Gaming is a serious profession for people who care about making the best virtual experience available to someone who aspires to see the visually beautiful side of computer programming. The E3 event, that took place in June 2017, showcased the efforts of those people bringing joy to hoards of gamers around the world. And, it’s not only the software, but people also care about the experience of the gaming sessions. That’s why there are keyboards, mouse and controllers that aim to make pressing a button highly rewarding. We had Corsair’s K68 keyboard a while back and it certainly earned our respect for a great gaming keyboard. Now, we have Corsair’s premium gaming kit – the K95 RGB Platinum Edition keyboard and Glaive RGB mouse. So we decided to find out how they fare against the massive number of similarly priced gaming peripherals?
Corsair K95 Platinum Edition RGB keyboard
The Corsair K68 proved to be a great gaming keyboard, providing a satisfying experience of gaming and typing. So, the K95 has to match and exceed the expectations, as it has to justify the Rs 19,631 price tag (including import duty and tax deposits. We are glad to say that the K95 easily exceeds the expectations.
The K95 is the flagship keyboard in Corsair’s fleet. Therefore, it has a premium feel to it, courtesy the great build quality. The base is made of aluminium, with a brushed finish, which is claimed to be spill resistant. The plate is shallow for the key housing, with the detachable palm rest and the top of board raised marginally. The metallic plate made it easier to clean dirt and debris with a piece of cloth.
The K95 utilises a mechanical setup for its keys. They provide a lot of satisfactory feedback while being highly sensitive to light keystrokes. Corsair provides a set of special contoured keys for extensive gaming use, especially for the WSAD gaming keys and the directional arrow keys that can be easily replaced with normal keys with the key changing clip packed with the keyboard. There are six programmable buttons to the left of the keyboard for aiding gaming experiences. The multimedia and the programmable buttons aren’t mechanical but have enough tactility to not bother the user. We liked the metallic volume roller which makes changing the volume levels convenient and fun.
Even though this is a gaming keyboard, the K95 is at home with simple desktop applications. There's comfortable feedback from the keys and they grip well. Despite the highly sensitive keys, they travel a substantial distance on a keystroke, making it natural. But, the backlight may prove to be a bit distracting for some users, which can be solved by either adjusting the brightness levels or completely turn it off.
However, the standout feature for the K95 has to be its amazing key illumination system. Like the K68 and other Corsair gaming keyboards, it has individual LED lights under each key to provide a great light show when paired with the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software. Since the key housing is shallow, the illuminated key mechanism is visible, making for a matrix-like effect when viewed in the dark. But look above the keys and you will find the illuminated Corsair branding accompanied by a LED light strip on either side, making it look akin to Star Wars’ light swords. In short, the K95 has the ability to distract you from awe-inspiring gaming visuals on your computer’s display.
For the K95, the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software has two profiles – hardware as well as software profiles. The hardware profiles can contain only one lighting effect and save it on the keyboard to enable it on any other PC by simply pressing the ‘profile switch’ button. The software profiles limit your effects to a particular computer but give you the freedom to design your own light show, with full customisation options. You have the ability to program macros as well.
The K95 has a provision for a discrete USB port on the rear for plugging additional USB gaming peripherals if required. To power that discrete USB port, the K95 has an additional USB connection port apart from the standard keyboard connection port.
Corsair Glaive RGB mouse
To complement the K95’s experience, the Glaive RGB mouse makes for a great addition. With a focus on providing the best navigation experience from the mice, Corsair has included a Pixart 3367 sensor with 16,000 dpi. That means that you can achieve sensational levels of angles while navigating through a battlefield in Call of Duty games.
The buttons are highly sensitive as well with negligible resistance, registering an impression with even the slightest of keystrokes, making the experience of using a mouse rewarding even when you are not gaming. The bottom of the mouse is also dirt and debris resistant, saving the user from the effort of cleaning the mouse every few days.
To make it comfortable to use, the perfect contour of the mice carries a soft-touch paint all around. We loved the front end of the mice that takes its inspiration from a jet fighter’s intake. The mouse wheel has nice rubbery surface and the additional function buttons are perfectly placed to the left. There’s a button on the top with its own backlit indicator that helps the user adjust the sensitivity of the optical sensor (or the dpi), which we feel is a feature that every mice should have.
Corsair also provides a set of interchangeable thumb grips with varying levels of support to satisfy the user. With the Corsair Utility Engine (CUE) software, you can have a mini light show on the mice, with various customisable light profiles and programmable macro keys. If all of that interests you, you will have to shell out Rs 6,499 for getting the Glaive RGB mouse.
The Glaive RGB glides over most surfaces with ease. The aluminium strip in the bottom weighs up the front of the mouse, providing a planted feel. The buttons achieve a perfect balance between sensitivity and travel, which makes it easy to use during non-gaming activities such as web browsing, drawing and copy-paste activities. We found the extended thumb rest to be very supportive and comfortable. However, the area around the dpi button warms up considerably after half an hour of extensive usage, which could be due to the electrical circuits and LED bulbs.
Verdict:
Gaming is not just a time passing activity; it is a phenomenon for discerning enthusiasts wanting to explore the digital world crafted with binary codes. To make it a rewarding experience, peripherals like these are the perfect way to play. As NVIDIA’s tagline says – the way it’s meant to be played. Therefore, the Corsair K95 RGB Platinum Edition keyboard and the Corsair Glaive RGB mouse make for a great gaming peripheral set. Get these two for making every gaming session a memorable one.
However, if you want to delve into your experience of wading through virtual battlefields and racetracks, you might as well check out the MM800 RGB Polaris mouse pad with 15-zone LED lighting, T1 Race Gaming chair and the range of VOID wireless headphones from Corsair's website.
