Razer’s Blackwidow V4 Professional 75% introduced typing bliss to my fingers

Razer’s Blackwidow V4 Professional 75% keyboard is without doubt one of the greatest ones the corporate has launched but and has shortly grow to be one in every of my favorite keyboards.

The corporate despatched me one of many Blackwidow V4 Professional keyboards a number of weeks in the past to check out, and I’m completely offered. I contemplate myself one thing of a keyboard aficionado, although I’m not fairly on the stage of constructing my very own customized keyboard. However this new Blackwidow board presents quite a lot of the issues I’d search for if I have been to attempt constructing my very own, which is a part of what makes it such a terrific match for me.

Highlights embody doubleshot PBT keycaps, hot-swappable keyboard switches (helps 3- or 5-pin switches), a compact 75% design, built-in OLED show and ‘Command Dial,’ and wonderful construct high quality.

The keyboard ships with Razer’s third-gen Orange Tactile Mechanical Swap. On the one hand, it’s a bit disappointing that Razer doesn’t supply alternate change choices, however because the board is hot-swappable, that’s not a deal-breaker in my eyes. Plus, it helps that the Orange Tactile switches are actually actually good. In fact, mechanical switches are all the time subjective, however as somebody who’s used a board with Cherry MX Blues for years, I used to be shocked at how a lot I favored Razer’s newest Orange switches. They provide comparable tactile suggestions with out being as loud — although I do love a pleasant click on, my spouse a lot prefers the quieter Orange switches. General, I actually loved typing on the Blackwidow V4 Professional — and I do a lot of typing for work — and it additionally felt nice for gaming.

Furthering the superb typing expertise is the Blackwidow V4 Professional’s building. It sports activities an aluminum alloy prime case, gasket-mounted white FR4 plate (the white boosts the all-important RGB), a layer of plate foam and tape-enhanced PCB with lubed stabilizers. Whereas which will learn like jibberish to anybody not immersed within the mechanical keyboard world, all of it provides as much as an improved sound profile that absorbs excessive frequencies and boosts mid and low frequencies. In different phrases, the keyboard is much more ‘thocky’ and fewer ‘clacky.’ Provided that lubing stabilizers and taping the PCB are in style hacks for bettering the sound on a customized board, it’s good to see Razer taking note of a few of these particulars, particularly for somebody like me who appreciates the trouble of constructing a customized board however doesn’t need to do it themselves.

General, the typing expertise on the Razer Blackwidow V4 Professional is superb, and whilst you may be capable of get a greater expertise with a customized board, I feel the Blackwidow presents a wonderful out-of-the-box expertise for anybody searching for a strong mechanical keyboard with minimal effort on their finish.

Dial up that OLED

One of many foremost options that units the V4 Professional aside from the Blackwidow V4 is the inclusion of the OLED show and Command Dial. I’ll be trustworthy, that is virtually totally superfluous, and apart from trying cool, I don’t assume it provides quite a bit to the keyboard expertise. Nevertheless it seems rattling cool.

Utilizing Razer’s Synapse software program, customers can customise the OLED panel fairly closely. There are two foremost capabilities to the show and dial — the primary is, effectively, displaying one thing, and the second is controlling sure points of your PC.

Show choices embody exhibiting keyboard begins, like batter stage, capslock, and whether or not the keyboard is plugged in or working wirelessly. Customers may set numerous animations or pictures that present on the OLED, or have it present a media participant that shows an animated waveform and particulars about what you’re listening to. In observe, nevertheless, I discovered most of those weren’t actually that helpful. I favored how the OLED animations appeared, however they didn’t serve a objective past trying cool. The media participant was extra helpful, however not for me. I used to be testing Razer’s Kraken V4 Professional headset on the similar time, which features a management hub that additionally options an OLED show for displaying info just like the media participant. It didn’t actually make sense to have each OLEDs working the media participant, and of the 2, I most well-liked having the media participant on the headphone management hub since that’s the place my media was enjoying.

The Blackwidow’s OLED and Command Dial in motion | GIF credit score: Razer.

In the end, essentially the most helpful show possibility was the keyboard data as a result of it reveals battery life. In the end, I’d wish to see extra customization choices come sooner or later, like the flexibility to combine show choices to indicate, say, battery life and still have an animation enjoying. Or it’d be good to have choices to browse and set up third-party or user-created shows. I’d additionally wish to see some interactive shows — for instance, I feel a show that reveals my words-per-minute (WPM) when typing can be neat.

