Once I became acquainted with the Vanguard, however, I started to appreciate this fancy board. A gasket mount and five sound-dampening layers give each key press a satisfying “thocky” sound. Corsair deploys its house-brand optical switches, called OPX Low-Profile, on the Vanguard. These optical switches feature a short 1.5mm actuation distance for improved keypress responsiveness. They’re a huge improvement over the K100 Air Wireless, which the Vanguard is based on. The K100’s ultra-low-profile keys aren’t ideal for gaming.
What’s the difference between optical and mechanical switches? Much like magnetic switches, optical switches don’t need to make a physical electrical connection inside the switch to actuate. Optical switches use infrared light beams and light sensors to register key presses. A press blocks a beam, which a sensor in each key mechanism then registers. Mechanical keyboards, as you might have guessed, rely on an electrical contact being made, which can result in those keyboards wearing and tearing faster than keyboards with optical switches. (Read more about key switches of all kinds in our explainer.)
(Credit: Zackery Cuevas)
In addition to the 1.5mm actuation point, the OPX switches offer 2.5mm of total travel distance and a 45g actuation force. This means that key presses are fast and responsive, and that each press doesn’t require too much force. Your hands won’t tire out too fast from pressing buttons.
The optical switches also enable a welcome feature for hard-core gamers. Called FlashTap, Corsair’s new technology harnesses the concept of simultaneous output of cardinal directions (“SOCD”), providing cleaner movement techniques for twitchy maneuvers such as counter-strafing or jiggle peeking. Esports pros and those in the know rely on these moves while playing competitive shooters.
FlashTap can also function similarly to Razer’s Snap Tap: If you find yourself in an instance where two opposing directions are detected, you have the option for the keyboard to register the last input, the first input, or remain neutral. It’s not active by default, but can be turned on with a keyboard shortcut and adjusted with Corsair’s new web-based utility, the Corsair Web Hub (which I’ll discuss below).
It’s one of those things you probably don’t think about, unless you’re playing shooters with your mouse and keyboard. But it’s a change that even casual gamers can notice. I found it especially helpful in games such as Marvel Rivals and Marathon, where your character is constantly bouncing back and forth between targets.
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(Credit: Zackery Cuevas)
Underneath the keyboard, you’ll find two adjustable feet that give the Vanguard some much-needed tilt—enough that I can forgive the lack of a wrist rest. Toward the top of the board, you’ll find a small magnetic indentation that houses the keyboard’s 2.4GHz USB receiver, as well as switches to change connection types (Bluetooth or 2.4GHz) and operating system. (Corsair offers full Mac compatibility, making it one of the few gaming keyboards that are good for Macs.)
The Vanguard comes in two color schemes: black and white. I tested the white variant, which appears in the photos and which I think pops well on my desktop. PBT double-shot keycaps let the adjustable RGB lighting shine through, and the soft glow illuminates the board nicely.
At the top right of the board, you’ll find an eye-catching 1.9-inch IPS display. You obviously won’t be using this tiny screen for gaming (at least until someone gets Doom running on it, which is the way of all things), but you can load up to 20 GIFs or up to 250 photos (with a max file size of 500K) to give your keyboard some character.
