We finally got to checkout Corsair’s new Vengeance K90 gaming keyboard. With mechanical key switches, LED backlighting, and aluminum base, the keyboard comes out of the gate swinging and looking to make a mark in the gaming keyboard market.
Upon initial inspection, a gaming keyboard’s construction is what sells its value. Taking a keybaord out of the box and thinking it feels “cheap”, “flimsy”, etc usually tells us all we need to know about it. Thankfully, this was not anywhere near the case with the Corsair Vengeance K90. With a sturdy aluminum base, large layout, and hefty weight of four and a half pounds, the keyboard feels ready for heavy usage. The keyboard’s broad layout features 18 programmable keys on the left side of the QWERTY area, and numeric keypad on the right. It also comes with a removable, full-length wrist rest for user comfort. Above the numeric keypad area is a nice slew of multimedia controls – including a cool roller for volume control.
Setting up and installing the Vengeance K90 is simple enough – just plug it into an available USB 2.0 port and off you go. Of course, you can also install the Vengeance software and assign key macros and profiles to the unit. The amount of customization is pretty impressive. In terms of performance, the Vengeance K90 is one of the more enjoyable keyboards I have used. With Cherry MX Red keys in the QWERTY area, typing or gaming has a tactile “click” and good response. The keyboard has a 20 key rollover and what Corsair calls “full key matrix anti-ghosting” so that, no matter how many keys you push at the same time, your commands WILL get sent to the program or game you are using.
I used the Corsair Vengeance K90 gaming keyboard with titles like Path of Exile to Battlefield 3 and even strategy games like Combat Mission: Normandy. The keyboard never failed me or gave me a hard time. The backlighting has four levels of illumination, selectable on the keyboard, and glows a cool blue that allowed me to play in very low ambient light conditions. Additionally, the keyboard features a nifty USB pass through port so that you can plug a memory stick, mouse, etc into it. I should also note that the Vengeance K90 features a very heavy duty braided cable. I usually appreciate that but, in this case, it is a VERY heavy duty cable. Because of this, it can be a bit hard to slink around things but it is not a huge problems.
Overall, the Corsair Vengeance K90 gaming keyboard is a great choice for dedicated gamers looking for real performance and sturdy constructions. At just shy of $130, we highly recommend it.
