Corsair K65 Pro Mini review – small but leaves a big impression

Having the opportunity to use the Corsair K65 Pro Mini has come close to a life-altering event. Before getting my fingertips on the keys, I was used to clunky-sounding ‘gaming’ keyboards, that would strain my eyes with their static and overtly bright RGB lighting.

With the surplus of customizable lighting effects, resonating key clicks, and compact shape, the Corsair K65 Pro Mini, has changed how I look at 65% keyboards. If not for a few nitpicks, it would earn its spot as the single mini gaming keyboard I couldn’t see my PC gaming setup without.

The Corsair back catalog isn’t shy of mini form factor gaming keyboards, nor is the Corsair K65 Pro Mini the only one we’ve gotten our hands on. However, it remains another fine example of why Corsair is synonymous with creating some of the best PC gaming peripherals available today.

Even if you typically prefer having a full set of keys at your disposal, getting well-acquainted with the gratifying clicks of the optical-mechanical switches, and the newly acquired abundance of space on your desk, is likely to enlighten you about the ways of the 65% keyboard, just as the Corsair K65 Pro Mini has done for me.

Pros

• Multiple customizable RGB light effects
• Responsive Corsair OPX key switches
• Detachable Type-C cable for easy storage
• Comes with extra space bar
• Affordable

Cons

• Wired only connectivity
• Only two levels of height adjustment
• Expensive price point
• No color variants are available

Corsair K65 Pro Mini features

The Corsair K65 Pro Mini is a 65% gaming keyboard, which boasts of the combination of both optical key switches and 8,000Hz hyper-polling. Right out of the box, the default settings will be set to 1,000Hz, to not cause any compatibility issues, however, you can change this to 8,000Hz once you get the keyboard up and running. When I first got my hands on the K65 Pro Mini, I was busy sailing the seven seas with my fiancé in Sea of Thieves. While hunting for treasure, I was impressed with the key switches’ fast responses, and with the lack of accidental key presses, which were prevalent with previous mechanical keyboard.

To get the most out of my pirate gaming sessions, I downloaded the accompanying Corsair software, which enables the entire spectrum of customizable capabilities that are this gaming keyboard’s bread and butter. At a glance, iCUE is really easy to navigate, and I easily found myself spending hours scrolling through all the various RGB effects, watching my 65% light-up like it was putting on a personal light show.

While RGB lighting is ingrained in just about every gaming keyboard on the market, the variety of lighting effects unlocked through iCue feel very subtle. The way the gradient of colors can move across the keys is seamless, and it really emphasizes the quality of the K65 Pro Mini keyboard. After familiarizing myself more with the K65 Pro Mini as I messed around with the lighting effects, it did take me a while to get used to a 65% layout. Losing the number pad felt a bit strange, and even now I still find myself reaching for it. Thankfully, like with a lot of mini keyboards, iCue allows you to map the keys to create a series of shortcuts to make up for what you lose with a full-sized keyboard.

Corsair K65 Pro Mini design

The Corsair K65 Pro Mini is a 65% sized mini gaming keyboard, and as the name suggests, it’s missing the key features of a full-sized keyboard, most noticeably the number pad. However, unlike 60% mini keyboards, it still includes all the navigation keys. The keyboard measures approximately 12.4 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches, taking up less of that precious desk space. I prefer a desk that’s covered in figures and other trinkets, so I was pleasantly surprised with just how compact the K65 Pro Mini gaming keyboard was when taking it out of the box for the first time.

The keyboard consists of an all-black design, which includes black keycaps and a black aluminum base. An all-black gaming keyboard isn’t anything new or exciting, but the metal frame gives it a nice, hefty weight that helps make the small keyboard feel more substantial. What’s also substantial is the quality of the PBT double-shot keycaps, which are designed to resist wear and fade over time. Through my extended use of the keyboard for this review, the keys look almost as they did right out of the box. As someone very accident-prone when it comes to hardware, I haven’t noticed any dings or marks on the keys or even the base of the keyboard, which is incredibly reassuring.

The best part of the keycaps is their transparent typeface, which pops off once you start making the most out of all the RGB lighting options. The same can be said about the extra space bar Corsair included in the box. The pulsating rainbow of RGBs looks even better once you swap them out, making any sub-par PC gaming setup look a bit more fancy.

On the underside of the keyboard, you can find six rubber stoppers, two of which are found on the keyboard’s retractable stands that allow for two different height levels, which are both equally comfortable to type with. I would have personally preferred more adjustment options, as either having the K65 Pro Mini laying flat on my desk, or slightly higher, didn’t feel like a lot from a keyboard that otherwise is full of customizability.

