Corsair One i300 review

Read Time:4 Minute, 13 Second

The Corsair One i300 mini PC was one of the most eye-catching launches at CES 2022. We’ve loved Corsair One PCs in the past, with the component company cramming in some of the best tech around into its seriously stylish (and small) cases, and the Corsair One i300 promises to be its best gaming PC yet, with some truly high-end components.

We’re talking top-of-the-line components like the Intel Core i9-12900K and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, plus a whopping 64GB of DDR5 RAM. It’s also by far the most expensive Corsair One launched to date, with a price tag of $4,999 / £4,399 (around AU$7,000) for the configuration we got in to review.

This is going to put it out of reach for many people. It’s a huge asking price, and there are usually much more affordable ways to get a gaming PC. However, these are not normal times, and these days it’s still very hard to find an RTX 3080 Ti in stock, let alone for near the recommended retail price. If you’re dying to get an RTX 3080 Ti, your options are limited, then, and the price of the Corsair One i300 may be more acceptable.

Design

If you’ve seen a full-size Corsair keyboard recently, then the K70 RGB Pro doesn’t pack too many surprises. You’ll find an elegant, black, brushed-metal chassis that’s raised slightly on top.

Each elevated keycap sports full RGB lighting, so you can program any variety of gorgeous rainbow effects. There are discrete media controls in the upper-right, complete with a textured volume wheel.

On the upper-left, you’ll find controls for profiles, keyboard brightness and Windows-key lock. On the back of the device, there’s a switch to enable Tournament Mode, which we’ll discuss presently.

With comfortable, slightly indented keycaps and a straightforward layout, there’s nothing to criticize about the K70 RGB Pro’s design. The wrist rest, however, is a point of slight contention for me. Previous K70 models featured a wrist rest with a hinge that locked into the main keyboard. This was admittedly prone to breaking if you forced it, but at least it stayed in place, no matter how you moved the keyboard. The new wrist rest connects magnetically, and it will fall off the second you lift the keyboard up. Plan accordingly.

Keys

When it comes to key switch selection, it’s hard to beat the Corsair K70 RGB Pro. This peripheral features authentic Cherry MX switches, which are still the gold standard for mechanical keyboards, even after years of improvement from the competition. You can choose whether you want linear Reds, quiet Browns, clackety Blues, low-travel Speeds or self-explanatory Silents.

Our review unit came with Speed switches, and they lived up to their name. In a Typing.com test, I scored 115 words per minute at 97% accuracy with the K70 RGB Pro, as opposed to 121 wpm with 98% accuracy on my usual Logitech G915. This isn’t a significant difference, particularly since I’m much more used to the G915.

Features

For the most part, the Corsair K70 RGB Pro is just a standard full-sized mechanical gaming keyboard. But it has two features worth discussing: its iCUE connectivity and its Tournament Mode.

The Corsair Utility Engine (iCUE) is Corsair’s proprietary gaming peripheral software, and it’s one of the most complex and nuanced tools out there. You can reprogram keys, create macros, adjust the RGB lighting, link profiles with individual games and apps, and more. While I usually find iCUE’s endless customization a little perplexing, Corsair has actually added a handful of helpful tutorials the first time you hook up a new peripheral. These demystify some of the program’s operations, and let you hit the ground running with only a few quick commands.

At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, there’s Tournament Mode. By flipping a switch on the back of the keyboard, you can activate this bare-bones protocol, which is ideal for competitive play. Tournament Mode disables RGB lighting, profiles and custom macros, which makes the K70 RGB Pro a good choice for gamers on the tournament scene. This is especially true, as the keyboard’s USB-C power cord is detachable, making the device easier to store and transport.

Performance

Like most Corsair gear, the K70 RGB Pro works beautifully in-game. I tested the device with Age of Empires IV, Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077 and Final Fantasy XIV, and found that the performance was excellent across the board. Whether I was winding my way through futuristic apartments or commanding medieval Chinese armies, the peripheral parsed my commands accurately and effortlessly.

The K70 RGB Pro didn’t seem to favor any one genre in particular, although it may have marginal benefits for competitive gamers. Tournament Mode is a clever feature, and works as advertised.

Read More: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/corsair-k70-rgb-pro