Razer BlackWidow Mechanical Keyboard Review

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There’s no doubt that Razer is a serious contender in the gaming market, capturing the hearts of gamers worldwide. Whether you’re thinking about a new keyboard, mouse, headset… every gamer knows the Razer brand to be top of the pile.

Launched in 2010, the Razer BlackWidow brand has become synonymous with the precision, tactile clickiness that we gamers have grown to love. Read on as I take a look at the Razer BlackWidow Mechanical Keyboard.

Razer BlackWidow – A Step Up

I’ve never really been one to buy something because of the brand name. To me, a keyboard is a keyboard and a keyboard at £30 does the same thing as a keyboard at £100, right? Wrong. After swapping my £30 budget mechanical keyboard for the Razer BlackWidow, I know I’ve opened a door I can never close. Gone are the days of “why is it so expensive?” and here are the days of “shut up and take my money”.

Design

The first thing I noticed was the packaging, or should I say the standard of it. Neatly boxed with a hard plastic cover for dust protection and foam blocks to prevent damage, the Razer BlackWidow offers a truly great unboxing experience. It’s the type of packaging you know you’ll never use again, but it’d be a shame to throw it out… so under the bed or in the attic it goes.

Once unboxed the true quality of the keyboard becomes immediately apparent. With a weighty feel, sleek black matt chassis, and the name “RAZER” black glossed and embedded in the top of the keyboard, it immediately takes centre stage on my gaming desk.

Unlike some of the later Razer keyboards, I don’t notice any aluminium on the outer edges of the keyboard. Instead, this earlier design is constructed with solid black plastic all the way around. It doesn’t feel cheap, though.

My favourite design element is the LED Razer logo at the front of the keyboard – something which is present in all Razer keyboards. This front-facing light-up logo really pops out and makes the keyboard as much a visual statement as a functional one.

The exact product dimensions are as follows:

  • Length: 448 mm / 17.6 in
  • Width: 170 mm / 6.7 in
  • Height: 38.8 mm / 1.53 in
  • Weight: 1248 g / 2.75 lbs
  • QWERTY layout

Functionality

The Razer BlackWidow features the Green Switch technology used amongst most new Razer keyboards. “Each switch is also equipped with sidewalls for greater stability and protection against dust and liquids, and is durable up to 80 million keystrokes”.

The Green Switch isn’t as quiet as the yellow or orange switch, and it does have a higher actuation point (1.9 mm) than the yellow (1.2 mm).

Click here for a more detailed analysis of the green switch performance.

Compatibility

System requirements:

  • PC with 1 free USB slot

Razer Synapse 3 requirements:

  • Windows 7 64-bit (or higher)
  • Internet connection
  • 500 MB of free hard disk space

Final Thoughts

I can really see the difference between my old £30 budget keyboard and the Razer BlackWidow. The only possible improvement, is if the keyboard had a wrist support option – although I don’t personally use them anyway. I can find no issue at all with this keyboard.

I award the Razer BlackWidow Thumb Culture Gold Award.

Disclaimer: A sample was received in order to write this review.

 

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