Razer has always been right at the top of my list when it comes to gaming peripherals and in this review, I shall be taking a look at the £229.99 Razer Blackwidow V4 Pro. A full-size keyboard, with mechanical switches (Yellow – silent and linear or Green – Tactile and clicky). RGB lighting for every key and all new under glow lighting, which wraps around the keyboard and leatherette wrist rest. Media keys to control, well media and macro keys to assign your quick access skills, or if you are playing Hogwarts Legacy, this would be your spells.
The Battle Station you need for all your gaming needs
So on that title above, we have Razer’s all-new Command Dial with a dedicated colour glow for each function, I have listened to the default functions below, just remember they can all be changed through Razer Synapse.
- RGB brightness – Green Colour
- Zoom – Red Colour
- Switch Apps – Blue Colour
- Switch Browser tabs – Orange Colour
- Track control (music forward and Rewind) Yellow Colour
- Select Track – Light Blue
- Scroll Vertical – Purple Colour
- Scroll Horizontally – white colour
Now you might be thinking £229 for a keyboard is a lot to pay out. But there are more expensive ones out there with fewer features, and in all honesty, if you cannot afford this type of keyboard you would not be here reading all about it right? Or you simply thinking of saving hard and trying to find the perfect keyboard for your hard-earned cash, which ever it is, this keyboard might be worth it for you.
Now the last keyboard I got my grubby hands on was the Razer Blackwidow V3 Pro Wireless and by golly that was and still is a great keyboard to own. (see below image)
There are some noticeable changes; the volume dial is now a volume roller, and the media keys return with one extra one all set to the top right, while to the left you have 8 dedicated macro keys (5 on top, 3 on the side) and your all-new command dial. Due to the extra macro keys, the keyboard is a little bigger than the V3 coming in at around 18” long, 1.5” height, 6” width (approx.) and weighs around 2.50 Pounds. If you wanted to use the wrist rest which I always do, then the width goes up to approx. 9”. Thanks to Razer’s design choices it does feel a little heavy maybe due to its aluminium alloy case and obviously its overall size, so you can forgive them? Plus who is going to carry this around with them? Once it’s on your desk, it’s never going to be moved again, maybe for cleaning once in a while.
USB pass-through
The Razer Blackwidow V4 Pro comes with USB pass-through, which I must admit I never use, but I know you most likely do, and underneath two kickstands with two different heights, which helps give your keyboard a little lift. For some reason, I always have this lift set on the max level when using it with a wrist rest just feels good.
Switch
Next is the switch, which I have Green and Clicky which offers a travel distance of 4.0mm, with a 1.9 actuation point, with a reset point of 1.5mm and an actuation force of 50g. If you decided to choose the yellow switch, the travel distance is 3.5mm, an actuation point of 1.2mm, a reset point of 1.2mm and an actuation force of 45g, these switches also come with built-in sound dampeners. Every switch sports a clear housing to show off its awesome RGB goodness that shines all the way through to its keycaps. With 100 million lifetime keystrokes and a polling rate of 8,000Hz, which is bloody awesome, as the polling rate means a lot to our gamers. Communication between a peripheral and a PC is a must for competitive gaming; it could mean the difference between winning and losing. The higher for polling rate the faster information travels, this is a must and should always be considered when purchasing a gaming peripheral.
This keyboard already has everything you want.
On the rear of the keyboard is the magnetic strip that allows the wrist rest to attach and all that glorious under-glow RGB lighting, that fully wraps the keyboard if RGB LOVE Not to mention that every switch/key is per-lit and can be fully customised via Razer synapse, it’s the total RGB package.
Now I have checked out the basics, now it’s time to go back a little and discuss how to control the RGB lights. Two options, dumb, dumb option, is don’t install the software and use FN + CTRL and 1- 9 to cycle through some pre-assigned RGB effects. Or the more suitable options, install Razer Synapse and goto town to create your own designs.
All new Command dial
The all-new Command dial does come with its pre-defined actions, but everything can be customised as desired through Razer Synapse, just like every single key on the keyboard. You can even assign a colour, to each action you assign to a function with macros or through the command dial. If you will remember them all, that is a different matter.
On-board profiles
Thanks to the Razer Blackwidow 4V pro having five onboard profiles, which can be saved through Razer Synapse Software, you can create to your hearts content and set up your keyboard for up to 5 of your favourite games, macro ed and configured to the max.
On-board profiles, are only available through Razer Synapse, which makes sense who would be taking this keyboard anywhere?
Chroma Studio
Downloading Razer Synapse will gain you access to the Chroma Studio, enabling you to go wild and create your own Chroma effects, which in turn can be applied to individual Razer peripherals or Apply them to all, you can even assign to a specific game.
If you like customisation you will be happy to know the V4 pro comes with Razer Hypershift which allows you to temporarily unlock a secondary set of functions on top of your existing button assignments, effectively doubling the number of customizable buttons on your device.
Using
Now for using and by golly is it good, it’s very good, being able to create macros and assigning them it’s a dream come true when it’s come to games like WoW, Overwatch, Hogwarts Legacy etc, any game that requires focus or has loads and loads of skills to assign and use?
Using this keyboard does require more force to depress the keys, but I am a pretty heavy typer so does not bother me much. The optical switch that comes with the Razer Huntsman is still my preferred switch, but next in line as a go-to switch are the green and clicky switches, who does not like a good Click while typing or gaming?
The RGB lighting has always been good and it’s still good with this keyboard, able to create, assign and customise to your heart’s content.
The new command dial has taken a little time to get used to and use, but being able to quickly move through browser tabs, and applications and zoom into work, it’s a dream. If they were not good enough then being able to reprogram the command dial through Razer Synapse opens up the possibilities to an endless amount.
There is nothing wrong with this keyboard, which is what I kind of expected, apart from maybe the price and lack of switch variations, as I would love to have the optical switch as an option. RGB is awesome, clicky keys are sweet, the command dial is something to get used to, and macro keys are a must for dedicated gamers.
I can only say one thing really, looking for a new keyboard, go and grab this one.
Specs
- SWITCH TYPE Razer Green Mechanical Switches (Clicky) Or Yellow Linier and Silent
- Full-Size Keyboard Layout
- Razer Chroma RGB
- WRIST REST
- Hybrid onboard storage – up to 5 profiles
- Dedicated media roller with 4 dedicated media buttons
- USB PASSTHROUGH
- Detachable Type C Cables
- Doubleshot ABS Keycaps
OTHERS
- Razer Synapse enabled
- 5052 Aluminum Alloy Top Case
- Razer Command Dial
- 5 dedicated macros keys
- 3 dedicated macro side buttons
- Case foam & PCB foam included
- Lubricated stabilizers
- 2-side under glow on main chassis with 3-side under glow on wrist-rest
- Up to 8,000 Hz polling rate
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