Corsair K55 RGB Pro XT

It's the perfect option if you want a keyboard that has all the looks and features you expect from a top end model, without the prohibitive price tag of a Corsair K95 or similar. The next model up in the Corsair range the K63 might have the mechanical switches, but it's TKL so you're giving up the right hand side of the keyboard, it has no dedicated macro keys and only lights up red. It shows how much of the high end features the K55 RGB Pro XT brings to the party for a very affordable price and wins our OC3D Gamers Choice.

At £75 this keyboard offers membrane keys, 12-key rollover and lacklustre build quality – a price of around £40-50 would be more acceptable. At £75 there are plenty of mechanical keyboards around at the same price, including Corsair’s own K60 RGB PRO which is only £10 more… but also the Logitech G413, as well as other options from Keychron, Aukey and Drevo. The K55 RGB PRO XT is worth considering but it may pay off to look elsewhere.

The plunger switches are awesome to work on and even better for gaming. It’s as good as any rivals high-end membrane keyboards, so no complaints there. It’s light, fast and responsive, which is what you want. The awesome RGB, the Stream Deck integration, detachable wrist rest, multimedia controls, IP42 dust and spill resistance, and much more all add up to a keyboard that offers way more than its price tag suggests!

The Corsair K55 RGB Pro XT is a great update to their best selling membrane based gaming keyboard, with the biggest update being the per-key RGB backlighting capability.

The Corsair K55 RGB Pro XT combines the features of a mechanical gaming keyboard with the affordability of a membrane model, albeit imperfectly.

The XT version of Corsair's stalwart budget gaming keyboard doesn't do enough to justify the hefty increase in price. Yes, the RGB is gorgeous, but it's too much money to spend on a membrane gaming keyboard when there's a near-identical version for $20 less.

At first glance, the feature set is very similar to the then-$200 K95 RGB Platinum XT released a little over a year ago now. There's the per-key 16.8 M RGB backlighting with full iCUE support, Elgato Stream Deck functionality, dedicated media and volume controls, six macro "G-keys," bundled wrist rest, and even the same NXP hardware USB microcontroller for added functions and lighting effects. But as soon as you start typing, you realize there are major changes under the hood as well, with the biggest no doubt being the adoption of rubber dome membrane switches instead of the much more expensive Cherry MX mechanical switches. You also lose out on the aluminium frame, USB pass-through port, light bar, and better build quality in general, but save nearly two-thirds of the cost.