Dialing in your photo and video editing process can come down to the equipment you have. One such piece of important equipment is the editing keyboard you use.
I recently purchased a new Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 to use as my primary video editing keyboard. In this post, I’ll review my Corsair keyboard and help you decide if it’s the right keyboard for you.
Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Review
When my stock Apple keyboard for my Mac completely died on me, I looked at it as an opportunity. Could I possibly find a keyboard better suited to how I use my computer?
Some quick searching online brought me to a gaming keyboard as a potential option: the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2.
There were a few reasons I chose this keyboard. For one, who can resist how the full system lighting in the keys looks? The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 allows users to make use of a variety of preset stationery or dynamic color options. All of these various color customizations can easily be controlled and manipulated through the iCUE (Corsair Utility Engine) app, which you’ll download on your first use.
There are over 16 million different color possibilities. You’ll have your choice from color patterns that change continually, colors that remain constant and even colors that respond to each hit of the keys.
Additionally, as a gaming keyboard, the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 allows you to record actions and assign them to keys if you so choose. While this might be useful for some, I haven’t really made use of the actions I’ve recorded and setup. I find that even though I have set some up, I’m just much more proficient with the hotkeys I already use in Premiere, After Effects and Final Cut Pro X.
Finally, the keys on the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 are punchy. They sound great as you hit them and provide much better feedback when editing videos than my native Mac keyboard ever did.
Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Specs to Know
- $135.99 at Amazon
- 17.24″ x 6.53″ x 1.53″ in dimension
- Made of aluminum material
- Connects via USB Y-cable
- Black
- 108 keys total
- 2-year warranty
- Wrist rest is detachable
- Over 16.8 million different color combinations
- USB pass through port
- 8MB of storage
Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Pros and Cons
Pros
- Tons of awesome color possibilities and easy to change
- Punchy keys make editing video and photo fun
- USB pass through on the back of keyboard
- Since it’s now an older model, it’s affordable!
- The iCUE app is super easy to use
Cons
- Programmable key functions are useful, but to me not better than native editing hotkeys
- Using the USB pass through connection requires you to use up an extra USB slot on your computer
Final Review of Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 – 6.5/10
The Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 is a slick looking keyboard. And it works great!
But as a video or photo editing keyboard, you can probably do better. If you’re looking for something to really pick up your efficiency in editing programs, the Loupedeck+ is a better option. This specific Corsair includes programmable keys, but I honestly have never used the actions I’ve recorded. With the Loupedeck+, it’s nice to have things laid out with knobs which make editing more efficient than hotkeys. So that’s why the rating is somewhat low here.
However, if you’re just looking for an upgraded keyboard from something like the native Mac keyboard, this Corsair model is a safe bet. It’s affordable, looks great and the punchiness of the keys will be music to your ears.