Razer BlackWidow V4 evaluate

Making a one-size-fits-all efficiency and gaming keyboard appears nearly too lofty of a purpose, however Razer determined to provide it a go anyway. The BlackWidow V4 Professional is billed as the final word battlestation mechanical keyboard, and I had the possibility to go hands-on with it over the previous few weeks. Whereas there are many apps and programs that may improve your expertise, some new, shiny {hardware} is difficult to beat. A keyboard designed for work and play appeared proper up my alley as an avid and a work-from-home enterprise proprietor, and I needed to share my impressions on this evaluate.

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Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is Razer’s is a piece onerous, play onerous keyboard, designed to deliver the perfect of each worlds collectively in a effectively rounded mechanical keyboard.

Execs

• Extremely customizable
• Three distinct mechanical swap varieties to select from
• Loads of macro keys

Cons

• Actuation ranges can’t be personalized

Worth, availability, and specs

The complete-sized Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional is the highest-end model within the BlackWidow lineup and configuration that I’ve examined. It retails for $230 and is obtainable from Amazon, BestBuy, and instantly from Razer on-line.

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is a completely mechanical keyboard with doubleshot ABS keycaps, per-key RGB lighting, and a slew of customizable macro keys. Patrons have the selection of three totally different switches that supply assorted ranges of journey distance, actuation factors, and swap sound profiles. The keyboard connects to your PC through USB-C and includes a second USB-C connection via which customers can allow USB pass-through.

Utilizing Razer Synapse, in addition to onboard shortcuts, customers can cycle via a variety of preset profiles and arrange customized profiles that may be saved within the onboard storage. Razer has introduced the keyboard into the polling price dialog, and the BlackWidow V4 Professional might be set to a spread of polling charges from 125Hz to 8000Hz, although why I would wish my keyboard to speak with my PC 8,000 instances per second is a bit misplaced on me.

The BlackWidow V4 Professional carries RGB in spades. On prime of the per-key lighting, which is very customizable via Razer Synapse, the keyboard has underglow RGB beneath the principle chassis, in addition to extra underglow within the included wrist relaxation.

What I favored in regards to the BlackWidow V4 Professional

Extraordinarily well-rounded efficiency

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is a surprisingly well-rounded keyboard, and I used to be completely impressed when utilizing it for each work and productiveness, in addition to throughout lengthy gaming classes throughout totally different genres. The mannequin I examined featured the inexperienced switches, which Razer describes as “tactile and clicky.”

Despite the fact that the inexperienced switches have the longest journey distance and loudest clicks of the three switches, every keystroke was nonetheless easy and responsive with out feeling exhausting to make use of over lengthy intervals, not like a few of Razer’s gaming-specific keyboards with deeper switches. The keys are delicate sufficient for exact gaming, but not so delicate that productiveness duties are affected by misinputs.

Then there have been macros on macros. Razer’s BlackWidow V4 Professional options 5 devoted macro buttons that run alongside the left aspect of the keyboard, in addition to three macro aspect buttons on the left aspect of the BlackWidow chassis. The abundance gave me ample alternatives to create them for each in-game use and work. I set the aspect macro buttons to shortcuts for Nvidia’s Overlay, Home windows Process Supervisor, and the Home windows display screen seize device. The 5 macro buttons had been good for remapping essential skills in Future 2 or keybinds in FPS video games.

What I did not like in regards to the BlackWidow V4 Professional

Lack of customizable attributes

For a keyboard that prices over $200, and one with the phrase “Professional” proper within the title, I discovered that the BlackWidow V4 Professional was sorely missing in customizable capabilities and consumer expertise. Probably the most customizable characteristic on the keyboard inside Synapse is the command dial, which might be set to manage or alter a couple of totally different capabilities, like lighting brightness, switching apps, zoom, scrolling, and switching browser tabs.

Other than that, and altering the polling price, there aren’t any different substantial options to fine-tune. Whereas I perceive this line just isn’t supposed to cannibalize market share from Razer’s extra gaming-focused keyboards just like the Huntsman, I might have favored a richer consumer expertise for such a dear peripheral, notably when gaming.

Do you have to purchase the BlackWidow V4 Professional?

The decision is…

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is a very stellar workhorse keyboard. At any time when I used to be gaming, whether or not enjoying FPS or RPG video games, I discovered myself pondering that it was a fantastic keyboard that carried out very well. It isn’t the best gaming keyboard I’ve ever used, however after all, that is not the intention. Once I was utilizing the BlackWidow for work, notably for writing emails or articles, I used to be completely impressed. Its simple key presses, easy operation, and full measurement, together with the NUM pad and multimedia controls made it an especially well-rounded device for productiveness duties.

It is actually the closest I’ve seen a keyboard come to a profitable jack-of-all-trades. For those who’re a distant employee, author, programmer, or every other keyboard-heavy consumer on your day job, however an avid gamer in your free time, you will discover the BlackWidow V4 Professional provides top-tier efficiency in each worlds.

Really useful

Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is Razer’s is a piece onerous, play onerous keyboard, designed to deliver the perfect of each worlds collectively in a effectively rounded mechanical keyboard.