Corsair is offering the K65 mini keyboard and HS80 headset as part of the Enchanted Quest Collection in bright pastel colors. The offering is the next step in trying to monetize customization: it's limited-edition, billed as a collector's item, and inspired by hip, retro pixel games.
The K65 is offered in the US ANSI layout in turquoise, pink, dark blue and purple, with the color getting slightly lighter in each row of keys. Each variant also has its own escape key, which is adorned with a retro-style symbol – such as a sword or a star. Corsair writes that the color design and additional button are intended to create a connection to 8-bit retro games, which are inspired by these titles.
Purple Rune (Image: Corsair)
Purple Rune (Image: Corsair)Otherwise, the ultra-compact 60 percent keyboard is not changed. Key features include a detachable USB cable with Type-C connector, RGB key lighting, Cherry mechanical buttons and extensive customization options via the iCUE software. It is unclear whether the colorful key caps are also made of PBT plastic, as is the case with the normal retail version. The material is not named in the announcement, which should at least make you suspicious: As a rule, nothing that is not named exists.
K65_RGB_MINI_ETHEREAL_BLUE_RENDER_01 (Image: Corsair) Image 1 of 5
K65_RGB_MINI_PASTEL_TWILIGHT_RENDER_01 (Image: Corsair)
K65_RGB_RGB_RGB_RGB_MINIIX_Picture : Corsair)
K65_RGB_MINI_PURPLE_RUNE_RENDER_01 (Image: Corsair)
Enchanted Quest Keycaps (Image: Corsair)Changes to the headset are even smaller. Turquoise, pink and purple accent the ear pads and headband. RGB lighting and wireless operation remain. Additional prices for the special edition are based on the extent of the coloring. The price of the headset increases by 10 from 150 to 160 US dollars, and the keyboard costs 20 US dollars more than the normal model, which costs 110 US dollars. However, Real will have to dig even deeper into their pockets. While the regular product versions are sold below the recommended retail price, the “Enchanted Quest Collection” is only available in the Corsair web shop and therefore only at the Corsair price.
A new trend in sight
For European customers, this is initially only of peripheral interest, because the collection cannot currently be bought from Germany. However, it can be seen as a harbinger of upcoming trends. Over the course of the year, peripheral manufacturers have discovered colored accessories, the customization of peripherals, for themselves. Corsair in particular already offers colorful keycaps as accessories.
Now the idea is enhanced. On the one hand with time pressure (“FOMO”), on the other hand with the seemingly quirky attempt to create a collectible piece of art or investment as a utility device that generates demand not from a practical need, but from its mere existence. The name already emphasizes such things: The input devices are presented as part of a “collection”, a collection that will be expanded in the future. In the following months, the enhanced quest series will be superseded. Then there will be a “new topic and peripherals such as keyboards, mouse pads and other things”. Corsair is planning for the long term, because the same should happen with “every release” – sold lucratively in its own shop without discounts and margins for middlemen. Such a plan is unlikely to be limited to the US market unless it totally flops.