Corsair Raptor K40 Review

[section_title title=Software] Software

Much like other peripheral makers, Corsair has a unified solution for it’s peripherals. Whilst Corsair haven’t yet given their software suite a name of significance like SteelSeries have with the SteelSeries Engine 3 all the important stuff is still under the hood. Profiles can be assigned to load when affiliated programs are launched, although there is no automatic scanning like Logitech’s solution so everything must be added in manually which isn’t always ideal. First up, we’ve got the landing page of Corsair’s software which is actually the key assignment page. Here you can see the six configurable G keys as well as the macro record function and macro ‘banks’ as Corsair dubs them. Each Mx has it’s own six G key slots and each profile as it’s own three M banks – I hope you’re still following. What this all means is that per profile – of which I got up to 12 before getting bored – there are 36 different macros at your disposal.

Although Corsair’s very brief quickstart guide mentions that you can record macros by software or hardware, I found it would only actually start recording once I used the dedicated button which was the cause of much frustration. Whilst I was initially trying to record via the software using my mouse it turned out that wasn’t the case due to the lack of documentation. The Corsair software was also quite limited in terms of what functions can be inserted into the macro chain. Whilst there are 15 different options, when you bear in mind that these include cut, copy, and paste, as well as similar functions, the options available to you definitely pale in comparison to other manufacturers software solutions. Next up we have the profile section. As you can see, I went a bit wild with creating new ones as I was curious how many the K40 could handle. In terms of possible game and program configurations, you’d have to be a betting man to suggest that Corsair does not have you covered. Whilst I’m not a massive macro user myself, I did have one profile dedicated to CS6. In use the software fired up the profile when it detected CS6 launching which to say the least is working without any hitches. I have a soft spot for this feature and it worked just as advertised with my arsenal at least.

Last but not least is the page dedicated to one of the K40’s selling points and one of Corsair’s main focuses going forward: RGB keys. The options here are really unparalleled with other keyboards I’ve used previously, and mainly, because those that I have used have been limited to one colour only. Again, each colour profile can be assigned to an individual ‘M bank’ to correspond with your game or state of mind of choice – I’ll admit to actually enjoying the cycling colour during general usage and certainly makes a nice change from the ‘gamer red’ everything is dowsed in where contemporary peripherals are concerned.

My overall impressions from Corsair’s software solution were that it feels half-baked in a sense. The UI feels incomplete and lacking compared to SteelSeries and Logitech’s offerings but functionally it works. No doubt Corsair will get this side of their peripherals covered in due time. And perhaps I couldn’t fully attest to the software’s usefulness as well as someone with a Corsair keyboard and mouse setup, but from my experience today, it certainly isn’t the best software solution on the market. This isn’t a great from a manufacturer that generally is at the top in all their other market areas. But given that they’re relatively new in the keyboard business I hope Corsair will make strides for improvement.