There’s no secret that we like our tech gear at Ausdroid and when you spend as much time in front of a PC as we do it’s more than just a luxury to have good quality gear, it’s a necessity. Corsair make some great gear and their keyboards are no exception to this, so I decided to check out the K63 wireless keyboard as a replacement for mine.

The keyboard itself is a small form factor – it doesn’t have the number pad that many users heavily utilise (I don’t – so that’s not a detracting factor for me). The back lighting is quite spectacular too – provided you like blue – and is adjustable to low, high or zero lighting for those who may wish to turn the lights off and extend the battery life.

For those of you who know about the specifics of switches in keyboards, the Corsair uses Cherry MX mechanical keys for the main keyboard, clearly not for the basic media controls above the function keys. For me, having come from a non-mechanical keyboard on my home rig but having used them fairly readily the adjustment only took a few minutes and I’m already loving the touch of the mechanical keys.

Be warned though, if you’re going to change over to a mechanical keyboard there’s a couple of things to take note of

  1. The keys are noisy compared to non-mechanical options
  2. The travel or throw on the keys is significantly longer than many of the OEM retail options you’ll get and dramatically further than chiclet keys that you’ll find on Macs and other business targeted options
  3. Some users simply don’t like them, try before you buy!

In terms of the wireless technology you’ve got a couple of options, the first is to use the wireless USB key supplied with the keyboard to your PC or laptop which worked flawlessly first time and has not skipped a beat yet. The second is to Bluetooth pair the keyboard to your PC or Laptop, this works perfectly also in my testing so far. This functionality split also offers the flexibility (which I’m using) to use the wireless USB connection to a PC and Bluetooth to a laptop.

As you can tell – it’s made quite the impression on me as I migrate from my old unit which has served me well for many years of Ausdroid-ing, gaming, angry outbursts and the occasional drink spill.

I was really happy to see that the power for the wireless isn’t delivered from batteries that cost a small fortune long term but through built in, rechargeable power that is recharged through a Micro USB connection and who doesn’t have a few dozen of those lying around?

For someone who sits in front of a computer as much as I do, a good keyboard is necessary and this is beyond good – Corsair have delivered a consistent, great feeling touch in a keyboard that looks great and provides exceptional battery life with rechargeable power.

Most sites have it running at $159 but keep your eyes peeled and you’ll probably find one a bit cheaper around the bargain sites and mass retailers like JB HiFi, Bing Lee and Harvey Norman. For the casual user, that’s probably a pretty stuff price to pay but if you’re a heavy user I can’t recommend the current range of Corsair Mechanical keyboards highly enough for some serious bang for buck.

What’s the feature set you look for when you’re shopping for a new keyboard?

Disclosure Statement


Phil bought the Corsair K63 himself and reviewed it for Ausdroid.

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Steve

$100 more than it is worth! Check out keyboards at Aliexpress – more features, better quality for less than half the price of this one – huge markup

Jeni Skunk

For me, the lack of a number pad makes this keyboard an immediate no sale.
The backlighting looks VERY cool. Does it have different lighting intensities?
What type of rechargeable battery does it use? Is the battery user replaceable?
What are the buttons above the function keys?