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The Corsair K95 RGB Platinum ships in a stylish and colourful box – Corsair are clearly keen to emphasise the RGB capabilities of the keyboard.
Inside, there is another box which holds the keyboard and the accessories.
Speaking of accessories, the K95 RGB Platinum comes with two manuals – one quick-start guide and one with warranty information – as well as 8 replacement key caps and a key-puller.
Also included in the box – but separate from the keyboard itself – is a detachable, full-length wrist rest. This alone is a good feature to have (though we would definitely expect it for £194.99) but this is not just any ordinary wrist rest.
As you can see in the image above, the main body of the wrist rest itself is actually removable.
This is a very neat feature as it allows the rest to be double-sided – and as you can see above, one side is more rough and textured, while the other side is dimpled and smooth. This just adds some extra flexibility – if you prefer a rougher wrist rest, that's fine, but if you prefer a smooth rest that is also catered for. It is good to see Corsair thinking outside the box with this, even if it is just a wrist rest.
Moving on to the keyboard itself. It is a full-sized board with about an inch of bezel at the top, while there is a standard numpad on the right-hand side.
Before diving in for a closer look, I will just point out that Corsair have continued to make their top-end keyboards from aircraft-grade, brushed aluminium (the image above and on the right demonstrates this). I am a big fan of these metallic frames – I have already seen the HyperX Alloy FPS and the ASUS ROG Claymore which have steel and aluminium frames, respectively. It is just something which adds a touch of class, while also ensuring that your keyboard is very sturdy and durable.
Starting at the top of the keyboard, on the left-hand side we find 3 buttons (pictured above, left). From left-to-right, these have the following functions assigned to them: change user profile, adjust brightness level, enable/disable Windows-lock key.
Over in the top-right corner there are dedicated multimedia keys – something which is always good to see, as having these share space with the Fn keys is just an extra faff. The metallic-looking wheel is a volume slider.
At the very front of keyboard, next to the cable, is a USB 2.0 pass-through port. This has been included after actually being removed from the previous K95 RGB model – this is a good feature to have back again as it can be useful for plugging in a mouse or headset.
Also visible in both photos above is a thin, light-grey strip which runs along the entire top edge of the keyboard. This is actually an LED strip which Corsair have called LightEdge. It is also split into 19 dedicated zones, all individually-controlled via the CUE software. We look at the lighting and software in more detail on the next page.
On the left-hand side of the keyboard are 6 macro or G-keys. This is another change from the K95 RGB Platinum's predecessor – the original K95 RGB featured 3 rows of G-keys, totalling 18 in total. I think reducing this number to 6 is smart – it makes the keyboard slightly more compact, while I also think that only serious MOBA gamers would actually use all 18 macro keys anyway. These keys are also textured and contoured to ensure you do not accidentally press one during a gaming session.
Removing the key caps reveals the Cherry MX Speed switches below. These are a relatively-new switch type and are designed to offer ultimate gaming performance by having a reduced actuation distance of just 1.2mm. By comparison, MX Red switches have an actuation distance of 2mm, so in theory at least, MX Speed switches should be 40% faster. The switches are also MX RGB switches – meaning the switch-housing is clear to better allow the LED to shine through and spread out.
Turning the keyboard over, the features keep coming! The ‘x' shape visible on the underside of the keyboard is a special cable-management solution implemented by Corsair. It is designed to allow you to clip a cable in-place underneath the keyboard, thereby preventing it from getting in the way while you are gaming – another great idea which shows Corsair are continuing to innovate.
Lastly, the braided cable is pretty thick as it splits out into two USB connectors – one for the USB 2.0 pass-through port and another for the keyboard itself.
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