Gadget Overview: Corsair Vanguard Air 99 Wireless Keyboard – Digitally Downloaded

Tradespeople have their energy instruments, and change into very hooked up to the tools that helps their livelihood. Athletes have their most popular racquet, shoe and clothes model, for the consolation and aggressive benefit the fitting gear can present. As a author, I’m all the time looking out for a keyboard that’s snug to kind on. And as a result of I play a whole lot of video games, a keyboard that’s good for that’s an added bonus. The Corsair Vanguard Air 99 Wireless is my new finest pal.

The Air 99 Wireless is a premium-priced keyboard with a stable construct high quality, low-profile optical switches, an LCD display screen within the nook and Elgato Stream Deck integration sitting proper there on the keyboard. In mixture, it makes for a tool that can go well with nearly any use case you possibly can consider.

For individuals who do a whole lot of typing, the Air 99 Wireless’s low profile makes for a really snug typing expertise. It’s like engaged on a laptop computer’s keyboard, simply with a extra silken really feel to the important thing presses. The keyboard is simply shy of a full-sized keyboard, which implies among the keys that take up a whole lot of house on a standard keyboard are a bit of squished, and Corsair additionally opted to have much less house between every key than is regular. At first, that led to some inaccuracies in my typing (nicely, greater than regular), however I discovered myself adjusting shortly sufficient.

Once I had adjusted, I discovered my typing pace improved by the 1.5mm actuation distance on this keyboard (with 2.5mm whole journey). It is snug to make use of over lengthy durations of time due to an actuation power of simply 45g, and aesthetically supported with a pleasant, tender sound that I discover superior to mechanical keyboards, notably over lengthy durations of time and once I’m working shortly. There’s solely a lot “clacking” an individual can take earlier than they yearn for the sound of silence, and whereas many swear by mechanical keys for the texture, and accuracy, (and sometimes that clacking sound), I believe I’ll all the time favor a premium optical expertise, when it’s on a premium keyboard designed across the really feel of the keys.

The different benefit of optical keyboards is that they have a tendency to last more, which is sweet, as a result of I’ll need to be utilizing this keyboard for a really very long time.

Corsair has constructed gaming options into this keyboard that I’ll by no means profit from, resembling FlashTap, which is a characteristic that helps enhance accuracy when the keyboard registers two competing inputs on the similar time. A participant in a fast-paced FPS, for instance, could also be hitting keys so shut to at least one one other that they’re telling their avatar to go in two totally different instructions on the similar time. FlashTap permits the participant to arrange how the keyboard responds to such inputs, permitting for set off fingers to tailor their keyboard to compensate for his or her enthusiasm.

I, in the meantime, have spent most of my gaming time testing this keyboard, enjoying numerous basic Warhammer video games and Wingspan. The keyboard has been nice at blasting out some fast trash-talk at my gaming buddies over a heated sport of fowl playing cards, and I did rating an all-time excessive of 185 whereas enjoying with the keyboard. Now, is the keyboard instantly accountable for that? Perhaps not. But I do prefer to boast about how good I’m at Wingspan.

The typing is barely a part of the expertise with the Air 99 Wireless. Another very apparent characteristic is the little LCD display screen within the high proper nook of the keyboard. Unfortunately, whereas I’m usually a fan of little screens in all my electronics, I might have favored this one to do a bit greater than it does. It’s actually only a standing show, and of the statuses (statii?) that it shows, it’s solely actually the battery standing that I might examine. And I’d solely try this as a result of the keyboard’s battery life isn’t nearly as good as I would love, and I discovered the show helpful in reminding me to cost it earlier than the following typing session. There is, definitely, future use circumstances of those tiny screens on keyboards that will probably be indispensable to the expertise, however up to now the one time I’ve come throughout a keyboard with a display screen that I’ve paid consideration to is one which had a bit of Snake clone on it, and I acquired embarrassingly hooked on that little Snek sport.

However, the Air 99 Wireless does have a characteristic that’s going to go over simply nice with customers, and that’s the column of programmable keys on the far left of the keyboard. Content creators, streamers, and anybody else who sits throughout the Elgato audience can assign as much as six of their most used streaming features and have them conveniently situated on the keyboard. In addition, there’s a Stream Deck launch button on the keyboard that pulls up a digital keyboard on the display screen with all the remainder of your Stream Deck options.

Obviously, in the event you’re not a streamer, these keys are going to go unused, however it’s an enormously helpful comfort for the goal market, and helps to declutter what, to your typical streamer, is a cluttered desk. Of extra use for a wider viewers is the “Game Mode” key, which lets you shut off sure features (such because the Windows and Copilot keys) when you find yourself enjoying a sport and don’t need to by accident pull these issues up.

Or in the event you’re like me, you possibly can flip that Game Mode on always since you by no means need to by accident hit the Copilot key.

The sum of the Air 99 Wireless keyboard is that it’s shut sufficient to best for almost each one that wants to make use of a keyboard. Typists will discover the keys snug, responsive, sturdy and quiet. Gamers will discover the polling price and accuracy options to be elegant, and even eSports professionals will discover this keyboard a helpful piece of package. Streamers will love that Elgato integration. And nerds for tiny little screens that don’t do something however look cool will benefit from the swirling Corsair emblem on that little LCD within the nook. See? Everyone’s lined.

Jokes apart, this keyboard actually is the actual deal, and is price each cent of its premium asking value.