Corsair K70 RGB TKL review: a tournament-ready keyboard with extra customization

The Corsair K70 RGB TKL takes the success of the K70 mechanical gaming keyboard and scales it down to a more travel/space-friendly TKL size. This is a deck that feels tailor-made for the competitive scene as well, prioritizing speed, grip, and customization in both hardware and software. While that does mean you're dropping a few quality of life features like USB passthrough, if you're after a tournament-ready TKL keyboard there's plenty going on here to sway you towards Corsair's offering as it looks set to pick up a slot on our best gaming keyboards guide too.

Features

One of the biggest advantages of the Corsair K70 was the wide range of switches on offer, and that remains true for its miniature counterpart. We got our hands on a set of smooth Cherry MX Reds for review, but you'll find options for everything from Cherry MX Speed to MX Blue and even exclusive Low Profile Speed switches as well. That means you're covered whether you prefer the loud clicks of a more tactile deck or a shorter, softer experience. 

While there are no dedicated macro keys squashed into this TKL design, the deck is fully programmable with per-key macro customization, and you'll find plenty of room for all your onboard profiles as well. 

Even as a piece of competition kit, there's a good array of media controls in here. You're still getting standard playback controls, mute, and volume scroll wheel squeezed onto the top of the deck. 

With a detachable braided cable packed in, the K70 TKL is perfect for both tournament play and the travel that often comes with it. It even features a dedicated 'Tournament Switch' running along the top of the frame, which immediately makes the keyboard competition compliant. 

With this quick switch, your backlighting will automatically be set to a single, static, color, and custom macros will be disabled. It's a neat trick, and certainly fits this esports-first design, but can also make for a nice everyday experience as well should you want to quickly flip back to regular settings for work, for example. 

Design

The Corsair K70 TKL certainly takes its design cues from top-end gaming keyboards. Featuring an aluminum frame with a brushed effect on top, everything looks the part from the off. The plastic body running underneath the deck also feels durable and resilient, even if it is a cheaper final effect. 

Keycaps sit fairly deep here, with a very light texture. That's great if you're not a fan of the sandpaper tips some keyboards are shipping with these days, but if you do need that precision the K70 TKL also includes a grippier set of main keys as well. 

As a TKL, you're also automatically getting a nicely ergonomic design as well. While full-size keyboards can cause your arms to spread unnaturally out to the sides, the TKL size makes for a far more comfortable experience. However, it's worth noting that the wrist rest is sold separately here, and we did find the lip of the keyboard itself to be a little harsh on the palms after a while. 

Performance

Coming to the K70 TKL from a much heavier keyboard, it felt almost too sensitive in its response times and low actuation. While that ultra-sensitivity was soon rectified with muscle memory, we never quite got over how fast this keyboard could be. A featherlight actuation, 8,000Hz hyper-polling, and 4,000Hz key scanning offered up excellent performance in high-pressure situations, especially when twitch reflexes were required. 

The Cherry MX Red switches did add a level of softness to this speed as well, and while that can sometimes remove from the tactile feel, they never felt spongey here and each key still offered a satisfying snap as well. The keys themselves have a fairly high profile and, with a nice level of elevation from the back, it was easy to travel across the full deck quickly. 

It's certainly fast, but the K70 TKL is built for more than just FPS scenarios. There's a tactile click in here and enough programmability to make this a great buy for MMOs as well.

Overall - should you buy?

The Corsair K70 TKL takes the mechanical prowess of the full-sized deck and tailors it even more towards the needs of competitive play. If you're looking for a tournament-ready deck, or even if you're just looking to mix performance with portability, this is an excellent buy. Not only is it fast, satisfying, and kitted out with plenty of extra features, but there's also a massive range of switches on offer here so you can pick up exactly what you need as well.