Corsair is back with a Vengeance, and I couldn't be happier. The Corsair Vengeance K95 ($149.99) replaces the Corsair Vengeance K90 as the company's premier gaming keyboard, and the mechanical keyboard keeps nearly everything I loved about the original and steps it up a notch with several welcome improvements, like programmable per-key backlighting, and a black-on-black color scheme that adds a killer look to an already excellent design.
Design and Features
The Vengeance K95 features what may be the best keyboard design I've seen, with a machined aluminum base covered in keys that appear to hover over the black anodized aluminum deck. It's visually striking, but it also makes for completely unencumbered access to all of the keys and easier cleaning of dust and crumbs that would be lost inside a keyboard with the more common recessed keys. Attached to the front of the keyboard is a separate wrist rest, which is covered in a soft-touch rubberized finish with a dimpled texture. Unlike the integrated wrist rests seen on the Editors' Choice Roccat Ryos MK Pro, this one is also removable.
The keyboard features 134 total keys and buttons, with a full keyboard and a 10-key numeric pad, 18 programmable macro keys, built-in media controls, and buttons for recording macros and switching between three profiles (all saved in on-board storage). Since each profile has its own 18-key set of macro commands, you can actually program the 18 macro keys (numbered G1-G18) with up to 54 preprogrammed commands. The media controls include Play/Pause, Stop, and Forward and Back buttons, with a roller knob for volume control and a volume mute button.
The keys themselves feature Cherry MX Red switches, which offer solid typing feel, with a smooth linear motion that offers consistency no matter how fast you hammer away at them, but they don't have the audible clicking noise and tactile bump you would get with the more popular Cherry MX Blue switches. Unlike the previous Corsair K90, which used mechanical switches for the main keys, but opted for silicone membrane switches for the function and macro keys, every key on the Vengeance K95 features both a Cherry MX Red key switch and an individual LED backlight, providing more consistency across all of the keys, and better long-term durability.
The backlighting is also worth noting. Each keycap is laser-etched, with semi-transparent white lettering that glows through when the backlight is on, but is still easily readable when the backlight is turned off. In the downloadable software dashboard for the keyboard, you can not only edit macros and re-assign keys, but you can also turn the backlight on and off for individual keys, allowing you to set up a profile for gaming that only highlights the keys used in-game.
A Y-cable connects the keyboard and also allows for a USB pass-through connection. This provides a handy port when your PC tower is tucked under a desk or behind a monitor. It is, however, limited to USB 2.0 speeds. There's also a sliding switch on the back of the keyboard, next to the USB port, which lets you adjust the polling rates (the minimum interval between repeat key presses) for the keyboard, letting you select between 1-millisecond (ms), 2ms, 4ms, and 8ms. But most users will simply leave it pegged at 1ms for the faster response times.
As mentioned above, the Vengeance K95 does require downloading the accompanying Corsair Gaming Software to access all of the programmable features. The software is Windows only (Windows 7/8/Vista/XP), but the keyboard also has basic plug-and-play functionality, which should work for other operating systems, albeit without the extra bells and whistles. Corsair covers the Vengeance K95 with a two-year warranty.
Performance
I used the Vengeance K95 for both work
and play for several days during testing, and found it excellent whether I was typing up reviews or playing games. The Cherry MX Red switches provide an extremely comfortable typing action, and are considerably less noisy than many MX Blue-equipped keyboards I've tested—seeing as there's no audible click added to the key action. Thus, there is still some typing noise, but instead of a sharp click when the key is pressed, it's a quieter tap instead.
The programmable macro keys, located just to the left of the WASD keys, are convenient and easily worked into regular gameplay, particularly massive multiplayer online games (MMOs) and games that require strings of commands for specific actions. The macros are also handy for non-gaming purposes, and I found a lot of use programming in shortcuts and actions for Photoshop and Excel.
Conclusion
All told, the Corsair Vengeance K95 is a solid improvement on one of the best keyboards we've seen. Like the Corsair Vengeance K90 before it, the combination of attractive, yet functional, design and wealth of programmable features makes this one of the best options available for gamers, and the all-black design is sophisticated enough to use in the office as an alternative to our top general-purpose keyboard, the Das Keyboard 4 Professional. Despite its broad utility, the Vengeance K95 is made for gaming, and it stacks up well against the Editors' Choice Roccat Ryos MK Pro, offering several of the same features, and a more refined design, for a similar price. The Roccat keeps top honors, however, thanks a few additional features, like a second USB pass-through port, and backlighting with more flexible capabilities, but it's a very close match. The Corsair Vengeance K95 is an excellent choice as one of the best keyboards on the market, for both gaming and general use.
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