It’s no secret that the Asus ROG Azoth is my favorite gaming keyboard, but there’s a budget alternative that I believe deserves just as much attention. While Asus’s hot-swappable beast will set you back over $200, the Corsair K65 Plus Wireless has just hit its lowest price ever at Amazon.
A $50 discount nets you the equally hot-swappable 75% gaming keyboard for just $109.99 right now (was $159.99) – $10 cheaper than I’ve ever seen it before. Previous discounts have always hovered over the $120 mark in the past, and considering this deck has only seen a few of these sales in recent months even that’s not guaranteed. This is the cheapest I’ve ever seen the lookalike – and with performance to rival the best gaming keyboards on the market, it’s excellent value for money overall.
In fact, just its wireless connection alone is looking pretty stellar at a hair over $100. It’s incredibly difficult to find branded decks running off 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connections like this in the two-figure range. The closest you’ll get on a good day is the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Hyperspeed; a 65% rig from four years ago that drops key hot-swap features and a whole host of extra functional elements.
Should you buy the Corsair K65 Plus Wireless?
If you can spring $224.76 (at Amazon) for the Asus ROG Azoth, I would do so. However, if spending upwards of $200 on a gaming keyboard is a no-go, the Corsair K65 Plus Wireless is a fantastic alternative. Starting with the basics, I just don’t see wireless gaming keyboards hitting these kinds of prices too often – and the K65 adds hot-swappable switches, a fantastic typing feel, and a dedicated multi-function control dial into the mix as well.
I reviewed the 65% deck around this time last year, and I wasn’t optimistic. I’ve always found Corsair keyboards to be just a little too scratchy to fully recommend – and reverb was a serious problem on previous releases. Those fears have dissolved since using the keyboard on and off for the past 12 months. Every keystroke is buttery smooth, and the construction of the chassis itself means there’s no extra pinging or echo around the internal chamber either.
Corsair has taken notes from the world of custom keyboards – and that extends beyond the classic two-tone keycap design. This is a slick set of clackers, feeling great under the fingertips while still providing enough tactile response to remain agile and satisfying. It’s the same design and typing feel ethos as the Asus ROG Azoth, which shares that 75% form factor, gray and black aesthetic, and hot-swappability. However, there are some drawbacks to opting for the cheaper option.
The Azoth presents you with a luxurious metal construction for your cash – a cold, hard slab filled with excellent sound dampening through its gasket mounted design. The K65 Plus Wireless keeps its price low with a more plastic chassis that doesn’t feel quite as premium in the hand. The typing experience is also a touch more energetic on the Azoth, with a springy board and super snappy ROG NX switches to play with straight out of the box. Of course, both of these are hot-swappable keyboards so that can be altered after the fact – but if you don’t want to splash out on a new set of clickers it’s worth noting that Asus’s supply feel better overall. Battery life also swings in Asus’s favor, with a 2,000-hour rated charge compared to Corsair’s 266 hours.
Still, you’d be hard pressed to find better value on the shelves right now. The Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini Hyperspeed is the only other cheap gaming keyboard with a wireless connection that I’d recommend at under $100 (it’s currently available with green clicky switches for $78.42 at Amazon) today. It keeps the arrow buttons, but shaves that silhouette down to a smaller 65% form factor and drops those PBT keycaps and hot-swappable switches. Its battery life is also the weakest of the three, coming in at 200 hours.
We’re also rounding up all the best membrane gaming keyboards if you’re after something even cheaper, as well as all the best Razer keyboards and the best gaming mouse models on the market.
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