My old Logitech K120 broke so I bought a new one, but it looks like they’ve downgraded the model as you can no longer press W to move forward at the same time as Shift + 1, among other weird restrictions that are not optimal for a game like WoW with many different keybinds. If you hold down W and Q you can’t press 1, 2, 3, or 4 at all…
So it looks like I’m in the market for a new keyboard, but I have a limited selection and a bit of a budget I need to work with.
Essentially, my choice comes down to these two as they are the only ones available in my local shop that I can go out and buy today:
I don’t really care for having any crazy gaming features or RGB (hence why I always just used a K120… until they downgraded it) as long as the keyboard works and lets me actually use my keybinds at the same time as I’m moving my character.
The problem is, I can’t seem to find many WoW-specific reviews of either of these keyboards and as we all know MMOs in general require more complex key combinations than most other games.
And so I was hoping that someone here might have experience with one or more of these keyboards and could help me come to a decision on which one to get.
It seems good to me as well, but people on the internet say it’s not worth the price because it’s a membrane keyboard. But I’ve never used a mechanical keyboard so I wouldn’t even know what I’m missing out on.
On the other hand, while the Logitech keyboard is mechanical, I heard that the quality is quite poor and they tend to fall apart and start having issues within 1 - 1.5 years.
Currently I’m leaning towards the K55 more as I want something that’s a bit more durable.
Typing this message on the Corsair K55 and it seems good so far, can finally use my keybinds while moving lol.
However, I am a little concerned about the macro buttons (G1-6) embedded on the keyboard as I’ve heard using macro keys like these counts as cheating and you can get banned for using them. I’m obviously not going to use them when playing WoW, but I’m a little worried about pressing one of them by accident and getting myself in trouble.
EDIT: I bound them to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and the F key so I’m not accidentally doing any kind of crazy key combos and getting myself banned.
Now that I’ve had about a day to play with this keyboard, I thought I would give a more thorough review of it in case someone else thinking of buying this keyboard happens upon this thread.
First things first, I’m happy to say that the key rollover is about as good as you would want it to be for a game like WoW. I haven’t run into a single key combination that the keyboard wasn’t able to handle. As a bonus, the keyboard also looks pretty neat and has a number of different RGB configurations if that’s something that’s important to you when considering a purchase.
However, it’s not the best keyboard when it comes to the feel of the keys and this is a huge downside. In fact, I would say in that regard it’s worse than my Logitech K120 — but this can depend quite heavily on what you’re used to. Personally, I’ve only ever owned keyboards that are very light to the touch so the K55 feels like a rather large departure from that, and it’s going to take some time getting used to.
The keys on the K55 are quite tall and you have to press them down rather hard, which can tire out your forearms quickly if you’re a lazy typer with noodle arms like me. In a game like WoW where you have to move your fingers across the keyboard quickly to execute different keybinds, it can also feel a bit clunky with the tall, hard-to-press keys of the K55.
I also noticed that the D key is a bit sticky and harder to press than the other keys, which seems to be some kind of a manufacturing error as I haven’t spilled anything on the keyboard (yet). I took the keycap off and tried to clean it with a cotton swab but it seems to have only improved a little bit.
The keyboard is also much louder than the Logitech K120 and I can hear every key press through my headset with ease.
Functionality - 10/10
Good key rollover, media keys, macro keys, plenty of RGB configs. In terms of its functions, this keyboard has all you could ask for.
Aesthetics - 7/10
Looks like your standard gaming keyboard, very aesthetically pleasing. No complaints there.
Feel - 2/10
Tall, hard-to-press keys with a lot of resistance behind them will quickly tire out your forearms and make for a clunky gameplay experience with keybind-heavy games such as WoW.
Product Quality - 6/10
The keyboard is made entirely of plastic, but it feels very high quality to me. However, I will have to deduct a few points for the sticky D key, which I can already tell is going to be the bane of my existence for the next several months until I can afford a better keyboard.
Noise Level - 6/10
I imagine it could be a lot worse, but since I live alone and it doesn’t personally bother me that much, I won’t deduct too many points for the noise level.
Overall - 6.2/10
The Corsair K55 will meet your needs with WoW as far as functionality goes, but it’s not the best suited for a game like this unless you have massive forearm strength.
The reason why you can’t do more than 2key presses is because of something called keyroll over/ghosting.
Basically put your old keyboard Logitech K120 has bad anti ghosting like next to none.
Out of the 2 keyboards you linked that’s expensive as hell these days for a membrane keyboard. Membrane keyboards are a single layer of silicone/rubber that attaches all the keys at once to the main circuit board of the keyboard. But it can do upto 10 key presses at once before ghosting starts. Sadly it needs Corsairs icue software for the lighting this is a headache you can live without.
The mechanical one has a better tactile response, each key is put to the circuit board separately and the key switches can be changed to suit your needs. It also has 6 key roll over/ anti ghosting which is standard for any “gaming” keyboard and is priced better. Also does not need icue for anything.
Fortunately the Corsair K55 doesn’t require iCUE to control the RGB or macros. All of that is controlled using the function button built into the keyboard itself. I don’t know if newer Corsair keyboards need it, but this one doesn’t.
Doesn’t require it because it has a hardware mode
" When iCUE is not running, your K55 RGB PRO gaming keyboard will be in hardware mode . In hardware mode, your keyboard can run any lighting effects or macros that are saved to its onboard memory. You can even record macros when iCUE is not running, so long as your keyboard has space in its onboard memory." corsair’s own website stttes as much.
run out of that on board memory then your going to need the perfectly working never any faults ever icue software.