Razer’s customizing-comes-first mechanical gaming keyboard line, BlackWidow, hits its fourth technology with the BlackWidow V4 Professional, a $230 (£230, AU$400) full-size mannequin with some notable enhancements over its predecessor. These enhancements embody expanded lighting, extra programmable controls, USB passthrough and an improved wrist relaxation design. These are all notable updates, however whereas I welcome all of the adjustments in spirit, I am not thrilled with the execution in a number of instances.

Nothing has modified in its elementary keyboard elements, excluding a lift of the utmost polling charge to eight,000Hz, one thing I am unsure you really want right here. The switches and keycaps stay the identical: You may have a alternative of the most recent technology of Razer’s tactile Inexperienced or linear Yellow switches and Razer’s sturdy DoubleShot ABS keycaps. 

Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional

$230 at Amazon

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Like

• Good, sturdy switches
• Expanded lighting zones
• Extra programmable controls
• Vastly improved magnetically attachable wrist relaxation
• Added USB passthrough

Do not Like

• Buttons on left aspect are very easy to hit by chance
• Multicontroller curler is simply too low relative to the peak of the keys

There are much more lighting zones because of the addition of underglow strips on the left and proper, plus a entrance strip on the wrist relaxation, 5 new backlit macro keys down the left aspect and a brand new programmable management dial within the higher left nook.

Razer says it is added lenses to the person backlight LEDs, which does appear to enhance the main target specifically instructions. I additionally assume it is made a distinction within the variety of perceptible brightness ranges — when you want that degree of granularity. I want you might reap the benefits of that by controlling the brightness ranges for particular person or teams of keys the way in which you may management colours: That method the keys you want most steadily might be brighter in addition to a special shade, however not utterly darkish.

The brand new management dial permits you to map zooming, scrolling and different customization to your profiles. For instance, the mappings default to zoom, keyboard brightness, process switching and monitor jogging. That is changing into a extra widespread function nowadays, and it is a helpful one which extends past gaming. The bodily management is okay, if a bit hemmed in. The draw back is there are not any presets past the fundamentals — normally these controls include units — which suggests it requires a whole lot of time-intensive setup for a management you could find yourself not utilizing.

There are additionally three new switches on the left aspect. I like the concept, however not a lot the execution. I consistently make microadjustments to the placement of keyboards — a nervous tic once I’m not actively typing — and so I find yourself hitting them so much. It does not assist that I am additionally adjusting to avoiding the left-side macro keys when reaching for alt-tab, the place my compensation means my ring and pinky fingers naturally fall on these switches. And so they’re too straightforward to activate, which can in all probability be a extra broadly relevant subject. 

These aren’t actually complaints, because it’s actually not the primary keyboard to place the macro keys down the left aspect, however when you’re used to different layouts your muscle reminiscence may want some retraining.

Then there’s the redesigned multicontroller, the curler bar with a financial institution of 5, tall, spherical buttons above the quantity pad. It is much like the design on different keyboards, however the location and elevation do not work, at the very least for my fingers. The keys are so tall, relative to it, that it is awkward to make use of. And remapping the management dial to do the identical issues, like alter audio quantity, is not fairly as handy, since it’s a must to press it to cycle by the totally different mappings.

Like a whole lot of the programmability, it’s a must to be operating Razer’s Synapse utility on your customizations to work; you may’t save a whole lot of them to the interior keyboard reminiscence. Then again, once you cycle by the mappings for the management dial there is a popup telling you what the setting is and what the rotation does. There’s additionally a backlight shade hooked up to every mapping but it surely’s not persistent, so you do not know which setting the dial is presently mapped to with a look.

The USB passthrough is a nice-to-have, and the brand new wrist relaxation is much more snug than the previous one, plus it now attaches — fairly strongly — to the keyboard. For those who’re delicate to textures in a “I put on my shirts inside out as a result of the seams make me loopy” form of method, the bumpy fake leather-based might trouble you, although.

It is nonetheless huge and heavy, however solidity in a keyboard is not one thing to complain about. Razer has upped the swap score to 100 million keypresses, however they’re the identical switches as earlier than — they’ve simply been examined extra. I do not put a whole lot of inventory in sturdiness rankings, but it surely’s good to know that pounding on the keys will not kill them any quicker than it used to.

I have been utilizing optomechanical switches for thus lengthy — and, extra lately, linear ones — that going again to the texture of the tactile mechanicals has required some adjustment. But it surely’s good to know that my fingers will not by chance set off strokes if I relaxation them on the keys. That is one of many perks that I miss with different varieties of switches.

For video games the place quick keyboard combos you may program are extra vital than single-key fast responsiveness, the BlackWidow V4 Professional makes a whole lot of sense. However until you are on board with how all of the controls work, $230 may really feel too costly on your wants.

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