Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 evaluate: A 96-percent magnetic swap keyboard with a semi-customizable LCD display

Mechanical keyboards have change into extra standard than ever, because of TikTok for typing ASMR movies and the assist for mentioned peripherals on gaming consoles such because the Xbox and PlayStation 5. That mentioned, there are such a lot of boards that includes totally different switches, case supplies — heck, even cables. But proper now, one of many hottest commodities within the greatest gaming keyboards is the magnetic swap. Companies have been battling for the most effective Hall Effect keyboard in the marketplace since magnetic switches have change into extra standard.

Today, now we have the brand new Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 – a 96-percent mechanical keyboard with Hall Effect switches and, most notably, an LCD display. This isn’t the primary time Corsair has used magnetic switches — a few years in the past, I reviewed their K70 Max RGB and was happy, general. However, it has been a few years, so it is time to see if this new board is value a glance.

Specs

Design of the Vanguard Pro 96

The Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 is one of Corsair’s many mechanical keyboards, sporting their MGX Hyperdrive Linear switches, Axon hyper-processing technology and a new LCD screen in a 96-percent form factor. The Vanguard is only available in black and has a price tag of $230.

The very first thing I seen on the brand new Vanguard Pro 96 was its LCD display. The display is vibrant and configurable, nevertheless it wasn’t what I anticipated after I opened the field. Because we’ve grown accustomed to seeing screens on every thing from energy provides to all-in-one liquid coolers, I used to be shocked to see this display wasn’t as customizable as I believed it could be. According to Corsair, you should utilize the display to show customized animations, photos, system specs, and extra. However, I may solely get photographs to show. I didn’t see an choice to show my system specs or customized animations in Corsair’s Web Hub.

While the assist for gifs is neat, it’s essential make certain they’re under 500 KB; in the event that they’re bigger, you will see a irritating discover.

I attempted about 5 or so totally different gifs and couldn’t discover one below that dimension, so I ended up sticking with photographs (and I used to be capable of add a few totally different ones). Needless to say, I used to be a bit disenchanted by the display. That mentioned, I did obtain my evaluate mannequin earlier than launch, so Corsair may nonetheless be engaged on bettering Web Hub’s compatibility with the Vanguard Pro 96.

The Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 additionally has a brand new characteristic that lets you management your Elgato Stream Deck with the keyboard. Next to the FN key on the Vanguard Pro 96, there is a key that resembles the Elgato emblem. If you press that key, you possibly can then toggle between totally different Elgato Stream Deck capabilities, comparable to mute, document, and so on. Don’t fear — in case you’re like me, and don’t personal a Steam Deck, by accident urgent the important thing is not going to change something. You also can disable it or remap it.

The construct high quality of the Vanguard Pro 96 is fairly stable. While it’s virtually solely plastic, it appears fairly sturdy, and like it will possibly deal with the occasional drop or fist slam throughout bits of rage in-game. The board sounds good too — inside, you’ll discover a number of layers of sound-damping foam to remove case and spring ping.

While the Vanguard Pro 96 has a few new options, you’re nonetheless getting Corsair’s AXON expertise, which gives you with a polling charge of 8,000 Hz, 20 layers of on-board lighting results that may be configured, and a keystroke vary from 0.1mm to 4mm — which is on par with different high-end magnetic gaming keyboards.

The keycaps are fabricated from double-shot PBT plastic, which is thick and sturdy and in addition permits the RGB lighting to shine by means of. On the left facet of the Vanguard Pro 96 are 5 devoted macro keys — one thing I haven’t seen in years. As mechanical keyboards have change into extra feature-packed, corporations have moved away from devoted macro keys — so I really like this. Beside the 5 macro keys is a gaming mode key, which turns the polling charge all the way down to 1,000 Hz, turns WinLock on, and switches the backlighting to crimson. This isn’t a brand new characteristic, nevertheless it’s value stating, for any aggressive players on the market.

When I reviewed the Corsair K70 Core RGB, I was surprised by how smooth the switches were out of the box — and I can confirm the MGX Hyperdrive linear switches in the Vanguard Pro 96 are even better than their non-magnetic counterparts. But I’ll go into more detail on the switches later in the review.

Typing and Gaming Experience on the Vanguard Pro 96

The Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 arrived in the midst of my Battlefield 4 reboot. Thanks to Microsoft locking me out of my old Xbox account, I’d lost all of my progression, so I had to start at level one on Battlefield 4. The keyboard worked very well for gaming. I didn’t experience any latency issues and I even adjusted the actuation points on keys 1-5 to 1mm so I could swap weapons/gear with less force.

The Vanguard Pro 96 is also a convenient keyboard for everyday use, as it includes a 10-key numberpad. I am a massive advocate for numberpads; I have been using the same Filco Majestouch numberpad for over three years, and I can’t work without it. I will say that since the Vanguard Pro 96 is a 96-percent board, and not a full-size board, it took me a little while to get comfortable with the numberpad as it’s a smaller keyboard overall..

The keyboard comes with Corsair’s MGX Hyperdrive linear switches, and I love them. While I was really impressed by Corsair Reds in the K70 Core RGB, you do lose out on the Hall Effect / magnetic switch capabilities with those. Also, the bottom-out isn’t as harsh on the magnetic switches, and the switches are quieter overall. One of the things I dislike about Hall-effect switches is their sound. Because the switches have magnets in them, they can be pretty loud, but the MGX switches sound like any other Cherry clone — which was great and very tolerable.

Keep in mind, I’m only scratching the surface when it comes to this keyboard’s capabilities. The AXON technology, dedicated macro keys, and rotary knob are absolutely worth experimenting with if you are a true gamer or want to set macros to make your day-to-day processes simpler. Like all gaming keyboards, the Vanguard Pro 96’s strength is in its customizability.

Software of the Vanguard Pro 96

Unlike the K70 Core RGB, the Vanguard Pro 96 is powered by Corsair’s online Web Hub.

As the name suggests, Web Hub is an online-only software — and I’m not a fan of the idea. I had no issues with iCUE, and I genuinely do not understand why Corsair thought it would be a good idea to make an online-only configuration software for a keyboard as customizable as this one. What if you’re traveling and want to fine-tune the actuation on your WASD keys and don’t have access to WiFi? It seems like an inconvenience to require an internet connection to adjust the keyboard’s settings.

Fortunately, Web Hub works fine. I didn’t have any issues with it, but if you buy this keyboard, be sure to update the USB Wired Polling Rate to 8,000 Hz in the device settings because the board will arrive with its polling rate set at 1,000 Hz.

Bottom Line

I really like the Corsair Vanguard Pro 96 overall. While I’m kind of annoyed by the online-only configuration tool, the keyboard makes up for it — it sounds great, and the switches are fast, feel good, and aren’t too loud. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of visual capabilities of the built-in LCD screen (while it’s nice to have a picture of my dog, Daphne, on my keyboard… it’s not necessarily the most useful feature).

While I like this keyboard, I’m not sure it’s worth $230. Sure, the screen, customizability, and generous support for your Stream Deck is cool — but I don’t think it’s $230 cool. Instead, I’d recommend Corsair’s K70 Max RGB, which is less than $200 and does just about everything the Vanguard Pro 96 does. If yu’re not sold on magnetic switches, I’d also recommend the K70 Core RGB, which is just $70.