As for the dial, you should use it to manage points of the keyboard or your PC. On the keyboard aspect, there’s the OLED and backlight brightness. On the PC aspect, you should use it to manage the amount stage, change apps, as a horizontal scroll bar or for switching tracks. There’s a button on the aspect of the keyboard for biking via modes for the dial. Sadly, like with the OLED, there’s quite a lot of overlap right here with the Kraken V4 Professional headset’s management hub, so for those who’re contemplating getting a type of, it’d make sense to skip the Blackwidow V4 Professional and avoid wasting cash.

The Synapse software program additionally lets customers construct customized modes for the dial, equivalent to constructing a shortcut to wash video or regulate the comb dimension in Photoshop. In fact, these may also be achieved with keyboard shortcuts, so the dial is a bit redundant. Nonetheless, it’s a nice-to-have possibility and for those who put the trouble in to customise it to your wants, it could possibly be tremendous useful.

Battery life could possibly be improved (or make it simpler to cost)

My solely important gripe with the Blackwidow V4 Professional is that the battery life isn’t nice for those who’re utilizing it wirelessly. It sports activities a 4,200mAh rechargeable battery, however I discovered myself needing to cost it roughly as soon as per week with gentle use — we’re speaking possibly 4 or 5 hours of gaming complete in that point, with the keyboard turned off whereas not in use.

Razer claims the keyboard lasts as much as 2,100 hours when utilizing the power-saving mode, however turning that on disables a lot of the goodies that assist make this keyboard stand out, just like the Chroma RGB, the OLED panel and the Command Dial. You may tweak different settings to eke out extra battery, like lowering how lengthy the OLED stays on or turning down the brightness of the OLED and RGB.

Truthfully, I feel I’m a bit spoiled by the wi-fi charging on the Razer Basilisk V3 Professional mouse I exploit with my PC as a result of after I’m not utilizing it, I drop it on the wi-fi charger so it’s all the time absolutely juiced after I sit right down to sport. The Blackwidow keyboard, however, is trickier to cost. It requires me to change it to wired mode after which plug in a USB-C cable to a port that’s recessed on the again, which means I’ve to select up the keyboard and switch it round. I additionally need to take away the wi-fi dongle from the USB-C cable so I can plug the cable into the keyboard.

Ideally, Razer ought to make some type of MagSafe-like charging connector so I can simply join the keyboard after I have to cost, or a wi-fi charging pad of some type that I can put the keyboard on to maintain it juiced up. Till then, I’ll in all probability simply plug it in and depart it like that.

Wonderful keyboard with a hefty price ticket

There are a number of extra highlights I’d like to say concerning the keyboard earlier than I get into my buy suggestions:

• I really like the included magnetic wristrest. It provides welcome wrist assist when gaming and typing, and the magnetic attachment makes it straightforward to take away and stow after I don’t want it.
• Razer Snap Faucet is accessible for many who need it, however I didn’t use the controversial characteristic.
• Razer used particular fire-resistant tape for the PCB tape mod.
• Customers can simply disassemble the Blackwidow V4 Professional through eight screws on the underside to make additional modifications (although doing so voids the two-year guarantee).
• Wi-fi choices embody Razer HyperSpeed (as much as 4,000Hz polling charge) and Bluetooth 5.1 (as much as three gadgets).

General, I actually just like the Blackwidow V4 Professional. A lot in order that I’ll make it my every day driver, which is excessive reward from me. My first mechanical keyboard was a Razer Blackwidow Final 100% board that was fairly good for me for about 4 years till it began registering double- and -triple clicks on some letters like ‘a’ and ‘s.’ I ultimately swapped it out for a tenkeyless (TKL) keyboard from Durgod with the aforementioned Cherry Blues early within the pandemic, and that keyboard has been my go-to for the final 4 years. In 2021, I examined Razer’s Blackwidow V3 Mini Hyperspeed however in the end most well-liked my Durgod.

The identical can’t be mentioned this time round. The Blackwidow V4 Professional has gained my coronary heart fingers. That’s largely due to the construct high quality and a spotlight to element the corporate put into the development with issues just like the taped PCB.

All that being mentioned, the Blackwidow V4 could be very expensive at $399.99 CAD. Contemplating the non-Professional Blackwidow V4 clocks in at $259.99 CAD, I feel I’ve to advocate going for the V4 until you actually need the OLED panel. That’s essentially the most important distinction between the 2 boards and having used the Professional, I don’t assume the OLED panel is price it. The opposite notable distinction is the V4 solely helps wired connection, however as I discussed above, the battery life isn’t that nice. If I have been choosing between these two boards, the non-Professional can be my alternative, particularly because it options very comparable building with the FR4 plate and taped PCB.

The Blackwidow V4 Professional 75% is accessible on Razer’s web site for $399.99. It’s additionally out there on Amazon for a similar value.