Corsair K63 Wireless review

Wireless gaming mice, like the Corsair Dark Core RGB SE, might be the new hotness in the gaming peripheral world, but wireless mechanical keyboards are still deep in their infancy. The fact that the $109 (£109, AU$179) Corsair K63 Wireless is only the second such peripheral – the first one being the $149 (£129, AU$169) Logitech G613 – from a major gaming hardware maker speaks volumes to the nascency of this field.

Whereas the Logitech G613 tried to break the difference between gaming and everyday typing, the Corsair K63 Wireless was designed for gaming from the ground up. Equipped with Cherry MX Red keys, media buttons and backlit lighting, it’s practically everything the already fantastic, $79 (£79, AU$129) Corsair K63 was but made wireless.

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Design

There aren’t any surprises here, the Corsair K63 Wireless is a carbon copy of wired version that preceded it. Likewise, if you’ve used or seen any of Corsair’s other keyboards, the K63 Wireless should look familiar to you.

And that’s not a complaint, mind you.

Corsair’s keyboard design is one of the cleanest and most modern in the industry. The frameless design is straightforward, with a tasteful top bezel to give it just enough flair as well as space for dedicated media controls. Despite the K63 Wireless missing out on the aluminum top frame seen on the company’s higher-end K70 and K95 keyboards, the peripheral’s high-quality plastics are rigid and solid throughout.

Underneath the floating keycaps, you’ll find a soft, but powerful blue backlight. We’re impressed that Corsair kept the feature, considering most wireless keyboards will often discard backlighting systems entirely in the name of longer battery life. There’s also a K63 Wireless Special Edition with ice blue backlighting that’s meant to match the Corsair One’s lighting and it costs no more than the regular edition.

The only truly new design elements you’ll find on this keyboard are the additions of a power switch and mini USB charging port on the rear side of it.

We wish Corsair would up its game on palm rests, which still consist of a piece of rigid plastic topped with a thin sheet textured rubber that clips onto the keyboard via two flimsy clips. Meanwhile, Cooler Master and Razer have both moved onto magnetic palm rests that offer support with plush cushions. 

Our problem with the clipped-in palmrest becomes even more exacerbated by all the times we have to snap it off before plugging the keyboard into Corsair’s redesigned Lapboard for couch-side PC gaming.

Couch gaming at its best

Back in 2016, we loved the Corsair Lapdog for replicating the full PC gaming experience from a couch, and the Lapboard is basically the wireless evolution. The biggest changes the Lapboard introduces over its predecessor are that it’s quite a bit smaller and only supports ten-keyless keyboards – specifically the K63 Wireless only for now – and it ditches the internal USB hub for a completely ‘wireless’ setup.

Paying $59 (£54, AU$99) for what is essentially a plastic peripheral holder with some really comfy underside cushioning is a bit steep in our book. Purchasing the Lapboard and the K63 Wireless together in a combo helps take a little bit of the sting out, but $159 or £179 (about AU$200) is still a high asking price. Even the inclusion of an internal battery or USB hub to help us game from the couch for extended play sessions would have made it feel like a more worthwhile purchase.

That said, if you’re after the best PC gaming setup for your couch, you really can’t do much better than this combo plus the Corsair Dark Core RGB SE, Logitech G903 or another wireless gaming mouse. With the Corsair K63 Wireless strapped in, the balance on the Lapboard feels perfect and the large cloth mousepad feels heavenly when you whip your wrist across it.

Performance

Optional accessories and fiddly accessories notwithstanding, the Corsair K63 Wireless is an absolutely delightful wireless gaming keyboard. At times, we keep forgetting that the keyboard is wireless because our experience is completely devoid of input delays and drop-outs.

The 2.4GHz connection is completely stable in our wireless-saturated downtown office environment in NYC. At home, the keyboard also had no problems connecting with a PC on the other side of our house as we played games from a couch.

Between the wireless setup and compact tenkeyless design of the K63 Wireless, it’s easily a portable keyboard. But, while we can see ourselves bringing it over to a friendly LAN party, we still can’t imagine taking this wireless keyboard to a big esports competition over a tried-and-true wired keyboard like the Logitech G Pro.

In terms of battery life, Corsair claims the K63 Wireless is good for up to 75 hours with the backlight turned off. Having the keyboard at even a third of its maximum brightness drops run time to 25 hours – and just 10 hours with the backlight at full blast. Our testing lines up well with Corsair’s projected numbers.

While this editor isn’t crazy about Cherry MX Red switches, they offer consistent, linearly actuated, inaudible keystroke and 4mm of key travel. It’s perfect for gaming, but not much else beyond that.

Final verdict

If you’re looking for a full-featured wireless gaming keyboard with real mechanical switches, backlit keys and media shortcuts, the Corsair K63 Wireless delivers in full. It also helps that this is the most affordable wireless keyboard out there at $109 (£109, AU$179). Of course, it’s only major competitor is the larger $149 (£129, AU$169) Logitech G613 that gains a number pad over Corsair’s option.

Whether you’re looking for a cleaner PC gaming setup or the ultimate solution for playing from the couch, the Corsair K63 Wireless is a fantastic option well worth the slightly pricey admission. More than anything else, now we’re excited to see more wireless versions of Corsair’s already celebrated keyboards, like the K70 and Strafe.