The keyboard lasts 50 hours on a full charge with the lighting effects turned on, the metal chassis is gorgeous, and there is dynamic RGB lighting with lots of customizability. The K100 Air Wireless is an excellent portable gaming keyboard provided you can justify the price. The full-size Corsair keyboard (K70 RGB Pro) and the K70 RGB Pro Mini, the latter being one of the greatest 60% keyboards we’ve seen to date, are two of our favourite keyboards this year from Corsair. Corsair keyboards appear to be impervious to error thanks to their extremely high polling rates, strong wireless connectivity, and cosy, clicky keys. The K100 Air Wireless from the firm is an ultra-thin mechanical gaming keyboard that appears to be an exact replica of the K70 RGB Pro from recently. Even though it is thin and light, it is more akin to a general-purpose office keyboard than a gaming keyboard, and the transition to scissor key switches is not the best option for gamers who prefer a pleasant key press. Even though it has genuine tech appeal, the combination of it and a relatively expensive price makes it difficult to sell.
Design
The Corsair K100 Air Wireless can best be characterized by the word “thin.” The low-profile keycaps barely raise it above that, and the black aluminum chassis is only 0.7 inches thick. The K100 Air Wireless initially has more in common with a membrane office keyboard than a gaming type. However, Cherry MX switches are present behind the keycaps, which contributes to the peripheral’s high price being justified. Beyond that, the K100 Air Wireless amazed me with how little space was wasted. The keyboard is a good inch or inch and a half smaller than many of its rivals at 17.3 inches across. Nevertheless, the K100 Air Wireless still features a separate row of customizable keys above the number pad and discrete media keys. Even if the extra keys are more difficult to access than the leftward column on something like the Logitech G915, the compact design is commendable. The keyboard is generally as simple to use as it appears. In addition to a USB-C charging port, the back of the device has an on/off switch. With a few buttons in the upper-left, you may change the brightness, configure Bluetooth, or engage Game Mode (which disables the Windows key and Alt-Tab when playing). The K100 Air Wireless looks excellent if you like low-profile keycaps, but how much you enjoy the design mostly depends on how much you do.
Corsair K100 Air Wireless review: Keys
Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile (ULP) Tactiles are the newest and best low profile switches used in the Corsair K100 Air Wireless. It’s a mouthful, but a useful one because these switches are great if you’re seeking for a keyboard that’s exceedingly tiny and offers a satisfyingly tactile but quick and comfortable mechanical switch feel. These switches’ longer travel distance is one of the factors that contribute to how pleasant they feel to use. The K100 Air’s keys have almost twice as much key travel as Apple’s Magic Keyboard, bottoming out at 1.8mm. They have a level of peppiness under the fingertips that makes them incredibly enjoyable to use because the tactile bump appears right at the top of the press. The keys actuate at 0.8mm, but because of their limited travel distance, bottoming out is all but certain. The ULP switches, which weigh 65 grammes, take more effort to activate than their Cherry MX Browns full-size equivalent. Only ten grammes separate them (MX Browns need 55 grammes of actuation force), but the difference is obvious. Although it’s a partial fix, the flat shape of the keycaps necessitates the extra force needed to reduce errors. Similar to typing on a laptop, using the keyboard has the advantage of having better key feel. Due to its thinness, the keyboard may either lie fully flat or tilt slightly by flipping its built-in feet. Since there is more space between each key than on most laptops, finger placement is consistent with that of other full-size desktop keyboards. The keycaps are well made, but if you’re used to a full-height keyboard, there is a learning curve. The scoop on each keycap directs your fingers to the middle of the key. They feel fantastic to use when you’re in place and centered over the keys. However, their little height and lack of sculpting between rows make it simple to land between the keys when you’re a little off, which generally results in an error. After a few hours of use, we naturally became more adept at this, although for a while, we felt sloppy as we frequently pounded the backspace key.
Software
When it comes to customization, Corsair’s iCUE software offers a true feast of possibilities. Although we are accustomed to Logitech’s G Hub, we value the variety of possibilities that iCUE provides. In saying that iCUE gives you the ability to essentially rebind any key you want or create crazy RGB combinations if you want to make your keyboard appear like fireworks, we echoed the opinions expressed in the Corsair K70 Pro Mini Wireless review. The keyboard may be customised in a number of ways to work precisely how you want it to. We’ll admit that while we often use the in-game settings to rebind game activities, we didn’t fully utilise the option to remap any key. We do value having rapid actions on the top status bar of our Mac. Without opening the iCUE programme, we may modify profiles and other variables like the polling rate. also you can check our article on Corsair K100 Air Wireless review.
