Mechanical gaming keyboards have taken over the gaming scene and are predominantly the most heavily marketed peripherals as of now. Corsair has been one of the top names recently with their exclusive rights to Cherry MX RGB keys but one thing about mechanical keyboards is that they are still pretty much out of reach of the mainstream gaming audience.
That being said there is still a good market for membrane keyboards and many of the gaming brands including Corsair still saturate the market with membrane keyboards for mainstream gamers. The Raptor series of gaming peripherals are Corsair mid-market offerings and are designed to offer a good balance of performance for a reasonable price. Today we’re going to check out the Raptor K40 gaming keyboard, a membrane keyboard featuring RGB lighting and macro key profiles. Read on.
Specifications and Performance
- Rubber dome keys
- RGB 16.8 million color backlighting with three levels of illumination
- Six dedicated macro keys
- 36KB of onboard memory
- Seven easy-access multimedia keys
- STOP, PREVIOUS, PLAY/PAUSE, NEXT, MUTE, VOLUME UP, DOWN
- Windows Lock key for uninterrupted game play
Closer Look
Corsair’s Raptor series peripherals use a slightly different packaging style than its Vengeance counterparts. First off, the Raptor series features a red highlight on its packaging. This is printed on a colored card with a semi-gloss quality surface treatment. A touch below the Vengeance’s high-quality print. Looking closely we can see the distinction highlighted in the left side of the top flap with the model name “K40” highlighted on the front-right side. An icon for color illumination is on the top. Back of the packaging is also colored with details and specs enumerated on the back.
Taking the keyboard out of the box, we’re greeted by a black keyboard with a silver trim on the upper side. The WASD and direction keys are highlighted with silver caps. Notice that you also some extra multimedia keys and a lighting toggle. No volume wheel here though, you get traditional buttons. 🙂
Underneath, the plastic build is really visible in this side. Moving on, the adjustable feet are located on the upper part just before the raised parts. Nothing really noteworthy here.
As noted earlier, this keyboard is a membrane keyboard. If you’re interested about Corsair’s Mechanical series, the Vengeance keyboard, check out our Corsair Vengeance K70 review and K90 review. Also, from this angle you can see the macro sets and extra keys of the Raptor K40. The Raptor K40 features 3 profiles for its six G keys which gives you a total of 18 macro keys.
The adjustable feet increase the slant of the Raptor K40 by a few centimeters. Not really much but the raised keys already give good ergonomics so using it flat is actually already well laid out already.
Software
One of the main highlights of the Raptor K40 is its multi-color RGB LED keys. While mechanical keyboards are just starting to get RGB lighting, its an easier feat for membrane keys and the Raptor K40 features the similar 16.8m lighting capabilities of the RGB Vengeance line. Via software, the Corsair Raptor K40’s lighting can be modified.
There are fine lighting differences between colors and the absolute difference between 16.8m isn’t really that visible but if you’re just after varying illumination then the animation above should show you some of the possible colors of the Raptor K40’s RGB lighting.
User Experience & Conclusion
With mechanical keyboards outstaging membrane keyboards nowadays in terms of features, its really hard for membrane keyboards to really appeal more to mainstream gamers. With regards to the Corsair Raptor K40, it does have stand-out features most notably its LED illumination with RGB colors. Let’s break it down more.
Performance is as expected from membrane keys. We’ve come to that point in time where membrane keys have really maxed-out the technology and response time is at its peak. That said, the Corsair Raptor K40 is good as good can be when it comes to responsiveness. The keys does a good job mimicking the layout of the Vengeance mechanical keyboards but of course, offer a different feel due to the keys but for anyone who doesn’t bother with tactitle feedback, the membrane keys are very good and the quality is really solid.
The design is also uniform with most of the other keyboards from the series that means you’re getting the same layout as the higher-end series keyboards. Ergonomics are the same and as we’ve said before, its quite good.
Priced at US$80 or on average of Php3,400, the Corsair Raptor K40 competes with a lot of membrane gaming keyboards in the market right now. One of the most notable competitor is the Logitech G510s featuring an LCD HUD, RGB LEDs and more macro keys than you’ll ever need. What the Corsair Raptor K40 fights back with is quality and simplicity. While Logitech does brandish a longer warranty period and lots of toys, Corsair is a brand well-known for its superior QA and build quality that makes it a stand-out option for a lot of people. People who want a mature product without the “gaming” baggage but still has some sense of style to it. After checking, we’ve also seen the Raptor K40 a tad bit cheaper than the G510s.
In closing, if you’re looking for a normal-sized keyboard for gaming but don’t want to dive into mechanical keyboards yet, the Corsair Raptor K40 gaming keyboard offers a good alternative with its solid build and good feature set. While that in itself is a tough sell, its really hard to see the value of the brand unless you really know what they offer and with that said we’re quite confident of Corsair’s support but if you’re not then the choice is really with which brand you’re more comfortable with.
That said, we’re still giving a thumbs for Corsair for the Raptor K40 gaming keyboard. Corsair backs the Raptor K40 with a 2-year warranty and we give it our B2G Recommended Award.
18 Comments
CM Storm Trigger brown + CM Storm Recon 🙂 Pretty ok as far as I’m concerned, not really tried any others.
Only thing I’m unhappy about it my skin must be a bit more acidic than most because it’s making the coating on the wrist plate thing for the keyboard come off + the coating on the mouse lulz
if it bricks on me inside the year, whatever the retailer wants to say, the law is a minimum of 1 or 2 years warranty on electricals so will tell em tough titties 😛
Glad to know it’s not just me though, though that’s disappointing to know it’s a common place thing.
Same here but getting a replacement is a bit of a hit or miss.
CM Storm Trigger brown + CM Storm Recon 🙂 Pretty ok as far as I’m concerned, not really tried any others.
Only thing I’m unhappy about it my skin must be a bit more acidic than most because it’s making the coating on the wrist plate thing for the keyboard come off + the coating on the mouse lulz
That’s not just you. I have had numerous CM Storm products fade of me rather quickly. And we’ve had messages from other readers with the same complaint. Pretty much means CM Storm is a piece of shit when it comes to coating. Performance though is quite ok, as long as your keyboard doesn’t brick on you in the first year.
if it bricks on me inside the year, whatever the retailer wants to say, the law is a minimum of 1 or 2 years warranty on electricals so will tell em tough titties 😛
Glad to know it’s not just me though, though that’s disappointing to know it’s a common place thing.
Same here but getting a replacement is a bit of a hit or miss.
YUP! Same here. My wrist rest on my Trigger is super ugly na :/
That’s not just you. I have had numerous CM Storm products fade of me rather quickly. And we’ve had messages from other readers with the same complaint. Pretty much means CM Storm is a piece of shit when it comes to coating. Performance though is quite ok, as long as your keyboard doesn’t brick on you in the first year.
cdr king lang yung keyboard ko :3
cdr king lang yung keyboard ko :3
Basta may puso, ok lang yan
YUP! Same here. My wrist rest on my Trigger is super ugly na :/
Cm storm trigger keyboard format and key caps feels stiff
Cm storm trigger keyboard format and key caps feels stiff
Basta may puso, ok lang yan
I <3 my Ducky Shine II
I <3 my Ducky Shine II