Corsair’s offering a lot of quality here, and that’s reflected in the high price. Whether that quality resides in the right area is another matter. How much do you care about actuation feel and low-profile optical keys versus the benefits of analog?



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There is a specific audience who’ll be over the moon about this keyboard, and happy to pay the $260/£240 Corsair’s asking for it. The thing is, it really is a specific audience. While some of its best assets can be universally enjoyed, like the creamy-smooth key actuation and Corsair’s trademark construction quality, a lot of what you’re paying premium price for here is useful only in very particular use cases and tastes.

Let’s take the defining spec of the Vanguard Air 99 Wireless, for example: low-profile, optical keys. It’s obvious from the first keypress that Corsair’s design team have lavished all kinds of care and attention on getting the feeling right, from the gasket-mounted design to the 2.5 mm of travel these low-profile keys have, just enough to lend a satisfying feel to each keypress while still fulfilling the low-profile brief. There are apparently five layers of sound-dampening at work to deliver the right sound, and the right feeling. And they got it right.

Meanwhile, the sector’s increasingly migrating to Hall Effect magnetic analog switches for the adjustable actuation and overall faster inputs they offer. So, in order to enjoy the sound and feel of this board, Corsair’s asking you to forego the latest and greatest in keyboard tech. For $260.

If that seems a bit uncharitable, it’s probably because I’m looking at the Vanguard Air 99 Wireless’ fairly useless LCD screen as I type it. It doesn’t detract from the experience while playing games or at work, but it also doesn’t add much functionality, either. Displaying when the caps lock is on or off, or indicating when I’m scrolling a web page is not a good tradeoff for the battery life that screen must be gobbling up.

Size

99%

Connectivity

2.4GHz, Bluetooth, USB Type-C

Keycaps

PBT

Switches

Corsair OPX Low-profile optical

Hot-swappable



No

Media controls

Yes, clickable scroll wheel

Lighting

Full RGB per-key

Software

Corsair Web Hub

Price

$250 | £240

✅ You’re searching for a specific sensation: There are significant downsides to this board, but if tactile feel is the be-all and end-all to you then the combo of low-profile optical mechanical switches and a gasket mount might be a winning one.

❌ You want a future-proof board: The screen might look futuristic, but it doesn’t offer much value and certainly doesn’t offset the absence of adjustable actuation or faster input resets that analog switches offer.

Elsewhere there’s not much to grumble about. Least of all in the visual appeal and build quality of the board, which are exemplary as always. What a great combination of solid and sleek this low-profile unit is, heavy enough to stay put when you give it a light nudge and with an aluminium shell that’s aesthetically pleasing and nice to touch.

The PBT keycaps feel great under your fingers, and they’re machined with super-sharp letters and symbols that let the RGB shine through with precision and minimal bleedthrough coming up from the backplate. Er, across most of the board.

The exception being the directional arrow keys and the bank of six macro/OBS hotkeys on the lefthand side, all of which have translucent keycaps and so emit a lot more light. I’m not sure how I feel about this, personally. On one hand it makes those keys easier to locate. On the other, who’s using the directional arrow keys in 2026?

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That bank of keys on the left can be used as a stream deck. You’ll need to use Stream Deck software ...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com

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