Razer BlackWidow V4 assessment

Key Takeaways

Extremely customizable with three change sorts.
Loads of macro keys for work and play.
Lack of customizable attributes for the value.

Making a one-size-fits-all efficiency and gaming keyboard appears nearly too lofty of a aim, however Razer determined to provide it a go anyway. The BlackWidow V4 Professional is billed as the last 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 wished to share my impressions on this assessment.

Advisable

Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is Razer’s is a piece arduous, play arduous keyboard, designed to convey one of the best of each worlds collectively in a properly rounded mechanical keyboard.

Execs

Extremely customizable
Three distinct mechanical change sorts 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 out there from Amazon, BestBuy, and straight from Razer on-line.

Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is Razer’s is a piece arduous, play arduous keyboard, designed to convey one of the best of each worlds collectively in a properly rounded mechanical keyboard.

Model: Razer
Wi-fi: No
Backlight: RGB
Media Controls: Sure
Battery: No
Num Pad: Sure
Change Sort: Mechanical (3 Sorts Non-compulsory)
Replaceable Keys: Sure
Wired operation: USB-C
Materials: Aluminum Alloy High Case
Keycaps: Doubleshot ABS Keycaps
Wrist relaxation: Included
USB Passthrough: Sure, requires two USB cables
Polling fee: 125Hz- 8000Hz

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 completely different switches that provide different ranges of journey distance, actuation factors, and change sound profiles. The keyboard connects to your PC by way of USB-C and encompasses a second USB-C connection via which customers can allow USB pass-through.

The BlackWidow V4 Professional carries RGB in spades.

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 fee dialog, and the BlackWidow V4 Professional could be set to a variety 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 high of the per-key lighting, which is very customizable via Razer Synapse, the keyboard has underglow RGB beneath the primary chassis, in addition to extra underglow within the included wrist relaxation.

What I appreciated concerning the BlackWidow V4 Professional

Extraordinarily well-rounded efficiency

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is a surprisingly well-rounded keyboard, and I used to be totally impressed when utilizing it for each work and productiveness, in addition to throughout lengthy gaming classes throughout completely 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 clean and responsive with out feeling exhausting to make use of over lengthy durations, 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 plagued 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 Job Supervisor, and the Home windows display seize device. The 5 macro buttons had been excellent for remapping essential skills in Future 2 or keybinds in FPS video games.

What I did not like concerning the BlackWidow V4 Professional

Lack of customizable attributes

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

I might have appreciated a richer consumer expertise.

Apart from that, and altering the polling fee, there aren’t any different substantial options to fine-tune. Whereas I perceive this line will not be supposed to cannibalize market share from Razer’s extra gaming-focused keyboards just like the Huntsman, I might have appreciated a richer consumer expertise for such an expensive peripheral, significantly when gaming.