After 13 hours of using the keyboard in Bluetooth mode while also using a wireless mouse, the keyboard suddenly connection three times- each time was after a few minutes of inactivity.
Unlike with many wireless gaming peripherals, you can even control the BlackWidow V3 Pro with software when paired to your PC via Bluetooth. I also successfully paired the clacker with up to three Bluetooth devices and jumped around by hitting FN and 1, 2 or 3, making the keyboard a decent, but heavier, option for productivity or bringing into the living room.
You can opt for the 2.4 GHz dongle connection, a Bluetooth one or the detachable, braided USB-C cable. A solid toggle that won’t accidentally get hit on the left side makes it easy to switch between systems. Speaking of which, the icons south of the navigational keys are also difficult to discern.Īlthough the keyboard’s not easy to lug around, Razer makes it easy to pair it with multiple PCs. The symbols on thmn, however, are hard to read, especially if you’re in a well-lit room. The three media buttons accompanying it also stick out proudly and feature a smooth plastic finish. The wheel also provides extra functionality as a programmable button. Adjusting the wheel changes volume by two steps and feels like DJing. Like the wired Razer Huntsman Elite, the BlackWidow V3 Pro sports one stylish volume wheel that lights up with RGB, offers tactile control, a frosted press-in center, and juts out of the keyboard’s side for a daring shape. It’s not the same luxurious and cooling memory foam but it's comfy, and the leatherette feels nice on the wrists. But the wrist rest here puts up a good fight. Many freebie wrist rests are flimsy pisces of plastic I’d immediately toss aside in favor of my HyperX Wrist Rest. The wrist rest, (which the Logitech rival omits), is well-cushioned. The Razer RGB logo is a given, but it intersects the aluminum top plate and lives behind textured plastic that takes away from the subtly aluminum finish and makes the snake emblem look a little blurry.Īdmittedly, many gamers will rejoice to see the keyboard’s potential for subtlety. The wireless Logitech G915 Lightspeed, with its brushed-aluminum top plate and matching volume wheel and soft-touch buttons looks more expensive and special at first glance. In which case, Yellows are much quieter – though not completely – with a slight, rubbery bit of resistance.A standout volume wheel also brings flair, but for how expensive this keyboard is I wouldn’t have minded extra pizazz. If you like a clackety typewriter – like feel to your keys, you’ll love these – though they may be a little noisy if you’re sharing your typing space with others. Greens offer a satisfying audible click accompanying every press.
We’ve been using the Green and Yellow switches, and they’ve both been a joy to use for different reasons. The Orange switches are a halfway house between the two, but all are equally durable, tested to withstand an unfathomable 80 million keypresses. The color coded Green, Orange and Yellow switches each have their benefits.Įssentially, the Greens, which require very definite key presses, are great for the accuracy gamers crave, while the Yellows are quieter and better suited to low-travel speedy typing and FPS style games where the same key is pressed repeatedly. Razer now makes three mechanical switch types of its own to rival the likes of Cherry MX. Still, the accompanying 3.5 mm audio pass through jack was appreciated. But most will just find it useful to be able to highlight and color the W, A, S, D and other game-specific keys for low-light gaming situations.Ī braided cable ensures that the BlackWidow Chroma V2 won’t get too tangled with other wires around the back of your gaming rig, though it was disappointing to find only one USB passthrough port where some rivals offer two. It’s mesmerising to look at: you can turn your keyboard into something rivalling a fireworks display, with options to have lights ripple away from your fingertips with every key press, or to glitter like stars. The Chroma SDK also allows developers to make specific lighting schemes for their games, which can be applied whilst playing (though only a handful of titles are currently taking advantage of this feature).
Using Razer’s Chroma Configurator customisable lighting software (part of Razer’s Synapse cloud-syncing system), each individual key can be set to one of 16.8 million color options, saved to multiple profiles to let you tailor lighting styles to individual games.