Corsair K100 Air Wireless review: RGB lighting
The Corsair K100 Air Wireless’s pre-configured RGB lighting is gorgeous, featuring vivid hues that cover the entire spectrum. Software-wise, the K100 Air Wireless includes a completely updated version of Corsair’s excellent iCue suite, which has also undergone a facelift to look more modern. The Corsair K100 Air Wireless uses the same software as the majority of other gaming accessories produced by Corsair, the Corsair Utility Engine (iCUE). With this, you can programme keys, check the battery life, build profiles for specific games and apps, and set up lighting patterns.
Connectivity
The wireless connectivity, which is offered in USB and Bluetooth varieties, comes first. Since it is a Corsair Slipstream model, the USB dongle supports numerous Corsair peripheral connections. This is helpful if you own more recent Corsair equipment, but it is incompatible with more traditional peripherals like the Corsair Dark Core RGB Pro SE gaming mouse. Additionally, the Bluetooth mode operates as promised and enables connections to up to three separate systems. So, if you have a desktop, a laptop, a game console, and a mobile device, you could theoretically connect the K100 Air Wireless to four separate devices across your home. Four macro keys are available for use, especially when streaming. To use those macro keys, though, you’ll need to download the Elgato Stream Deck programme. If you’re interested in streaming but haven’t yet invested in Elgato’s Stream Deck hardware, it could be a good idea to set up a few shortcuts in OBS Studio, such as toggling between cameras or scenes. The keyboard also includes 8MB of internal memory, which can hold up to 50 profiles. In this manner, changing between profiles can be done without even using iCUE.
Corsair K100 Air Wireless review: Performance
As one would anticipate for a wireless keyboard in 2022, the K100 Air operates admirably. Due to the minimal travel distance, the Cherry MX ultra-low profile switches initially feel strange. However, they are tactile, quick, and clacky, which is excellent for typists. Even while using Bluetooth, the K100 Air never showed any discernible lag, but if you want to use the AXON 8000Hz hyper-polling, you’ll want to stick with Slipstream or the tethered connection. For the majority of gamers, Slipstream Wireless’ excellent 2000Hz polling rate is more than sufficient. The K100 Air seemed as swift and responsive as any wired keyboard when we were playing Destiny 2. However, when we jumped in a game, our thumbs could feel the space bar’s sharp edge. Regardless, We enjoyed playing both Deathloop and Assassins Creed Odyssey. Additionally, you can save numerous customizations and macros to the customized keys. Although it’s simpler in iCUE software, on-the-fly macro recording may be done on the board rather easily.
Battery life
Battery life is rated at 50 hours when the RGB backlighting is turned on, but it can last up to 200 hours if you turn it off. A full charge can take up to five hours. This is acceptable as a daily driver for a wireless keyboard, but a docking mechanism that enables you to dock the keyboard for quick, simple overnight charging in instead of using a USB cable would always be appreciated. While we’re on the subject, Corsair, the same is true of your headphones as well. The keyboard has a power button that you may press to shut it off for good, but if you forget, it will go into standby mode to save battery. also you will learn our article on Corsair K100 Air Wireless review.
Price and availability
Without a doubt, the Corsair K100 Air Wireless is pricey. It competes in the high-end market with gaming keyboards that cost $400 or £400 and cost $279 (£279, AU$479). It is unquestionably more expensive than the competition, with the highly regarded Razer Deathstalker V2 Pro costing $249 / £249 and the wildly popular Logitech G915 costing $249 / £229. But once more, taking into account everything the Corsair K100 Air Wireless has to offer – compared to Razer’s low-profile entry, for instance, it boasts a faster wireless polling rate, a longer battery life, a bigger-capacity onboard storage, and more customizations – it might actually be the better value for the majority of users. Keep in mind that you are simply spending an extra $30 or £30 for a larger feature set.
Conclusion
For those who like tactile switches and want a low-profile typing experience, the Corsair K100 AIR Wireless is a great mechanical keyboard. A 108-key board offers a wide range of capabilities, so you should want to use them all and not care if it takes up a lot of work space. You should consider other solutions if you like to modify your keyboard’s physical appearance and typing experience with new key switches and keycaps. In this sense, we suggest Kechror’s QMK series, specifically the Q3 and Q5 boards.
