Razer BlackWidow V4 assessment

Key Takeaways

Extremely customizable with three swap 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 present 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 tough 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 assessment.

Really useful

Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is Razer’s is a piece laborious, play laborious keyboard, designed to convey the most effective of each worlds collectively in a nicely rounded mechanical keyboard.

Execs

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

Cons

Actuation ranges can’t be custom-made

Value, availability, and specs

The total-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 laborious, play laborious keyboard, designed to convey the most effective of each worlds collectively in a nicely rounded mechanical keyboard.

Model: Razer
Wi-fi: No
Backlight: RGB
Media Controls: Sure
Battery: No
Num Pad: Sure
Change Kind: Mechanical (3 Varieties Non-compulsory)
Replaceable Keys: Sure
Wired operation: USB-C
Materials: Aluminum Alloy Prime 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. Consumers have the selection of three totally different switches that provide different ranges of journey distance, actuation factors, and swap sound profiles. The keyboard connects to your PC through USB-C and incorporates a second USB-C connection by means of 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 by means of quite a few 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 might be set to a variety of polling charges from 125Hz to 8000Hz, although why I would want my keyboard to speak with my PC 8,000 occasions 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 by means of Razer Synapse, the keyboard has underglow RGB beneath the principle chassis, in addition to further underglow within the included wrist relaxation.

What I appreciated 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 totally 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.”

Though 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 intervals, in contrast to 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 suffering from misinputs.

Then there have been macros on macros. Razer’s BlackWidow V4 Professional options 5 devoted macro buttons that run alongside the left facet of the keyboard, in addition to three macro facet buttons on the left facet of the BlackWidow chassis. The abundance gave me ample alternatives to create them for each in-game use and work. I set the facet macro buttons to shortcuts for Nvidia’s Overlay, Home windows Process Supervisor, and the Home windows display seize software. The 5 macro buttons have been good for remapping essential talents 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. Essentially the most customizable characteristic on the keyboard inside Synapse is the command dial, which might be set to regulate or alter a couple of totally different capabilities, like lighting brightness, switching apps, zoom, scrolling, and switching browser tabs.

I might have appreciated a richer consumer expertise.

Except for that, and altering the polling fee, there aren’t any different substantial options to fine-tune. Whereas I perceive this line is just not 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, notably when gaming.