Closer Examination

Out of the box, the Strafe looks great. The design is clean and the additional buttons blend in well. Like other keyboards from Corsair and various other manufacturers now, the keys are floating with a tiny ridge around them, which creates a lot of light bleed at night, but that is part of the attraction behind these back-lit keyboards.


The Strafe keyboard is quite heavy and has four good rubber feet that ensure it stays in place even during the most intense beating.


The cable coming off the Strafe is quite big and bulky, but that is because it carries two USB cables inside. One feeds the keyboard and the other the USB port that is right next to the cable entrance.


Corsair seems to be very happy with the Cherry MX keys as these are also featured in the Strafe. The one tested today uses Cherry MX Reds, which are known for their gaming performance. They have a linear resistance profile and no tactile feedback at the actuation point, just an end stop where the key cap bottom hits the top of the actual key mechanism.


The keyboard features two additional keys on top of the num-lock keys. These let you select a light profile and disable the windows-key.


Its texture is easily noticeable, the space bar is a bit special. It looks more special than it feels, though.


The two sets of spare keys are a good idea as quite a few gamers prefer having slightly different tops for the primary keys.


The alternate keys are coated in thick rubber and are all cambered toward the natural center. This feels a bit odd to these fingers, but such has a lot to do with the size of your hands and how you like the keys to feel.