Usually when you see a waterproof mechanical keyboard being touted, it’s a gimmick, or it’s a real keyboard but without mechanical switches, or it’s an optical keyboard. It’s rare indeed to find a mechanical switch keyboard that pledges to keep moisture at bay, so Corsair is in relatively exclusive company with its $100 K68.
To be clear, though, the K68 doesn’t promise to be waterproof in the sense that you can submerge it and expect it not to glitch out. It’s “splash resistant,” which we take to mean that if you spill your gaming beverage of choice (50 points if yours is Surge, and another 50 if you drank the citrus soda before they brought it back and started selling it as tall boys) on the keyboard in the middle of an epic n00b-shaming session (or as the result of run-of-the-mill klutzery), it won’t croak.
The K68 is also dustproof up to IP32 standards, according to Corsair.
The company was woefully light on specifics (a plague of Computex pre-announcement announcements), but we did learn that the splash- and dust-proofing is accomplished via rubber gaskets that surround the switch housings.
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We also know that the K68 will be available with Cherry Red or Cherry Blue switches (Corsair didn’t specify, but certainly it’s the MX variety), with single-color LEDs--red for the Red switches and blue for the Blue switches. (Sure, why not.)
You may also notice that the K68 looks just like the K63 but with a numpad. Thus, although Corsair seems pretty pumped about the IP32 business, it could easily have marketed the K68 as the full-size version of the K63. They both appear to have the Corsair “look” but in plastic instead of metal, and they have some of the same dedicated buttons. (The new K68 lacks the upper left-side media controls.) Both also offer only single-color backlighting.
