Corsair crams 4 extra keys into an extremely thin wireless mechanical keyboard 

There are people who prefer a more compact keyboard for portability, aesthetics, or space saving reasons. There are those who prefer keyboards with as many keys as possible. We’re not just talking about full-size keyboards with number pads. We’re talking about extra programmable keys that can store macros, launch your favorite app, or type in a complex string of characters with a tap. The Corsair K100 Air, in a way, aims to cater to both groups. The mechanical keyboard has a small set of macro keys inside an incredibly thin 0.4″(11mm) bezel.

The K100 Air is just 0.4 inches thick at its thinnest point, thanks to Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile mechanical switches, according to Corsair on Thursday. The keyboard will use a clicky version of the switch that has 1.8mm of travel and actuates at 0.8mm with 65g of force.

Even by low profile standards, this is a surface print. In comparison, the MX Low Profile Red switches in keyboards such as the Das KeyBoard MacTigr we recently reviewed and the Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro have a total travel of 3.2mm, a pre-travel of 1.2mm, and actuation with 45g of force. These keyboards, naturally thicker: 1.06 inches and 1 inch respectively. Cherry MX Blue full size switches are 4mm/2.2mm/60mm.

We’ll have to test the keyboard before judging typing, but we expect keystrokes to be very short and snappy, and the higher actuation force, tactile impact, and click help ensure you don’t feel like you’re typing on soft sand.

At present, Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile switches are mainly used in several high-end laptops, Alienware m17 R5 and m15 R4 gaming laptops. Reviewers such as Tom’s Hardware have pointed to a slight drop in typing compared to traditional-sized dedicated mechanical keyboards with low-profile switches. It’s fair to expect typing on the K100 Air to be very different from typing on a full-size mechanical keyboard.

However, Corsair has stuffed the thin peripheral with a row of G-keys above the number pad that can be reprogrammed for macros and app launchers, for example, without having to sacrifice any of the keys from the full-size layout. According to Corsair, the keyboard has 8MB of internal memory to carry macro settings and even RGB lighting settings in 50 different profiles. We’ve seen expensive keyboards that didn’t even offer a single profile.

Corsair is aiming the mechanical keyboard at gamers, which is fitting given the advantage some gamers might get from being able to register keystrokes as quickly as possible. So the keyboard has an extremely high polling rate of 8000Hz when using the detachable cable from a PC or Mac, compared to the usual 1000Hz. But keep in mind that you will need a powerful PC with powerful graphics capabilities and a fast display to take full advantage of the high polling rate.

The wireless keyboard connects via a detachable cable, USB-A dongle, or Bluetooth. It can connect to three different devices via Bluetooth and the user can switch between connected devices by pressing a dedicated button on the keyboard.

According to Corsair, if you miss the bright backlight, the keyboard can last up to 200 hours before needing a charge (with RGB, the claimed time drops to 50 hours).

The K100 Air will be released on October 4th, but Corsair has yet to confirm a price.