Earlier last year I reviewed the K95 RGB Platinum XT. Corsair have, however, outdone themselves once again and has released their brand new K100, which brings with it multiple new features.



The most prominent new feature is, of course, the “Wheel” you see in the top left side. Is this a gimmick though or is it actually useful? I’ll get to that shortly. First up though, are the keyboard’s tech specs:

Keyboard Warranty - 2 Year
Keyboard Backlighting - RGB
Keyboard Layout - NA
Macro Keys - 6
HID Keyboard Report Rate - 4000Hz
Key Switches - Corsair OPX
USB Pass-through - USB 2.0 Type-A
Matrix - 110 Keys
Keyboard Connectivity - 2 x USB 3.0 or 3.1 Type-A
Adjustable Height -Yes
Additional coloured and textured keycaps - FPS / MOBA
Media Controls YN - Yes
Keyboard Type Size - K100
Keyboard Product Family - K100
Keyboard Rollover - Full Key (NKRO) with 100% Anti-Ghosting
Size(Full/TKL) - Extended
Battery Charging - Yes
On-Board Memory - 8MB
Number Onboard profiles - Up to 200 depending on the complexity
WIN Lock - Dedicated Hotkey
Media Keys - Dedicated Hotkeys, Volume Roller, iCUE Control Wheel
Wrist Rest - Included, magnetically detachable, cushioned with soft textured leatherette cover
Keyboard CUE Software - Supported in iCUE
Keyboard Cable Type - Braided



The Corsair K100 quite literally screams premium at the top of its lungs, much as the K95 RGB Platinum XT did. The keyboard’s overall design follows a similar scheme to the existing K95 range. However, for the K100, Corsair held nothing back.

Every single thing that made the K95 Platinum XT a great keyboard is also featured or improved upon with the K100. There’s far more on offer here too, so even though you’re paying a slightly higher price for the K100, you’re definitely getting your money’s worth. Getting into the new features right off the bat, the K100’s iCUE Control Wheel is the star of the show.

The Corsair K100 quite literally screams premium at the top of its lungs, much as the K95 RGB Platinum XT did.

The iCUE Control Wheel is situated in the top left-hand side corner of the K100 and is quite an eye-catching little gizmo. What does the Control Wheel do you might ask? Simply put, it functions as a rather easy-to-use macro with various default settings that are incredibly useful.



Users who plug the K100 into their PC and install the latest version of Corsair iCUE will get the full benefit of the Control Wheel right from the get-go. Opening up iCUE, you’ll be able to select a profile for the Control Wheel from an easily accessible list of preset actions. Brightness Control, Track Jogging, Track Selector, Macro Recording, Switching Applications, Vertical Scrolling, Horizontal Scrolling and Zoom are the default options available to users. The average gamer probably won’t need to change anything drastic with regards to the Control Wheel, however, the ability to customize it with your own macros is a feature more hardcore tech-savvy users will love. This effectively adds another rather impressive macro option to the keyboard on top of the already extensive G-Keys which are featured on the left-hand side border of the keyboard.

Using the Control Wheel might seem like a strange extra at first but once you get into the habit of using it to control your music playing via iTunes or Spotify, it becomes something you probably won’t ever want to live without. You can also set up a macro to fast forward or rewind YouTube or even your chosen video player of choice on your PC. All you have to do is assign these actions to the iCUE Control Wheel via a macro.



Pressing the middle of the Control Wheel swaps between the listed actions in iCUE and this is another great feature. You can colour code your actions and macros and once you’re in the habit of using the Control Wheel, it truly does become an indispensable tool in your gaming or productivity arsenal.

Corsair have also opted to swap out the plastic clips on the bottom of the palm rest with an easy to use pair of magnetic attachments.

Moving away from the Control Wheel, Corsair have made a range of changes to the rest of the keyboard’s design to distinguish it from the K95 Platinum XT. The palm rest has been given a makeover. Gone is the plastic border surrounding the actual soft-textured surface. The palm rest has also been upgraded with a new, far more noticeable textured feel as well as more cushioning with memory foam. Corsair have also opted to swap out the plastic clips on the bottom of the palm rest with an easy to use pair of magnetic attachments. The palm rest now easily snaps into place onto the K100 and there’s no need to struggle with clips anymore.



