14 DAY TRIAL // The advent of mechanical keyboards is an interesting one. They are loud and seem to be just a little bit clunky. Why on Earth would anyone want to buy them? Well, it turns out that people really like to have proper feedback from their keyboards, and the feeling of sturdiness is not something to be discounted easily.
If only for the "mechanical" bit, these keyboards would be a hard sell, but another interesting trend has cropped up in the past couple of years: RGB fever, a need to have lights on pretty much everything.
There was a time when a LED on the motherboard or the graphics cards was enough, but people who build their own computers wanted more and more. Soon after, RGB lighting spread to other peripherals, and now we have keyboards that look like they are breathing.
The BlackWidow Chroma V2 is way past all that because it’s no longer about the lighting but performance as well. And that is something that you can’t claim just by slapping some LEDs on the keyboard.
Made for gamers
The first thing you have to keep in mind is that The BlackWidow Chroma V2 is made for gamers, and it’s not just a slogan put on the box. It has a real meaning, and pretty much all of its features are driven by this aspect, starting with the mechanical keys.
If you never had a mechanical keyboard, you’re going to have a surprise trying the BlackWidow. The difference between any regular keyboard and a mechanical one is huge, and it’s the kind of thing that convinces people never to use anything else.
The keys have this name because they are using a mechanical switch, which can be placed either at the actuation point or after. In any case, they offer proper feedback, providing a feeling of resistance that’s more than just nice to the touch.
Razer says the keys in The BlackWidow Chroma V2 have a 50g actuation force, but that’s not suggesting much to someone who never tried this type of keys. Also, attaching grams to a force is not kosher in terms of physics, but let’s go with it since pretty much all the industry has adopted this method.
Simply put, 50g sits somewhere in the middle, which means that some keyboards out there will require more force than others while you type. Also, the keys make contact half-way, which means that users don’t need to drive them all the way down. The same specs can be found for the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate 2017, which we also reviewed some time ago.
It’s also the reason why keys make much more noise than a regular keyboard. The sound that will annoy anyone in the room with you who’s not a gamer and doesn’t have the same type of keyboard mostly comes from the keys hitting bottom.
The BlackWidow Chroma V2 also comes with its own USB and audio jack ports, and very long and solid braided cables. It ensures that you always have a spare USB port and a nearby place to connect a headset.
Many of you will be quick to notice that there is an extra column on the left side, which is annotated with M. Those are dedicated Macro keys, which can be useful, especially in conjunction with the Razer Synapse control center.
Of course, Razer Synapse is used to control everything regarding the keyboard, including the lighting, which uses the new Chroma module. The LEDs are responsive and fast, which makes some of the available lighting profiles really cool, although I have to confess that most of them don’t have practical applications.
Lastly, we have to mention that The BlackWidow Chroma V2 comes with a palm rest as well, which can be magnetically attached. The keyboard is already pretty tall, and the same can be said about the palm rest.
I found it difficult to use the palm rest with the keyboard raised, but that might be a personal preference or something that’s ingrained in my brain from years of using flat keyboards.
All the Specs
Razer says that the BlackWidow Chroma V2 has an 80 million keystroke lifespan, and that sounds like a lot. Let’s put that into perspective. If you were to press a single key every second, you would need about 2.5 years to reach 80 million presses, which means you'll die of old age before reaching that number. Or you’ve already moved to another keyboard.
The keyboard comes with 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting, which means that it can distinguish between 10 different keys pressed at once, a gaming mode option to disable alt-tab and the Windows key, and 1000 Hz ultrapolling.
Of course, it works and looks much better if you have other Chroma-enabled devices around to sync with your keyboard, like the Razer Mamba Firefly, for example.
The Good
Also, the keyboard has extra ports (USB & 3.5mm audio jack), which are extremely useful. The palm rest is something that needs to be mentioned because it’s high-quality and exceptionally soft, in contrast with what people might expect.
Props to Razer for including a working mechanical key, with lights, as a keychain. It might not seem like much, but it makes a lot of difference when you’re opening the box for the first time. Everyone will love it.
The Bad
The extra columns of buttons on the left side are annoying, to say the least. I used the keyboard for some time, and I still couldn't help myself pressing other buttons instead of Ctrl or Escape. I thought that I would get used to it after a while, but I had keyboards with regular layouts for too long. For me, at least, those buttons are a deal breaker.
Another smaller issue is the fact that the lighting doesn't work for the entire surface of the buttons. For example, the key with the number five only shows the 5 when it’s lit up, and not the % symbol. The same is true for everything else. While I do write without looking at the keyboard, sometimes I do glance at it when I need to press a less common button. And I can’t find it right away.
Conclusion
While it might be an issue just for me, I have to imagine that I’m not the only one with this problem. On the other hand, if you think or you know that an extra row of buttons that changes the layout is not a problem for you, just go and get one. It’s a fantastic piece of technology.
The BlackWidow Chroma V2 is probably one of the best mechanical keyboards out there, and it can quickly become a fan favorite after just a few keystrokes.
