Corsair K100 Air Wireless review: an excellent ultrathin mechanical keyboard that breaks the codes

Ergonomics

The K100 Air brings a breath of fresh air to keyboards gaming with a more sober design, which approaches office automation. The finishes are impeccable, whether we focus on the brushed aluminum frame, on the keys or on the metal wheel.

The keyboard design is rather refined for a model gaming.

Only the shortcuts dedicated to macros (G1 to G4) and the RGB backlighting could betray its membership in the universe of gamers. Speaking of which, it is as usual fully configurable in the Corsair iCue software and like all high-end models, colors and effects can be applied key by key. Otherwise, you can modify the shortcuts of the F keys and assign the macros of your choice.

The iCue software allows to manage the shortcuts and the backlight.

For a keyboard gaming, the K100 Air is rather narrow (43.1 x 15.4 cm) and does not take up the entire width of the desk, which is appreciable. This is due in particular to the absence of palm rests, a negative point in normal times, but not here since the keyboard is of unequaled finesse (barely 0.5 cm at the wrists and 1.3 cm at the ‘back). However, it is possible to tilt the keyboard on two levels thanks to the adjustable feet located below for more ergonomic customization. Be careful, if its weight remains light given its size (780 g), its length does not make it easily transportable in a backpack.

Barely thicker than a phone.

The use of mechanical switches ultra-low profile only adds a few millimeters to the thickness of the chassis. This keyboard is even thinner than Logitech’s G915, a model of finesse for years. For both office use and gamingthis keyboard is ultimately very pleasant and avoids certain tensions in the wrists that can be felt over time with much higher keys.

The feet are adjustable on two levels.

Autonomy is announced at 50 h by Corsair and up to 200 h by deactivating the RGB backlighting. In practice, we were indeed able to use the K100 Air for several days before having to recharge it. A braided USB-C cable is also provided for this purpose. We will find on the front edge the on/off button and a small slot to store the USB receiver.

The braided charging cable.

The keyboard connects to a computer through the latter – recommended for video games to minimize latency – but you can completely connect using Bluetooth. As with other competitors, it is possible to register three different devices and switch between them with the key combinations Fn + G2, G3 or G4. A feature usually available on office models and which can be useful when traveling or if you use a laptop PC in addition to your fixed tower. Use the dongle 2.4 GHz allows you to take advantage of a polling rate of 2000 Hz, which is already very high, but you can go up to a crazy 8000 Hz by connecting with the cable. In practice, this has no impact and all the interest of wireless is lost.

Macro and multimedia keys.

In addition to all the usual keys, we find on the upper banner those dedicated on the left to the management of pre-recorded profiles, the brightness of the lighting and the blocking of the Windows key for gaming sessions; on the right are the dedicated media keys. They are really practical on a daily basis and are also accompanied by an aluminum volume adjustment wheel, which is also very convenient and a priori of excellent quality – which is not always the case with some competitors.

Struck

A keyboard just as comfortable in the office.

These are also his switches Cherry MX ultra-low profile which make the K100 Air a completely original keyboard. These are the same as those found on the brand’s Voyager PC and they are – as their name suggests – extremely thin, but retain the responsiveness of the mechanical switches. The typing is special, but you get used to it quickly: engaging a key requires stronger pressure than usual (65 cN here, against 45 cN on switches Cherry MX Red), but activation is just 0.8mm and the total stroke is very short (1.8mm). The rebound being very reactive, the strike is lively and we like to write on it as well as to play. The keys being flat, however, they are not as comfortable as those of conventional keyboards and fit less well with the shape of the fingers.

Les switches Cherry MX ultra-low profile.

Since this type of switch is easy to damage when trying to extract a key, Cherry sent us a few so that we could study their internal composition. The keyboard not being hotswappable (with interchangeable switches), it will not be necessary to remove them anyway. Note that this keyboard is quite noisy, especially at the space bar; office neighbors probably won’t like it — which is often the case with mechanical keyboards.

Points forts

• Solid and refined design.
  

• Very thin and light at the same time.
  

• Connection to multiple devices possible.
  

• Dedicated media keys.
  

• Quality volume knob.
  

• Advanced RGB customization.

Weak points

• Potentially destabilizing hitting sensation (but you get used to it).
  

• Quite noisy.

Conclusion

Global mark

How does grading work?

The K100 Air is an excellent mechanical keyboard. It will satisfy players who also want to do office automation without displaying a model too gaming on their desk. With its sober, thin and solid design, and its many features, it presents itself as a good alternative to the G915 from Logitech – to name but one -, but be careful, you have to be ready to shed almost 300 €, a price exorbitant for a keyboard custom.

Sub Notes

• Ergonomics

• Struck