Corsair K55 Review

Corsair K55: Gaming Keyboard Review

Pros

• What we liked
• Tons of features
• Affordable price
• High-quality membrane keys

Cons

• What we disliked
• Still slower than mechanical keys
• The built quality leaves much to be desired
• Eight-key rollover

Corsair K55 RGB is one of the most affordable gaming keyboards on the market at the moment. It is a brand product with a dedicated gaming focus; usually, such keyboards cost a lot. However, you may have K55 for approximately $50 or £40 in the UK.
However, with the low price comes a compromise as well. K55 is a membrane device and not a mechanical keyboard. Besides, its material is plastic rather than metal. Does K55 fit in your gaming setup? Find out in our corsair K55 review.

Keyboard Design

Corsair K55 RGB has a conservative design in overall forms, but the keyboard compensates it with functionality and additional features. K55 is the only keyboard in its price category with dedicated macros. The device has a column of six additional buttons on the left side. Besides, there are more extra buttons at the top-right corner of the keyboard. These are media keys, a button for macro-recording, a Game Mode toggle, and a button for a quick change of brightness. The closest rival for K55 is Razer Cynosa Lite. However, despite being in the same price category, the device from Razer cannot boast additional macro keys.

As the title of the keyboard implies, K55 has LED lighting. However, it should be kept in mind that the low budget price implies less precise lights. Instead of lighting set for each individual button, like in more costly gaming keyboards, K55 has three lighting zones beneath the keys.

Still, the illumination looks good; it is solid and consistent. For example, illuminations in similar keyboards from Razer are pretty feeble and pale in comparison with K55. Corsair has an iCUE app that allows easy customization for RGB lighting. It is easy to personalize the keyboard’s colors, and overall, the app is a straightforward and user-friendly piece of software. You don’t need additional corsair k55 drivers to run it.

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The keyboard has a detachable wrist rest covered in rubber. It gives Corsair’s device an additional point in rivalry with Razer’s budget keyboards.

K55’s primary material is smart plastic. The keyboard’s price implies that there are no metal components in the device. You may still bring K55 for LAN parties, but if you look for a really sturdy device, search for the keyboards with metal components or hybrid models. That means lower durability and build quality suffering: the body of the keyboard flexes a bit, and the top-right media buttons are a bit flimsy. Razer keyboards have similar flexing issues. Therefore, it is another compromise that goes with an affordable price of the device. Another minor design issue is a glossy band of plastic above the keyboard. It easily attracts fingerprints and looks odd in the general keyboard’s design. The brand’s button does not look great either; many of the busy buttons have tiny print, which makes it tricky to read. K55 has 480x166x34 dimensions, making it not the most compact keyboard on the line but fitting in general desktop.

Another issue with the design that we should mention in this corsair k55 rgb gaming keyboard review is the absence of USB pass-through; there is no braided or detachable USB cable also. Besides, K55 is not specifically spill-resistant, but it can survive a few accidents. In these terms, Razer keyboards are more reliable.
Corsair K55 has only an eight-key rollover. It is not critical for casual gamers and regular users. If you seek an affordable keyboard, K55 is still your choice. However, if you are a competitive player and prefer games that engage a lot of keys on the keyboard – you should keep this feature in mind.

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Corsair K55 Performance

K55 has a membrane design, unlike mechanical keyboards, which have mechanical switches under each key that register button-presses. The membrane implies that keys are pushed into a single layer made of plastic or to register button-presses.

Plastic as the primary material makes such devices more affordable than mechanical ones, embedded with metal components. However, the membrane devices are usually slower than mechanical keyboards, and softer. Plastic keyboards do not have a distinctive snap sound from pressing the buttons and the speed of response of mechanical keyboards. Still, the producers of such devices insist that their membrane keyboards are identical to mechanical ones.

From this point of the corsair k55 rgb gaming keyboard review, it would be fair to claim that Corsair K55 RGB has one of the best membrane typing experiences among budget keyboards. The device’s buttons react fast enough and are satisfying to press. They feel robust, have a firm form and tactile design – there is a distinctive bump in the middle of each button, just like in a proper mechanical keyboard. It is a spectacular difference between spongy, flexing, and overall barely satisfying experience of regular membrane gaming keyboards.

The Corsair’s membrane buttons are quieter than most of its membrane analogs and definitely make less sound than mechanical keys. The buttons have a soft-touch finish and a cavernous form that contributes to the overall comfort level.

Still, the feeling from pressing K55 buttons differs from the closest rivals. For example, Razer Cynosa Lite has lighter buttons and softer pressing. If you seek a perfectly silent keyboard, then K55 does not fit in this niche.

However, Corsair K55 RGB is a perfect choice for mainstream gaming. Mechanical keyboards remain an ultimate gaming device, but K55 is not far behind. It is responsive, comfortable, and consistent in usage.

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Conclusion

As you can tell from our corsair k55 review, this is a really impressive gaming device. In terms of typing action, Corsair K55 is one of the fastest, most consistent, and comfortable options on the market.

It is a bit heavier than other membrane keyboards, but it is the closest experience to mechanical keyboards without overpricing. Of course, K55 cannot compete with real mechanical keyboards, but it is more than enough for mainstream, casual gaming.

Besides, you will have nice extras such as LED lighting, a bunch of additional buttons, and user-friendly software for accurate personalization. There are minor issues with the design and buttons rollover, but these are acceptable compromises that won’t trouble most users.

Corsair K55 RGB is a well-balanced option for gaming and regular typing. It provides quality and a good set of features for an affordable price. Besides, it has several advantages in comparison with its direct rivals. However, if you seek the maximum from the gaming experience, it would be better to save up for a mechanical keyboard.

The Specs

Connectivity: Wired
Cable: 1.8m, unbraided
Material: Plastic
Switch type: Membrane
Backlighting: 3-zone RGB
Number of buttons: 120
Extras: Wrist-rest, macro keys, media keys

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