Corsair makes a fine keyboard, but they’re often at the top end of the price range (opens in new tab). Many of its “budget” options get you some Corsair quality at a lower price, but you sacrifice important features here and there. The company’s latest, the K63 (opens in new tab), is an effort to deliver almost all of the higher-end features at a price more gamers can afford, and it looks to be one of the best options for Corsair fans who don’t want to drop almost $200 on a high-end keyboard.
Filling A Gap
Here’s the quick list of goodies: The K63 has per-key backlighting, dedicated buttons for media controls, Cherry MX Red switches, and includes the CUE software for customization and configuration.
The one big feature it lacks is RGB lighting. It’s also tenkeyless, which some gamers will actually prefer (although there are certainly plenty of folks who require the numpad, and others who pine for the extra left-side bank of G keys).
But at $80, all of the above makes it a more attractive option than Corsair’s other budget-y keyboards--the K65 ($90) (opens in new tab), K55 RGB ($50) (opens in new tab), K40 ($80) (opens in new tab), and K30 ($60) (opens in new tab). Compared to the K63, the K65 lacks backlighting--and CUE support, apparently--and none of the others have mechanical switches. Therefore, the K63 is Corsair’s least expensive, backlit, CUE-supported keyboard.
Further, with all those features at $80, it’s frankly a decent buy compared to much of the rest of the keyboard market.
But What About Those $100 Strafe Keyboards?
The next step up in Corsair’s keyboard catalog are the $100 Strafe series (opens in new tab). The K63 beats them all by twenty bucks, which is already a win for the new kid on the block, but note that the Strafe keyboards lack that classic Corsair design. They have a textured plastic top panel instead of a metal one--although so does the K63.
The Strafe keyboards do offer the extra textured key caps and give you more switch choices (Cherry MX Red, Brown, Blue, and Silent Red) versus the K63 (MX Red only).
But unless you have a strong preference for a switch type other than Red and don’t like the TKL form factor, the K63 is clearly a better choice. Again, it’s also $20 cheaper.
The next Corsair keyboard price tier up from the Strafe series is the K70 RapidFire and LUX keyboards, which start at $120 (opens in new tab)--a whopping forty dollars more expensive than the K63. For just a bit more money than that, you can get a pretty nice gaming mouse. All you really get at that tier that the K63 lacks is the numpad and a wrist rest.
Fire Sale
If the K63 isn’t evidence enough that Corsair is pushing into the more budget-friendly segment, consider that many of its lower-end keyboards are currently on sale. The K65 dropped from $90 to $70, the K55 is down from $50 to $40, and the Strafe with MX Silent switches is down from $100 to $80.
But if you want the best of Corsair at the lowest possible price, you can’t beat the $80 K63, which is available now (opens in new tab).
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Corsair K63 |
|---|---|
| Type | Tenkeyless |
| Switch | Cherry MX Red-Type: Linear-Actuation force: 45gf-Actuation point: 2mm-Total travel: 4mm |
| Sensing Method | Conductive (metal) |
| Onboard Storage | Yes, up to 5 profiles |
| Polling Rate | 1ms, adjustable 8ms, 4ms, 2ms in BIOS mode |
| Lighting | -Red LEDs-Dynamic lighting effects through CUE |
| Cable | Rubber |
| Dimensions | 365 x 171 x 41mm |
| Weight | 1.12kg |
| Software | CUE |
| Misc. | -Supports Windows Vista/7/8/10-Requires PC with 2 ports-Dedicated media buttons-Assign macros with CUE software-Windows lock-Warranty: 2 years |
| Price | $80 |