area of interest and too costly. I’m excited to see these Cherry ULP switches present up in additional gaming laptops, perhaps even mainstream laptops that simply desire a good typing expertise. But that’s in all probability the place they need to keep—gaming keyboards can do with out the space-saving, and with out the expense.