The K40 from Corsair: A Membrane Keyboard with a Touch of Mechanical Flair

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about trying out the K40 from Corsair, a keyboard that falls squarely into the membrane category despite its mechanical switches. As someone who's been using mechanical keyboards for a while now, the thought of going back to a rubber dome keyboard was a bit daunting. But, I'm always up for trying new things and seeing what Corsair has in store.

The K40 is indeed a membrane keyboard at its core, but it also features some unique mechanical switches that add a touch of flair to the overall design. The keyboard itself is quite attractive, with a matte black and silver plastic body that's reminiscent of Corsair's other offerings. However, one thing that sets it apart from more traditional metal-bodied keyboards is the lack of a shiny Corsair logo on the front.

When it comes to typing performance, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the K40 held up. The switches are designed to be smooth and responsive, with a gentle actuation point that allows for quick and accurate keystrokes. I found myself getting into a rhythm quickly, and the keyboard didn't slow me down much at all - which was a pleasant surprise given my usual preference for mechanical keyboards.

However, one area where the K40 falls short is in terms of tactile feedback. Compared to my usual mechanical keyboards, the K40's switches are noticeably spongier and less tactile. I found myself missing the satisfying click of mechanical switches, but it wasn't enough to really detract from my overall experience with the keyboard.

Another observation I made was that my wrists were noticeably more tired after using the K40 for about a week at work. While this may not be directly related to the switches themselves, it's something worth noting - perhaps I just need to get used to typing on membrane keyboards again? The layout of the keyboard is solid, with dedicated medium keys and a dedicated Windows key lock, as well as a brightness key that allows you to adjust the backlighting to your liking.

Competitive Landscape

In terms of competition, there are certainly some other keyboards out there that offer similar features at comparable prices. For example, the Gigabyte Ava GKK 8100 is another membrane keyboard that's worth considering - it's not bad, but it's also not particularly memorable. On the other hand, there are some unique and innovative keyboards out there, like the Razer DeathStalker with its low-profile chicklet keys, or the Tte Sports Challenger, which features a cooling fan for your left hand.

However, in my mind, some of the biggest threats to the K40 come from Corsair's own lineup - specifically their other keyboard offerings that tick all the right boxes. For example, keyboards like the QuickFire Pro and Poseidon can be had for a mere $10 more than the K40, despite being true mechanical keyboards. So while the K40 is certainly an attractive option, it's not necessarily the best value in terms of features and performance.

Design Philosophy

One thing that I found particularly jarring about the K40 was its design philosophy - or lack thereof. As someone who's been following Corsair for a while now, I have to say that this keyboard feels like a very corporate-driven product, designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator rather than true enthusiasts. It's low-risk and safe, but it also feels a bit soulless as a result.

In my opinion, Corsair is supposed to be about building the coolest things they can think of, not just churning out products that are safe and profitable. The K40 doesn't seem to embody that spirit, at least not yet. However, I do want to give them credit for innovating in the category - metal-finished keyboards weren't mainstream until Corsair made them so, and their new RGB backlit mechanical is definitely a quantum leap past what everyone else is doing.

The Bottom Line

Overall, I'd say that the K40 from Corsair is an okay keyboard that's worth considering if you're looking for a membrane option with some unique features. However, it's not necessarily the best value in terms of features and performance - especially when compared to true mechanical keyboards like the QuickFire Pro or Poseidon.

One thing that I will say is that this keyboard has sparked a certain level of excitement among enthusiasts, who are clamoring for more innovative products from Corsair. So while the K40 may not be my top choice as a keyboard, it's certainly worth keeping an eye on in terms of what Corsair might have up their sleeve next.