Corsair have changed the additional textured keycap design slightly too (the keycaps are still PBT double-shot keycaps) and the media keys on the right-hand side above the Numpad have been changed to also feature the new OPX keyswitches. Speaking of the keyswitches, the new OPX keyswitches are ridiculously responsive. What makes them great is that they “use a beam of infrared light to register an actuation, delivering a hyper-fast and precise keypress registration at a 1.0mm actuation point with zero debounce”. The description says it all. This coupled with Corsair’s AXON Hyper-Processing Technology enables the K100 to be four times faster with native 4000Hz hyper-polling and 4000Hz key scanning. This is an incredibly massive step up over the K95 Platinum XT and it’s immediately noticeable how sensitive the OPX keyswitches are. If you want hyper-fast, low actuation distance (1mm) keyswitch responses, this keyboard will deliver that without any problems.



The K100 also features 44 lighting zones which can be extensively customized up to 20 layers deep in iCUE. This is fantastic for gamers and pc users who want to set up extremely specific custom lighting. Amazingly, even the Control Wheel itself has 8 separate lighting zones which you can tweak to blend gorgeous colours together. The lighting on the keyboard is extremely impressive with just the right amount of brightness and colour from the keys spilling out onto the aluminium frame. It is spectacular as expected from Corsair and one of the keyboard’s best features.

Corsair have also upped their storage game with the K100 being able to store a mind-blowing 200 onboard profiles on the actual keyboard itself. This, however, depends on the complexity of the profile but for fairly basic settings, users can easily set up an easy to swap series of profiles for gaming, media or work. Storing these settings on the device itself is great if you’ll be moving the keyboard around between PCs or Laptops.

One minor gripe with the keyboard is that even with the adjustable feet fully extended out, the keyboard still sits rather low.

Rounding off the keyboard is a strong braided cable that splits into two with the same premium USB casing seen on the K95 Platinum XT. The K100 features a USB pass-through too should you want to plug in a headset or other USB device into the back of your keyboard. The underside of the keyboard has two adjustable feet which raise the keyboard and there are grooves cut into the base to allow for cable management. One minor gripe with the keyboard is that even with the adjustable feet fully extended out, the keyboard still sits rather low. This, of course, comes down to personal preference but some users might want to prop the keyboard up a bit with something else if they require it to be angled higher while typing or gaming.



As for the actual performance of the keyboard. Using it to type reviews, type emails and game has been an absolute pleasure. The new OPX keyswitches are incredibly sensitive as mentioned above. Getting used to this took a few hours since my daily driver Corsair Strafe uses Cherry MX Red keyswitches. With that said though, now that I’ve used the OPX keyswitches and have gotten accustomed to them, it will be quite difficult going back to anything else. They are just so fluid and responsive. Users who prefer deeper keyswitches might want to opt for the version of the K100 which employs the standard Cherry MX Speed keyswitches since those actuate at 1.2mm. If you want to go all out and try something new though, the OPX keyswitches are the way forward.

The K100 does suffer from a very similar problem to the K95 Platinum XT though. This is the fact that the letters, numbers and symbols are faint on the keycaps themselves. This means that if you have the lighting completely disabled and you don’t already know your way around this keyboard, it will be difficult to see what you are pressing. It also suffers from the same problem that every single Corsair product has. This, of course, being that Corsair’s iCUE has a steep learning curve. Getting to grips with Corsair’s software will require quite a lot of trial and error but once you’re used to it, it’s great. iCUE, however, is what makes this keyboard really stand out, so users will need to dedicate some time getting to learn how to program macros and set up the lighting just the way they want it.



Overall, the build quality of the K100 is phenomenal. The aluminium frame is still as tough as ever. The braided cable is strong. The keycaps feel great to the touch and the OPX keyswitches actuate and deliver incredible performance. The iCUE Control Wheel might seem gimmicky at first but if you make use of it and the macro features, it becomes a natural part of the keyboard. Coming in at $229.99 or around $30 more expensive than the K95 Platinum XT, users might want to fork out the extra cash just for the massive quality of life improvements the K100 brings to the table. It’s still a pricey keyboard in the end but one that delivers on its expectations in every way. If you want a premium, high-end mechanical gaming keyboard, the K100 from Corsair is going to be extremely hard to beat. It comes highly recommended by us.