Corsair K55 Gaming Keyboard Review

Mechanical keyboards have been the gold standard for gaming for some time, and it’s easy to see why—but membrane keyboards are still sometimes the best choice for some gamers. They tend to be quieter, less expensive, and easier to clean and maintain. Corsair’s K55 budget-friendly gaming keyboard probably isn’t one you’ll hang onto for 10+ years like some other amazing Corsair keyboards, but it’s a perfectly serviceable no-frills option for the short term.

Corsair K55 Specifications

Of course, tech specs are important when it comes to evaluating a gaming keyboard, but they’re perhaps a little less important than they are with some other gadgets. A great keyboard is one that feels great to use, and that’s a highly personal thing that a table of stats can’t fully capture.

Still, you need to know that your next gaming keyboard will actually be fast and responsive, independent of how it feels. The K55’s 1000Hz reporting rate is more than sufficient for even ultra-competitive MOBA fans, and six macro keys are enough to earn a passing grade in that respect.

The RGB lighting can only be customized to a limited extent, though, and there’s no USB pass-through support, but you shouldn’t really expect to get either of those things for $40 in most cases. At the end of the day, the K55 meets but doesn’t particularly exceed the minimum requirements for a gaming keyboard.

Corsair K55 Gaming Performance

Whether or not you like the K55 as a gaming keyboard will depend largely on your feelings about membrane keyboards in general. The keys have a satisfyingly pronounced actuation, although they don’t feel anything like mechanical switches, and there’s virtually no feedback on the reset.

The keys are also rather flat; a more concave surface would help with accuracy and reduce typos. The longer keys, like the space bar and shift keys, do have thin metal support bars under them, which virtually eliminates the uneven wobbling that can happen with membrane keyboards.

Five seems like a pretty average number of macro keys on keyboards that have them, so the six you’ll get with the K55 is a fairly good deal. When programmed with either the Corsair iCUE peripheral management software or the real-time recording function, they can capture just about any combination of buttons you’d care to assign to them. In terms of their position on the keyboard, they’re both out of the way and easily accessible.

MMO and MOBA players will appreciate the above-average number of macro keys, and anyone who demands fast and consistent response times will be pleased, too. This is one of the K55’s strongest selling points, actually—it can keep up with most budget mechanical keyboards in terms of its speed. It feels snappy and responsive in all genres of games, once you get used to the somewhat dated feel of the keys.

All in all, the K55 performs like a lower-mid-tier mechanical keyboard, which is fairly impressive in context.

Corsair K55 Design

The K55 is sleek and simply designed, which certainly isn’t a bad thing. It’s made almost entirely of plastic, but it’s not especially flimsy or thin; the keyboard feels well-built for what it is. The detachable wrist rest is particularly comfortable and functional, especially in light of how badly they tend to suck, even on more expensive keyboards. It’s also surprisingly not-sweaty and easy to clean.

The body of the keyboard is a bit tougher to clean, especially the strip at the top where the function and media keys are, which is made of an unnecessarily shiny plastic that attracts fingerprints and cat hair like a magnet.

The keys themselves don’t really need to be cleaned, though—not like those of a mechanical model, which need to be removed one by one, wiped down, and replaced every few months. In this case, a quick wipe with some mild cleaner every so often will suffice.

If highly customizable, ultra-spiffy RGB lighting is a high priority for you, you’ll find the K55 to be subpar in that regard. Lighting options are limited to a few pre-set configurations, and you can only customize zones, not individual keys. Still, the lights themselves are nice and bright, with little to no backlight bleeding.

The media keys have a couple of minor problems: they’re not backlit, and their layout is a bit strange, at least to me. They’re positioned in two rows, with the Mute, Volume Down, and Volume Up buttons on top, and the Stop, Previous, Play/Pause, and Next buttons on the bottom, in that order.

At least on most of the devices I’ve owned, the order of those four buttons is different and fairly standardized. This could just be me being old and set in my ways, but I’m very used to Stop being next to Play and the forward/back skip buttons being next to one another, so I found the media button layout on the K55 to be rather counterintuitive.

Overall, the K55’s design is pretty nice for what it costs. It’s a basic gaming keyboard, after all, so we won’t evaluate it as though it were a $150 premium model, like some of the best gaming keyboards on the market right now.