As I sit here waiting for the actual RGB mechanical keyboard that Corsair has promised to send me in the meantime, I have to admit that this one just didn't quite live up to my expectations. Give a hungry dog a pat on the head and you might appreciate the pat, but he's still waiting for his bone - give me my bone, Corsair!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwith its Factory tuning and data center DNA an Intel 730 series SSD is an amazing choice for gamers and performance enthusiasts the corer K40 spec list has got some pretty good stuff going for it it's got a 16.8 million color customizable backlight with cycling and pulsing modes it's got n key rollover and anti- ghosting over USB which is no mean feet and it's six programmable G keys with three different layers of functionality can be configured through software or on the Fly using the Mr Button just press it select a g key type in your combo and press Mr again and on top of all that Corsair software which I just mentioned has gone from needs work to actually pretty good in the last few years and now we're at the point where changing the color scheme managing the profiles on the PC and the one saved to the keyboards on on board memory and programming the keys with alternate functions or macros is Legree and happens in real time without any weird Behavior the backlight configurator is especially fun to play with since it changes the colors and settings as you dink around with it but honestly I didn't find the backl itself to be that amazing sure you can set it to whatever color you want but it isn't super bright and like I mentioned in my Corsair RGB mechanical keyboard coverage at CES it's one one of those Lighting systems that is theoretically capable of 16.8 million colors but in reality you can only achieve a handful of distinct vibrant colors now the keys themselves are not as linear like an MX black or red but reminded me of Browns if Browns were spongier less tactile and generally more membran honestly it was a little weird going back to a rubber Dome keyboard since I've been using mechanical for so long I'm not used to needing to bottom out anymore so that was an adjustment um it didn't slow down my typing much which surprised me but my wrists are noticeably more tired having used it for about a week at work I'm not sure if that's directly related to the switches but it's an observation nonetheless the keyboard looks quite attractive like corsair's other offerings but uses a matte black and silver plastic body instead of a metal body with a shiny Corsair logo the layout is solid I don't really have any complaints here and includes dedicated medium keys to go along with a dedicated Windows key lock as well as a brightness key that goes from off to a thir to 2/3 to full strength on the backlight but one problem with the layout that I actually didn't even notice when just looking at the keyboard is that I found the F keys are too close to the number Row for me it actually took me a couple days to figure out why I'd been mashing f11 and F12 all week when I was reaching for the backspace all right so it's competitive landscape time in this price range there's some generic stuff like the gigabyte Ava gkk 8100 which I actually used for a while and kind of like it's not a terrible keyboard there's some unique stuff like the Razer death stalker with its lowprofile chicklet keys and some downright goofy stuff like that cooling fan for your left hand on the tte sports challenger but in my mind some of the biggest threats to the K40 actually come from corsair's own lineup and from the fact that no matter what checkboxes it ticks on a product Matrix it is still a membrane keyboard and single color backlit mechanical keyboards like the quickfire Pro and Poseidon can be had for a mere $10 more I mean guys the keyboard is all right the feature set particularly the RGB backlighting is competitive if you like membrane Keys which some people do but while I can't complain about this product I guess if I had to complain about something I have a bit of an issue with the design philosophy here normally I wouldn't even mention this kind of thing in a review but kind of like the coach's son on a baseball team I've got to make an example of course there once in a while to prove I'm not favoring them for being a longtime sponsor the K40 feels like a very corporate driven skew from the ground up it is low risk it slots into a small Gap in the product stack between the k30 and k50 it likely improves profitability at that price point compared to the K65 Compact and it tis all the right boxes on the aord mentioned product Matrix against its competition but that's not supposed to be the Corsair way Corsair is supposed to be a bunch of enthusiasts who build the coolest thing they possibly can and then price it at whatever they need to to support their business and the K40 just doesn't seem Enthusiast driven to me with that said I can't go too hard on them because they are innovating in the category metal finished keyboards weren't mainstream until Corsair did it and their new RGB backlit mechanical is a Quantum Leap past what everyone else is doing for backlit keyboards so maybe that's the problem I mean if it seems like I came into this review with a bit of a grumpy mindset that must be the underlying issue I'm sitting here waiting for the RGB mechanical and they send me this to review in the meantime honestly it's fine but you give a hungry dog a pat on the head and you might appreciate the pat on the head it might be an excellent pat on the head but he's still waiting for his bone give me my bone Corsair I cannot wait you are sitting over there on the most amazing keyboard I have ever seen and I want it now guys we should start like a chant in the comments demanding the Corsair RGB keyboard I know their PR guy watches these videos so you know yeah I'm on to you let's get it going anyway guys like and share this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it and leave a comment on the line is Tech tips Forum Linked In the video description if you want to discuss this product or if you have constructive criticism for me and my team also linked in the video description is our support link with options to buy T-shirts give us a monthly contribution or give us a kickback whenever you buy random junk on Amazon check it out if you enjoy our videos