Published: June 12, 2018 | Source: Corsair | Author: Bryan Waters

Corsair Strafe RGB MK2 Silent Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

Conclusion

We’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Strafe here at OC3D. With the K range from Corsair there was always that slight feeling, unless you owned the K95 Platinum of course, that you had settled for a model you could afford rather than the best around. Not that any of the lower models are bad, but if you know the range goes up to 95 and you’ve got the 70, it’s easy to have a minor, nagging, yes I’m shallow, doubt about it all. Whereas the Strafe had none of these issues because it sat slightly off to one side of the Corsair range. The only way you could have assumed you might have something better is if a Corsair Enfilade existed.

Nonetheless there was a couple of minor niggles with the original Strafe. Dedicated media keys are always something that it’s nice to have, for simplicities sake if nothing else, but the original Strafe utilised the FN+Fkey approach which is fine but a little bit awkward in the heat of the moment. and in these days where people carry their peripherals with them to events it would have been nice to have on board profiles so that you could be up and running in a familiar configuration with the minimum of fuss.

Both of these things have been fixed on this revised Strafe MK.2. In fact it’s now at the level where unless you’re someone who demands a selection of dedicated macro keys it wants for nothing. The build quality is outstanding and another step up from the already solid nature of the original Strafe. There is zero flex, wobble or anything approaching squishiness anywhere to be found. The addition of the media keys and volume roller only enhances the usability of the Strafe MK.2 and, best of all, the media keys aren’t significantly worse feeling than the main keyboard keys. Believe us, that is something which most definitely isn’t usual. Often the Cherry MX keys do their crisp and responsive thing but extra media keys are like putting your finger in some pudding. Not here.

The already excellent RGB lighting solution Corsair have implemented on all their hardware is in full effect here, and raised a little bit higher by the addition of the Corsair logo itself to the RGB party. As you can see from the pictures on the previous page and the richly saturated image that has adorned all the pages of this review, the Strafe MK.2 unquestionably gets in done in the lighting department. Regular rainbow colours are well represented, the inbetweenies look lush too, and the blend between two distinctly different shades works well. The CUE software allows you absolute control over the lighting in a manner that goes far beyond the remit of this review to fully explain. You could spend weeks customising every last action and lighting option on a per key basis if you so chose, but equally you can load it up, select all the keys, pick a colour and get on with the business of slaying your enemies.

Lastly, we know that many people are put off from mechanical keyboards because of their somewhat louder nature in use when compared to laptop style keys. We’re almost certain that this is partly derived from TV and films which seem determined to use sound effects which sound like an old typewriter in the same way that all swords have to make that shwing sound. The reality is very different particularly on the linear style Cherry MX Reds with which you can have the Strafe MK.2 equipped, but even more so if you sensibly choose the MX Silent switches as we have here. You’d be hard pressed to aurally tell the difference between the Cherry MX Silent mechanical switches on the Strafe MK.2 and some membrane types. Plus with the Silent switches you have the option of making them virtually noiseless if you brought one of the o-ring damper kits available from your online retailer of choice.

The Corsair Strafe RGB MK.2 Silent Mechanical Keyboard is gorgeous to look at, built like a tank, quiet enough to be used in church and entirely without flaws, so naturally it wins our OC3D Enthusiast Award.

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