Closer Examination

As we saw before, the K83 Wireless comes in a plastic wrap to keep it pristine and free of dust out of the box. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard, and it is quite light to say the least. Coming in at all of 0.5 kg, its weight goes a long way for its intended use case in a living room. Having a light, compact keyboard is key to having a comfortable user experience. It is compact, as we can see, even if the entire product that is more than just a keyboard is considered. The keyboard section is on the left, comprised of 76 keys in a ~68% form factor. I have the US English layout here, and the nature of the keyboard means there is not really much to compare to if you are used to more standard TKL or full-size layouts.

The keyboard section is not even the part that will grab your attention at first as you have no doubt seen the circular smooth section on the right with the CORSAIR logo in the middle. This is a touch pad, and a really good one at that. Underneath are two buttons which, as you may have suspected by now, are the left and right mouse click buttons as with most laptops today. Then there is the joystick on top, at the right corner; not an analog control stick for gaming, but one for better navigation control, it adds to the all-in-one product the K83 Wireless wants to be. A volume scroll wheel greets us there, along with two dedicated keys to control backlighting and change function modes on the keyboard—more on this later.

The keyboard uses an aluminium frame with a brushed finish, which is slim in profile to match the rest of the keyboard. Bezels on such products are better on the larger side, if only to aid in holding it at awkward angles when using it on the couch, for example. CORSAIR has done a good job of managing the compact nature of the keyboard without going overboard in this regard. I do wish the touch pad were larger, however, and perhaps even in a rectangular form factor given the space available. The case on the bottom is ABS plastic, and the scissor switches in use here are paired with low-profile keycaps. WASD are a gray color for the keycaps, with the rest getting the usual black color scheme.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see the certification info printed on the case itself, at the bottom instead of as an applied sticker. There is "CORSAIR" in the center as well, just in case you forgot. Two long rubber strips at the top and bottom help raise the keyboard slightly, preventing scratches and adding friction against the surface. A small hole here provides access to a hardware reset, although there are simpler ways to do so (turning off the keyboard while holding Esc for ~5 seconds before turning it on). The plastic case juts out at the sides to provide support for when you use this on your lap, and there is an "R" key out of glossy plastic here that has its own role. Accompanying this is an "L" key on the side as seen above, which in turn is next to the power button and micro-USB port.


The side profile shows exactly how low in profile the K83 Wireless is, with the joystick ending up the tallest component on the keyboard. The keycaps on scissor switches are usually held in place at two ends, and removing them in a non-destructive manner is hard. The legends are placed to maximize the backlighting effect for both primary and secondary legends. The provided cable fits nicely into the inset micro-USB port, and the cable requires an available USB Type-A port for charging. As mentioned before, this is best used to just charge the keyboard to allow for flexibility in the living room and elsewhere. That said, you can still use it when connected via USB and have the keyboard charging at the same time if something comes up and you are running low on battery life.