Razer are renowned for their professionally made and beautifully manufactured products. Their patented black and green colours strewn across everything they produce with the exception of a few products here and there. They are difficult to ridicule and tough as nails to criticise but with the price tags hitting up the expensive end of the peripheral market, acquiring such expertly crafted products requires a fair bit of saving.
Razer have stripped things back and hit the market with a very odd looking keyboard. It’s tough to call it a gaming keyboard due to its design but for general purpose, the Razer BlackWidow X Chroma is one to consider.
With the BlackWidow X, the most striking feature upon unveiling it from its box is the protrusion of the keys. There is no top cover. The keys literally stick up from the metal base with the switch mechanics and RGB luminescent lights exposed. It’s an unusual design choice and one that I certainly have never come across. This style of design makes resting your hands whilst playing games almost an impossibility without hitting other keys in the process. Is it a design flaw? Have they thought it through? Possibly, to get units sold by lowering the price. The metal base is nice and heavy with Razer’s logo displayed dead center. This is where the BlackWidow X feels expensive as it’s rather weighty. This is by no means a bad thing as you never have to worry about it sliding around as you navigate the keys.
The gaming aspect of the BlackWidow X is down to the fully programmable keys. Using the Razer Synapse app on Windows PC’s, you can program every key to do a specific action with a whopping 10 possible program modes which makes things easily switchable between up to 10 games. There are no macro labels on any of the keys though so you may need to have a good memory or write them down. That’s why the BlackWidow X is best used for conventional use. Sporting keys that can muster up to 80 million keystrokes in its lifetime, it’s certainly got longevity. That’s if you can put up with probably the biggest issue I have with the BlackWidow X, the sound. Striking the keys whips out a loud snapping sound which will annoy anyone within your vicinity and especially those who have no idea what you’re doing. The constant snipping and snapping sounds like a old fashioned typewriter and damn those were loud.
The main reason to buy a BlackWidow X I hear you ask, well it’s the beauty of course. The Chroma lighting is something to behold. Each key lights up displaying a gorgeous light show which can be modified within the Razer Synapse app. These range from simple fading and spectrum stroller effects to fantastic ripple and spotted effects which lets of a spectacular outward ripple of your chosen colour from every key you press or the key stays lit for a second or two. They are fun to play around with.
As I mentioned before, it’s hard to knock Razer for their productivity. They do indeed produce some fine work but when they strip things down, it doesn’t come unscathed. I personally love the BlackWidow X. It’s professional feel and expertly manufactured design really wins me over. It was easy for me to ignore the flaws and look at the BlackWidow X for what it aspires to be. Make no mistake, I won’t be taking it to any competitions soon but it will certainly hold the helm below my PC monitor for some time to come. My other half will just have to put up with the noise.
Developer: Razer
Publisher: Razer
Platform: PC
Release Date: 24th March 2016