Hardware stub

Corsair K68 Dust & Spill Resistant Keyboard | Computex

Posted on May 30, 2017

Maligned as they are by gamers, rubber dome keyboards have one great advantage (other than price): they’re hard to get dirty and easy to clean, thanks to the eponymous rubber membrane, which usually keeps dust and liquid away from the underlying contacts. Corsair now intends to correct this with their new extra-durable K68 keyboard.

Corsair imagines a horrifying, over-the-top scenario:

 

“It can happen to any gamer’s setup. In a brief lull in the action you reach for a drink or snack, only for an unseen threat to suddenly appear on screen. As you instinctively reach for your WASD keys to respond, it’s already too late to stop your falling snack or spilling beverage and the loss is often much greater than just a round, quest or mission. CORSAIR K68 was designed with those moments in mind, surrounding its CHERRY MX Red mechanical key switches with individual silicone rubber shields to allow spills to flow right through and keep dust and grime out.”

Whether or not that’s actually happened to anyone, the K68 does have an IP (Ingress Protection) rating of 32. The first digit refers to solids of greater than 2.5mm (not really relevant here) and the second refers to “dripping water when tilted up to 15°.” That means no spraying liquids or especially vigorous coffee disasters, but small spills and the light drizzle depicted in Corsair’s promotional video should be just fine.

Keyboards aren’t often on the cutting edge of innovation these days, and the difference between models can come down to the color of Cherry MX switch or the lack of a number pad, hence Corsair’s emphasis on the exciting new spill resistance feature. The K68 is equipped with red-backlit Cherry MX Red switches, is fully programmable with CUE (no RGB, obviously), and has a Windows key lock to prevent accidental button presses.

Despite the silicon shields, Corsair isn’t charging a premium for the K68. $100 is exactly the same price as their STRAFE keyboard, less than the aluminum-chassis K70, and more than the tenkeyless K63, all equipped with MX Reds. It’s available for purchase now on Corsair’s site.

- Patrick Lathan