Closer Examination

As we saw before, the K95 RGB Platinum XT keyboard from CORSAIR comes in a plastic wrap to keep it pristine and free of dust out of the box. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard, and it is on the larger side of average as a result of all the extra keys. These extra keys include a column of six macro keys on the left, a profile switcher/brightness control/Win lock button towards the top-left corner, and media controls above the numpad and at the top-right corner. Indicator LEDs are found between these two sets of extra keys, and the top of the keyboard has a CORSAIR logo in the middle, inside a plastic cutout, which no doubt is also backlit, but a small dust magnet. That is the only visible branding on the keyboard during use unless you use the replacement logo keycap, of course.

The extra keys at the top result in some empty space there, so it does appear as if the keyboard has big bezels at first glance. Its weight is about average for a full-size keyboard or larger as a result of the anodized aluminium frame countered by the thick PBT plastic keycaps. There is no flex at all, so this is an extremely solid-feeling keyboard. The numpad has secondary legends below the primary ones, with the alphanumeric section alongside instead. This and the location of single legends being in the top-center is indicative of where the backlighting will be more uniform, and those at the bottom may not end up as bright as those at the top. The font typeface is similar to other recent CORSAIR keyboards in that it is large to allow more light to pass through, but not to where it is out of place in a typical work environment. The use of loop-less doubleshot injection does mean that some of the legends are different than their ABS laser etched ones, especially in the Ins-Pg Dn cluster.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the usual certification sticker in the middle. There are four large rubber pads on the corners, along with two rubber feet which can be raised for a steeper angle for those who wish it. Also seen here are cutouts for cable management, and those for the cable of a device you've plugged into the USB pass-through port on the keyboard, say a headset cable you would route through under the keyboard. This is also why the wrist rest is not flat along the surface the keyboard is on, which allows for a cable to pass through.


The cable is non-detachable, fairly thick, and braided. It terminates in two USB male type A ports with a marking for either the keyboard or pass-through port. It is recommended you use a USB 3.0 (3.1 Gen 1) port, which is not a big ask in 2020. The USB pass-through port is next to where the cable extrudes at the front facing away from the user, which allows for good cable management using the channels we saw on the underside before. We also see the light bar here, which brings the total LED zones to a whopping nineteen.


Installing the wrist rest is very simple because of the plastic tabs that can be pushed into respective cutouts. Once they click in on one side, do the same for the other and the wrist rest will stay put during normal use. Ideally, one should not use a wrist rest at all, but I understand that this is easier said than done for most people.


The K95 RGB Platinum XT uses the tried and tested OEM profile with the keycaps. It consists of the usual slanted rows and concave surfaces on top, but the keycaps of the bottom row are not "traditionally" sized if you go by the standard set by previous keyboards. At this point, however, the majority of keyboards sold use this keycap-sizing layout, so is this not the new standard in 2020? It does hurt third-party keycap compatibility still, so that remains a complaint of many keyboard enthusiasts. Helping this is the adoption of thick PBT keycaps with doubleshot injected legends as stock on nearly all the keys here, aside from the G-keys which use the same style of textured ABS laser etched keycaps as we saw with the replacement set. The PBT keycaps with doubleshot injected legends are compatible with backlighting, as seen above.


There are three Cherry MX switch options here in the MX Brown, Blue, and Speed (Silver), which provides three different typing experiences as well. It is interesting to see that CORSAIR has gone with the MX Speed instead of the MX Red, which presumably is based on their own findings of which linear switches are more popular, and also their relationship with Cherry, which helped bring about the MX Speed as a CORSAIR-exclusive. CORSAIR also states that the MX Speed and MX Brown switches have been updated recently to where they now have a rated lifetime of 100 million keystrokes as opposed to the 50 million for the other Cherry MX switches. I have the MX Blue switches on my sample, and all options are of the RGB variant with the transparent housing and SMD RGB LEDs located underneath. It would have been interesting to see Capellix LEDs used here, but that would no doubt be more expensive in terms of a new PCB design and means fitting more LEDs in the same space occupied by a single SMD LED. The larger keycaps use Cherry stabilizers, which helps remove them in conjunction with the floating keycap design, and the thicker PBT plastic also mitigates that typical mushy feeling with these stabilizers.


Here is a look at the keyboard with the replacement keycaps. You end up with a predominantly monochrome design (when not backlit), aside from the G/S-keys at the left.