it helps us out a whole bunch oh and as always as if I'm just remembering to say that except that I've done it over 2,000 times thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribewith its Factory tuning and data center DNA an Intel 730 series SSD is an amazing choice for gamers and performance enthusiasts the corer K40 spec list has got some pretty good stuff going for it it's got a 16.8 million color customizable backlight with cycling and pulsing modes it's got n key rollover and anti- ghosting over USB which is no mean feet and it's six programmable G keys with three different layers of functionality can be configured through software or on the Fly using the Mr Button just press it select a g key type in your combo and press Mr again and on top of all that Corsair software which I just mentioned has gone from needs work to actually pretty good in the last few years and now we're at the point where changing the color scheme managing the profiles on the PC and the one saved to the keyboards on on board memory and programming the keys with alternate functions or macros is Legree and happens in real time without any weird Behavior the backlight configurator is especially fun to play with since it changes the colors and settings as you dink around with it but honestly I didn't find the backl itself to be that amazing sure you can set it to whatever color you want but it isn't super bright and like I mentioned in my Corsair RGB mechanical keyboard coverage at CES it's one one of those Lighting systems that is theoretically capable of 16.8 million colors but in reality you can only achieve a handful of distinct vibrant colors now the keys themselves are not as linear like an MX black or red but reminded me of Browns if Browns were spongier less tactile and generally more membran honestly it was a little weird going back to a rubber Dome keyboard since I've been using mechanical for so long I'm not used to needing to bottom out anymore so that was an adjustment um it didn't slow down my typing much which surprised me but my wrists are noticeably more tired having used it for about a week at work I'm not sure if that's directly related to the switches but it's an observation nonetheless the keyboard looks quite attractive like corsair's other offerings but uses a matte black and silver plastic body instead of a metal body with a shiny Corsair logo the layout is solid I don't really have any complaints here and includes dedicated medium keys to go along with a dedicated Windows key lock as well as a brightness key that goes from off to a thir to 2/3 to full strength on the backlight but one problem with the layout that I actually didn't even notice when just looking at the keyboard is that I found the F keys are too close to the number Row for me it actually took me a couple days to figure out why I'd been mashing f11 and F12 all week when I was reaching for the backspace all right so it's competitive landscape time in this price range there's some generic stuff like the gigabyte Ava gkk 8100 which I actually used for a while and kind of like it's not a terrible keyboard there's some unique stuff like the Razer death stalker with its lowprofile chicklet keys and some downright goofy stuff like that cooling fan for your left hand on the tte sports challenger but in my mind some of the biggest threats to the K40 actually come from corsair's own lineup and from the fact that no matter what checkboxes it ticks on a product Matrix it is still a membrane keyboard and single color backlit mechanical keyboards like the quickfire Pro and Poseidon can be had for a mere $10 more I mean guys the keyboard is all right the feature set particularly the RGB backlighting is competitive if you like membrane Keys which some people do but while I can't complain about this product I guess if I had to complain about something I have a bit of an issue with the design philosophy here normally I wouldn't even mention this kind of thing in a review but kind of like the coach's son on a baseball team I've got to make an example of course there once in a while to prove I'm not favoring them for being a longtime sponsor the K40 feels like a very corporate driven skew from the ground up it is low risk it slots into a small Gap in the product stack between the k30 and k50 it likely improves profitability at that price point compared to the K65 Compact and it tis all the right boxes on the aord mentioned product Matrix against its competition but that's not supposed to be the Corsair way Corsair is supposed to be a bunch of enthusiasts who build the coolest thing they possibly can and then price it at whatever they need to to support their business and the K40 just doesn't seem Enthusiast driven to me with that said I can't go too hard on them because they are innovating in the category metal finished keyboards weren't mainstream until Corsair did it and their new RGB backlit mechanical is a Quantum Leap past what everyone else is doing for backlit keyboards so maybe that's the problem I mean if it seems like I came into this review with a bit of a grumpy mindset that must be the underlying issue I'm sitting here waiting for the RGB mechanical and they send me this to review in the meantime honestly it's fine but you give a hungry dog a pat on the head and you might appreciate the pat on the head it might be an excellent pat on the head but he's still waiting for his bone give me my bone Corsair I cannot wait you are sitting over there on the most amazing keyboard I have ever seen and I want it now guys we should start like a chant in the comments demanding the Corsair RGB keyboard I know their PR guy watches these videos so you know yeah I'm on to you let's get it going anyway guys like and share this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it and leave a comment on the line is Tech tips Forum Linked In the video description if you want to discuss this product or if you have constructive criticism for me and my team also linked in the video description is our support link with options to buy T-shirts give us a monthly contribution or give us a kickback whenever you buy random junk on Amazon check it out if you enjoy our videos it helps us out a whole bunch oh and as always as if I'm just remembering to say that except that I've done it over 2,000 times thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe\n"