Review: Corsair K55 RGB PRO XT keyboard

I can't remember the last time I typed on a membrane keyboard. I guess they make sense in an office environment to keep noise down, but when you can get a mech for less than this membrane, that's what I'd go for. The cheapo mechs you can get off Amazon are surprisingly decent.

 

I bought into the mech hype and although I liked it, I'd rather save the money and buy a high quality membrane keyboard. I can see the appeal of blue switches for a strictly typing environment, and I can see the appeal for black or red switches for a strictly gaming environment, but I personally have grown to like scissor keys the most. They're quiet, they can be very tactile, they have a short travel to actuate, and they're [usually] cheaper.
Sure, being able to press more than 3 keys at a time would be nice, but that very rarely was a problem for me before I went mech.

 

Im also another one who likes high quality membrane keyboards, already using K55 which is just the same with no per key rgb thing but i really like it more than cheaper mech with no volume control or programable keys

 

Hype? Hype implies something new being promoted. Cost, pretty much the same. For some reason you've decided the only appeal for mechanical is 'strictly gaming'. Every thing you claimed you liked about membrane switches can be found in mechanical switches at higher quality. Of course everyone has preferences, they should at least be based on reality.

 

Nothing wrong with liking membrane. I wish my gaming friends that don't have their mic sensitivity dialed in would use membrane instead . For work, I gotta have those blues though. I type much more accurately with them. I use brown for gaming duty.

 

I recently bought a cheap RGB mechanical keyboard and although it works perfectly the engraving on the keycaps is terrible and even difficult to read on some keys.
So I have now just purchased a Corsair K55 keyboard and am very happy with it except for exactly what Hilbert complained about, being the position of the G6 key.
I do play a lot of FPS games and have since the original DOOM, Quake and Duke Nukem 3D, always set up and used the left control key as the "fire" key.
So I keep on hitting the G6 key when in battle instead of the Control key to shoot. Muscle memory is very difficult to retrain after about 30 odd years.
So I am seriously considering removing the G6 keycap and blanking it off to resolve this problem.

I know you can buy Keycaps for the mechanical keyboard but I have not yet found an exact match for shape and size of keys. In fact the Corsair Keycaps set is about the closest match but not 100% and it costs almost 3/4 the price of a decent keyboard

 

I got this KB yesterday and i love it. I wanted this because i'm constantly spilling things on them and this is easy to clean and is spillage proof.

Plus i was looking at K100 but £250 is a bit much for a KB. I've tried both Cherry Red and Cherry Brown switches but i always went back to my old membrane Logi KB.

 

I used a M$ sidewinder 6 keyboard for over ten years until number 4 started to fail, currently using Corsair K70 lux but i`d be quite happy to get another sidewinder 6.

 

Mechs are being promoted, and since when does hype require something to be new?

This isn't the first time you've had reading comprehension issues. Where did I say the only appeal of mechanical is gaming? Pretty hypocritical of you to accuse me of not basing on reality.
I'm also very well aware membrane keyboards can do the same thing - that's my whole point, which you seemed to deliberately ignore. Mechanical keyboards are more expensive and some people get into a hissy-fit when they don't type on anything but a genuine Cherry MX. Not even the cheap knockoffs are good enough for them. When a membrane keyboard at 1/3 the price can achieve a similar experience to a brown switch, what's the point of getting a brown switch?

I have heavily considered getting a blue switch keyboard for my hobbyist workshop. I never used one, but I have typed on pseudo-mechanical keyboards from the 90s (including the IBM Model M), which I know the blues are somewhat similar to. I really like those old keyboards.
For bill-paying work, I'm stuck with a laptop (Lenovo X1 Carbon), but, the keyboards on those are some of the nicest I've typed on, including mechanicals. The keys have a great tactile feel, and sound nice without being loud.

 

I also prefer membrane keyboards...the silence is golden, and every mech kybrd I've tried has just been too small for my hands--which are not *that* big, imo. And the clackety-clack-clack is too annoying for words.

 

Red or speed switches here.

 

Moved from red to brown, but added a rubber ring on each.
Bought a ADX ADXOK0119 on sale for a gift recently, the optical mechanical switches on that thing feel and react like mx speed and are silent too, if I needed a new keyboard I would get one of those instead of all the other overpriced crap.

 

That's pcworld own brand isn't it?

 

No idea, a store called El Giganten had them on sale and propertly made a mistake in their pricings too, so got one for 20$.

 

about right,

i do enjoy having media controls on my keyboard other than the key combination ones.

 

@The Goose
honest question...
your old M$ sidewinder x6, what type of keys/buttons did it have?
I honestly cannot find the correct info in the old reviews of that keyboard.

Were those scissor type keys or some other type...?

a friend of mine had one in the past and i really like the typing "feeling" of the keyboard and I want the same style/type buttons on my next purchase....

 

Mech vs Membrane = total user preference and I have no beef with either one. That said, mechanical is simply superior for typing and gaming, and I can (and did, Hell, I got 3 for about $20 more) get two good ones for the price of this one membrane. My "beef" with every membrane board I have ever seen is the key caps are never double shot. They are either "painted" on letters or "painted" black around the letter on "clear" plastic for back-lit ones and ALWAYS wear out within a couple months.

My mechanicals look as new as on day one after 3+ years and never has a single switch failed me yet, but even if they do, the keyboards came with 3? or 5? extra switches in the box. I'll take a $30 Mechanical Z-77 style over this every day.

That rubbery feel on the caps described in the review...I bet you money it is the "paint" on these crappy caps. Membrane or non double shot = this garbage:



Doubleshot = this! And can be had on a $30 mechanical.

 

All the guys who say they like the silence part, have you considered trying a SILENT Cherry MX keyboard? I have one in the office and one at home, both with cherry mx silent red and they are barely audible and feel awesome.

 

Why pay much more for something you can get for a lot lot lot less ? As a non mlg gamer a membrane keyboard and a mechanical one pretty much they make no difference for me , tried cherry mx blue on a friend the feeling was nice but literally i do not care for it . Although i can never own a cherry mx blue based keyboard cause of the sound, if i can get for 60 bucks a cherry mx silent with numpad and basic media buttons i would ! I wonder in such keyboard if it will be cheaper to have membrane numpad and media keys and the main buttons switches