Corsair K55 Pricing & Alternatives

We think the K55 is an above-average competitor within its price range. You can find better (read: mechanical) keyboards with similar features for about the same price or a little more, but since some people actually prefer membrane keyboards for gaming, we certainly wouldn’t say there’s no market for the K55.

However, if you want your next gaming keyboard to last 5+ years, the K55 may not be the best choice, as membrane keyboard switches tend to have much shorter lifespans than mechanical switches. But if you’re a loyal Team Membrane fan, you might consider the only ever-so-slightly more expensive Razer Cynosa Chroma, a respectable membrane gaming keyboard that only costs $5 more.

For a (somewhat) similarly priced mechanical alternative, consider the most excellent Corsair K68, which can be had for just $69.99—provided you don’t mind an entirely red color scheme.

Finally, if you’re willing to shell out a little more cash to get the best gaming keyboard you can find, head over to our review of the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2, or the outstanding Razer Huntsman Elite to see if it’s the one you’ve been waiting for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Corsair K55 mechanical?

The Corsair K55 is not mechanical, it’s a membrane keyboard. It’s quieter, less expensive, and easier to clean than most mechanical keyboards, but may not last as long, and many gamers prefer the tactile feel of mechanical keys for gaming.

What switch does the Corsair K55 use?

The Corsair K55 uses rubber dome keycaps, which are not mechanical switches. If you’re specifically looking for Cherry mechanical switches (or any other brand), you’ll need to shop for a different keyboard.

How do I change the color of my Corsair K55?

You can change the RGB color settings on your Corsair K55 by using the Corsair iCUE peripheral management software, but if you want to change the default color or pattern such that it stays even when your computer is locked or sleeping, you’ll need to make use of a slightly awkward workaround.

Since iCUE doesn’t run when your computer is locked or sleeping, your K55 may default back to its rainbow color scheme. If you want to change that, you’ll have to change the default colors without using iCUE.

To do so, shut down the iCUE software and hold the FN key, then tap F1, F2, or F3 to change the default color of each zone. You can then continue to use iCUE as normal, but your default colors will stay put even when you lock or hibernate your PC.

How do I factory reset my Corsair K55?

You can perform a factory reset on your Corsair K55 by pressing and holding FN and F4 for five seconds. You’ll know it worked when the keyboard’s three RGB zones flash white twice. This is a handy first step to try if you ever experience problems with your macros or RGB profiles not saving or loading correctly.

On the other hand, you can learn how to reset keyboard settings and follow the default process.

Are membrane keyboards bad for gaming?

Whether or not membrane keyboards are bad for gaming depends largely on who you ask. Mechanical keyboards are more popular among gamers by a significant margin, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re best for you.

Membrane keyboards tend to be slightly less responsive, less tactile, and less likely to come with extra gaming-specific features, like macro keys. These are merely tendencies, though—if you spend some time looking, you can find membrane keyboards with almost any set of features, but the keys will always feel substantially different from mechanical switches.

Indeed, the feel of the keys—whether they “click-clack” with a heavy, springy sensation or feel lighter and more “spongy”—is often the most divisive factor among gamers. Knowing which style of keys you prefer will go a long way in answering the question of which type of keyboard is better for you.

Corsair K55 Final Verdict

Ultimately, the Corsair K55 will probably appeal strongly to a specific subset of gamers, but will go largely ignored by some others. If you prefer soft membrane keys, but still want some extras like macro keys and RGB lighting on a modest budget, the K55 is a perfectly serviceable mid-tier gaming keyboard that deserves your consideration.

Performance: ⭐⭐⭐

For what it is, the Corsair K55 is a pretty good deal, it just can’t really compete with higher-end keyboards.

Design: ⭐⭐⭐

A handful of minor issues—like a lack of backlit media keys and limited RGB customization options—hold the K55 back from a five-star rating in this category.

Price: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Many bottom-of-the-barrel office store keyboards cost about $40, so in that light, the good-but-not-great K55 is a screaming good deal for a gaming keyboard.

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

You’ll probably never see this keyboard being used by pro gamers, but if you need to get out the door for under $50 without sacrificing the essentials, you could do a lot worse.