Razer BlackWidow V4 evaluate

Making a one-size-fits-all efficiency and gaming keyboard appears nearly too lofty of a objective, 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 prospect 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 arduous, play arduous keyboard, designed to deliver the perfect of each worlds collectively in a nicely rounded mechanical keyboard.

Execs

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

Cons

• Actuation ranges can’t be custom-made

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 on the market from Amazon, BestBuy, and instantly from Razer on-line.

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is a totally 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 assorted ranges of journey distance, actuation factors, and change sound profiles. The keyboard connects to your PC through USB-C and includes a second USB-C connection by way of which customers can allow USB pass-through.

Utilizing Razer Synapse, in addition to onboard shortcuts, customers can cycle by way of 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 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 prime of the per-key lighting, which is extremely customizable by way of Razer Synapse, the keyboard has underglow RGB beneath the primary 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 periods 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 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 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 software. The 5 macro buttons had been good for remapping vital 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 identify, 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 could be set to regulate or regulate just a few completely different capabilities, like lighting brightness, switching apps, zoom, scrolling, and switching browser tabs.

Other than that, and altering the polling fee, there are not 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’d have favored a richer consumer expertise for such an expensive peripheral, significantly when gaming.

Must you purchase the BlackWidow V4 Professional?

The decision is…

The BlackWidow V4 Professional is a really stellar workhorse keyboard. Every time I used to be gaming, whether or not enjoying FPS or RPG video games, I discovered myself considering that it was an ideal keyboard that carried out very well. It is not the best gaming keyboard I’ve ever used, however in fact, that is not the intention. Once I was utilizing the BlackWidow for work, significantly for writing emails or articles, I used to be completely impressed. Its straightforward key presses, clean operation, and full dimension, together with the NUM pad and multimedia controls made it a particularly well-rounded software for productiveness duties.

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

Really helpful

Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional

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