Corsair K65 Plus Wireless 75% Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

A Closer Look & Performance

There’s no doubt that this is a Corsair keyboard, it has the DNA we’ve seen in countless models from them, and the Corsair logo on the Escape key is a dead giveaway too. But what is different are the colours! It’s black, grey, and a very pleasing hint of blue throughout the keycaps. It looks very striking and professional but has a slick modern-retro vibe.

It’s such a cool-looking keyboard, and keep in mind, this is before we turn on the RGB lighting! But I love that it looks good with the lights off too, rather than just relying on LEDs to add some flair and colour.

The keyboard is tuned for both Windows and Mac users, with the bottom row labelled up with both formats, which is great and only further demonstrates the flexibility Corsair is shooting for here.

I love this Corsair cap in the corner, it sticks out a bit, but this isn’t exactly a minimalist design either, so I think it looks pretty cool.

There’s also a glossy bit on the frame of the keyboard to the left, which is where you’ll find some LED indicator lights.

On the top row, you’ll find the usual F-keys, but also a secondary set of functions accessible via the Fn-Shift key, with more secondary features on the number keys too. These allow you on-keyboard contrast for features like LED brightness, profiles, effects and more, as well as OS-level features.

There are no dedicated media controls, but again, they’re a secondary feature on the F7-F12 keys, which are perfect for skipping through tracks while you’re gaming without having to tab out.

Having all this built into the keyboard is always welcome though, as much as I like the Corsair iCUE software, the less I have to rely on it to make quick changes the better.

There’s no numberpad on this keyboard, and no secondary navigation keys such as End, Ins, etc, but again these can all be found via the Fn-Shift on the main keyboard.

The Fn-Shift key itself is located just to the right of the space bar.

I love the multiple colours of this keyboard though, with the main keys and arrows in blue, but the outer function keys such as shift and enter are all in a darker grey/black.

On the right side, there’s a dedicated media wheel that can be programmed or just left to control the volume levels. There is a Home, PgUp and PgDn key too, which also allow you to quickly switch between multiple Bluetooth device profiles. Running 3 laptops? I’m not either, but if you are, at least you can cycle between them on the fly.

The keyboard has a pretty slim bezel, but the frame itself has a good thickness to it that gives it added rigidity and weight. It’s slightly wedged too, so there’s a bit of angle to it, but the actual profile of the keys is relatively flat from front to back.

There are some kickstands on the bottom, allowing you to increase that angle to suit your typing style.

On the back, there’s a master power control switch, which allows you to switch between 2.4GHz wireless or Bluetooth modes, and of course, a Type-C port for both charging the keyboard or using it in its wired mode.

On the other side, there’s a function switch to toggle between the Mac and Windows modes too, as well as a little snug to tuck the USB dongle away when you’re not using the wireless mode.

If you thought the top of the keyboard looked cool, then look how funky the underside is! It’s a cool pattern that’s pressed into the plastics with a Corsair logo prominently displayed in the middle.

The kickstands are nice and durable and feature a smaller inner stand.

As well as a larger outer stand for more height adjustment; both have rubber grips to prevent the keyboard from slipping and sliding.

When it comes to RGB, Corsair always slays, and the K65 Plus Wireless is no exception. However, what is striking is that the keycaps are double shot ABS, so there’s no LED pass-through on the keycaps, so the lighting is more of a surround and underlighting effect, but it does look great!

The colours are rich, vibrant and very bright on their maximum settings, and with iCUE you can program virtually endless levels of effects, transitions, reactions, animations, layers, and profiles to suit your taste, or just set it all to your favourite colour and leave it alone. The choice is yours, but without a doubt, Corsair has the best programmability for their lighting, and that still holds true here.

As for performance, this is a premium quality keyboard with Corsair’s very own red linear switch design, and as you might expect, it’s stunning! The keys are beautifully smooth to actuate as they come pre-lubricated, and while Corsair has often been criminal of having quite noisy keys in the past, that’s not the case here.

It’s much quieter than their usual efforts and even the space bar is pretty quiet now too, unlike the K95 space bar that gave off a pronounced THUNK when tapped. The K65 features integrated sound dampening and it really shows!

For gaming, it’s light and it’s fast, which is certainly what many gamers want. The switches are very smooth and respond and renounce quickly. I can’t imagine why you would want to replace them, but they are solderless, so you can pull the switch and drop in your own switch of choice. That being said, if a switch did fail or wear out, at least you can easily maintain the keyboard yourself.

The keycaps are very durable too, with a light texture to them and they use the standard MX fitting too, so adding a custom set of caps is possible. Again though, can’t imagine why you would want to when they already have the look and feel of premium aftermarket keycaps.

I’ve typed up my last few reviews on it, and as far as the keyboard itself goes, I really can’t fault it. Sure, I miss my numberpad, but only for work tasks, as for gaming, the more compact keyboard design is certainly more of a pro than a con.

However, my only criticism is that it doesn’t come with a wrist rest, which is surprising as quite a few Corsair keyboards come bundled with one. Sure, a custom one is only £10-20 on Amazon, but generally I can’t use a keyboard without one unless the keyboard is particularly low-profile, but this one is a fairly standard thickness.