The Corsair K65 Pro Mini itself connects to your PC via a detachable type-C USB connector, which sits on the left side of the keyboard. Its placement is pretty standard, but being detachable does make it easier to tidy away when not in use. It’s just disappointing that this cable isn’t for charging, as the K65 Pro Mini only has wired connectivity. With that in mind, you will have to deal with a cable across your desk when you’re vigorously typing away, as it can’t be powered otherwise.

Corsair K65 Pro Mini performance

While this mini keyboard is at its best when the RGBs are radiantly glowing from underneath the keys, the Corsair OPX optical-mechanical switches themselves are another shining example of what makes the Corsair K65 Pro Mini worth adding to your PC gaming setup. Traveling to far-away deserted islands in Sea of Thieves with the K65 Pro Mini became a breeze, with each key press feeling fast and highly responsive to the touch. Each key press gives off a deep, resonating, and dense-sounding click, that creates an almost ASMR sensation as you type. Often, over time, the repeated sound of a keyboard can sound grating on the ears, but the sound of the K65 Pro Mini made me drawn to using the keyboard even over my Xbox controller, which I typically prefer to use when it comes to PC gaming.

Before sailing the seven seas with the Corsair K65 Pro Mini, I was so used to the cheap and bouncy nature of my previous gaming keyboard. The mechanical switches felt like a huge hindrance to my PC gaming experiences, with accidental key presses becoming the norm. When chatting with friends on Discord, it was commonplace for me to type numerous errors, but the K65 Pro Mini has rectified my accidental key-pressing ways. The difference between using that, and the K65 Pro Mini is night and day, and the comfortable feeling of the sturdy PBT double-shot keycaps is something I’d never want to go without again.

The K65 Pro Mini’s keys are also slightly textured, giving the tips of fingers something to grip onto. So while the OPX key switches make the keys feel effortless to press, paired with the slight grip on top, helps push that precision even further. This was incredibly noticeable when vehemently trying to escape perusing ships in Sea of Thieves, where instead of finding my fingers slipping between the crevices between each key, I was able to glide across the K65 Pro Mini with ease. Other mechanical keyboards I’ve used in the past have a sheer and shiny coating to the tops of the keys, which although looks great, can feel awkward if you’re something like me who easily gets frantically caught at the moment in online games.

Corsair K65 Pro Mini price

At £129.99 GBP / $129.00 USD, the K65 Pro Mini isn’t the most expensive gaming keyboard Corsair has to offer, but it is the most expensive mini keyboard in its repertoire. It’s likely that it’s the optical key switches that are pushing up the price, but every extra cent is worth it for their inclusion alone.

The main disappointment with the price point comes with the omission of different colorways. While the keycaps can be changed for whatever custom keys you see fit to use, it feels like an over-step not to have at least a white variation of the keyboard to better suit different setups. Even Corsair sells different variants of the K65 Pro Mini, which come with colorful keycaps and a white base, at $40 cheaper. While the all-black look of the K65 Pro Mini doesn’t look bad, not everyone is going to have a gaming PC setup that accommodates an all-black design.

There’s also the glaring issue of the K65 Pro Mini only having wired connectivity. The box shows that this mini keyboard is compatible with not only PCs but also consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X. But I can’t think of anything worse than having to fiddle about with a USB cable to use a keyboard with a console, and it’s already mildly frustrating when using it with my PC. Although the detachable USB cable makes it easy to take with you, I feel like not having wireless compatibility lets it down.

Should you buy the Corsair K65 Pro Mini?

The Corsair K65 Pro Mini has almost everything I look for in a gaming keyboard. From highly customizable RGBs, to highly responsive and almost rhythmic sounding key switches, it’s hard not to feel like the days of having to find the best mini gaming keyboard are over.

Even the switch from a full-sized keyboard, to the mini form factor of the K65 Pro Mini doesn’t take long to acclimatize to, thanks in part to the fact you can assign secondary functions, and the decision to still include the directional keys.

Yet, although the Corasir K65 Pro Mini gaming keyboard has now become a staple of my current PC gaming setup, I can’t help think just how perfect it would be had it been available in a range of colorways, and been wireless, so I could take it with me anywhere I go.

If the Corsair K65 Pro Mini isn’t for you

If you’re looking for a Corsair keyboard, but don’t want to do without the number pad, the Corsair K70 Core has all you can want from a full form factor. It even has a palm rest too, if you’re not concerned about taking up more of your precious desk space.

If you still want to stick to a keyboard of the mini variety, the Razer Huntsman Mini 60% gaming keyboard has its own optical key switches, and enough customizable RGB lighting effects for you to shake a stick at.