The Corsair Makr Pro 75 is a fascinating keyboard that combines the best design tricks from the enthusiast scene with the long feature list and polish we've come to expect from Corsair. The result is a keyboard that is well-built, easy to modify and eminently capable, but is any board from a mainstream brand worth a $250/£220 asking price?
As always, it depends. If you want to shortcut the usual process of finding the perfect gaming keyboard from an enthusiast brand, or going the DIY route with your full choice of materials, then the Makr Pro 75 is a dependable alternative that you can still modify down the line. But, despite the DIY branding, this is essentially just a magnetic switch gaming keyboard that comes fully assembled, and there are plenty of those on the market these days. The answer depends on your appetite for getting stuck into the whole mechanical keyboard scene – and exactly what features you want on your ultimate keyboard.
Design and Features
The Makr Pro 75 is a handsome keyboard with a bit more flair than your average mainstream offering, with a matte black aluminium chassis and a nice contrast between the white alphanumeric keys, black modifiers and Function keys, and lemon-lime Escape and Enter keys. The keyboard I received is an ISO-UK layout with the big enter and short left shift, but ANSI-US layouts and others are also available. As with other recent Corsair releases across multiple categories, the colour scheme and minimal Corsair branding is smart, and looks eye-catching without being overbearing.
This is a compact 75% size keyboard, so there is no number pad, the nav keys are redeployed into a single column along the right side of the board, and the right shift key has been shortened to provide some extra space for the arrow keys in the bottom right. Relatively few important keys are missing from my perspective, and front-facing legends show Mac equivalents – while a switch on the back swaps between Windows and Mac layouts. Finally, there's a multi-function knob in the upper right, which can control the volume as well as other functions – visible in Corsair's new web-based software.
The hot-swap switches beneath the backlit double-shot PBT keycaps are magnetic, allowing for the usual trendy FPS functions. These sort of switches are now almost table stakes amongst boutique gaming boards, but the features they unlock can still be transformtive if you're coming from an older mechanical keyboard (or indeed, a non-mechanical design).
The most broadly useful is rapid trigger, a tech that speeds up key presses and key releases by reacting to changes in direction, rather than the key passing through a set physical point in its travel. That speeds up your inputs in games of all kinds, although it can take some getting used to. SOCD is another key inclusion, a tech normally used in FPS games to improve counter-strafing on the A and D keys. This helps you regain accuracy before shooting in games like Valorant, and it was so transformative in Counter-Strike that it was banned by Valve. There are plenty of other features to research too, including adjusting the actuation point on a per-key basis, binding multiple functions to single keys, and full analogue inputs to mimic a gamepad.
Overall, the keyboard is great out of the box from a build quality and design perspective, which is what you'd expect given the premium price. Still, I can't help but think that the core appeal of a DIY keyboard is in the actual building; even if you start with a fully assembled board as many do, it's fun to take something that's altogether basic and make meaningful, obvious changes as you go. Maybe a new set of keycaps in a different material or profile, maybe swapping out switches for a new typing experience or more responsive gaming, or maybe accessorizing with a new cable or a hand-crafted keycap that says something about you as a person. Here, the keyboard is so capable already, that while you can make changes (or replace broken components), you're not going to get that warm satisfaction of tweaking something and thinking "yup, that's exactly what I wanted."
Performance and Software
The Makr Pro 75 is a pleasant keyboard to use, even it if doesn't quite deliver the same level of pure typing pleasure as the best boutique boards I've tested. The keycaps feel a little slick, and the sound profile isn't quite as deep and satisfying, despite the eight layers of sound dampening and gasket-mounted switches. The layout, at least, is beyond reproach, offering plenty of desk space without eliminating any key that I needed for work or web surfing on the regular, and I found it easy to write up long articles in comfort.
In terms of gaming performance, this board is top-notch. As I mentioned before, a huge proportion of new mechanical keyboards now sport magnetic switches like those in the Makr Pro 75, but the combination of all these features with an 8000Hz polling rate and similarly high-class peripherals (like the Logitech X2 Superstrike mouse) results in a very gratifyingly immediate experience.
You'd be surprised how much impact a great keyboard can have on clicking on heads in Counter-Strike 2, for example. That sounds like something that would mostly depend on your monitor and your mouse, but the keyboard plays a vital role in the movement side of the equation, and having a great keyboard makes it easier to smoothly strafe out from behind a corner, stop on a dime, let off a shot or two and start moving back beind cover. Other games and genres can be more or less keyboard-sensitive, but for a component that should last years and years, you're sure to have plenty of time to reap the benefits of a comfortable, reliable and responsive keyboard.
The Makr Pro 75 uses the same web-based software as the Galleon 100 SD we looked at earlier, offering an easy way to make changes to keyboard settings, key bindings, lighting effects and so on. We've only recently covered that software and time is short, so suffice it to say, this is an extremely polished online tool that is intuitively laid out, powerful and reliable. I would go so far as to say that this is the gold standard for other keyboard makers to aim at, and one of the best reasons to choose a Corsair board over a (likely cheaper) alternative from a smaller brand. And yes, having all of your functions in one app, versus the two that the Galleon requires, is definitely an improvement.
Will is former deputy tech editor for IGN, specialising in PC hardware, sim racing and display tech. He has been publishing about games and technology since 2001 (age 12). Will was formerly Deputy Editor at Digital Foundry. He is currently playing BattleTech Advanced Universe.
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