Well, after how many years of not reviewing anything outside of software (barring an Xbox One X review back in the day), I am on for my third hardware review of the year. The Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro Gaming Keyboard (what a mouthful to say) is the latest addition to my burgeoning setup, and it is beefy, boy, let me tell you that.
Before I added the included palm support, this thing announced its presence on my mid-size desk with a thud. Up to this point, I had been using a standard PC keyboard that every work-from-home employee gets from their company. Now, I have this beefy thing that is almost the width of the monitor to contend with and get used to.
Everyday Use
I will say that it does take some getting used to. The inclusion of five buttons and a dial to the left of the QWERTY keyboard shifts my muscle memory somewhat.
Firstly, I will discuss how it fits into my everyday computer use. When I am doing my usual daily writing job, which, as you may guess, involves a bucket load of writing, I need a keyboard that is sturdy, easy to use, and makes listening to music, a podcast, or having YouTube on in the background easy. The BlackWidow V4 Pro makes all of these things a doddle.
The keyboard has an in-built media control panel situated above the numbers on the right-hand side, as well as volume control, which is cool. The volume control isn’t just buttons, it’s a rollable control, so you slide it up to turn the volume up and vice versa. This media control panel is one of the best things for everyday use. Sometimes, I want to listen to my get-packed playlist (Yes, Barney Stinson, it is always songs that are a constant rise), or sometimes, if I am focused on a long feature, I want something more mellow, and the simple controls make that easy.
On to actually typing away on this thing, and it again takes some getting used to. All the keys are elevated as compared to your standard keyboard, and they are separated in a way that, for someone with sausage fingers like me, makes my work less error-prone.
The keys are extremely loud when you are typing, so be aware of that if you are trying to work on your short story and don’t want anyone to know.
Added Extras and Minor Gripes
The palm rests are an incredible addition. If you spend all day sitting at your computer, including these just takes a weight off your hands. The material is lovely; velvety soft cushioning just makes those long days not seem so long.
My only real gripe with the keyboard came when the built-in LED lighting system didn’t want to work for some reason, and I could not for the life of me see the keys on the keyboard. This was an easy fix, though, as I just did the usual turn it off and on again, and presto, it worked as normal.
Speaking of the lights, they are a nice little addition. When I turn on either my work MacBook or my gaming laptop, they light up with quite a neat start-up light show, and as time progresses, they change colour almost like Christmas lights, which I think will look pretty spectacular in the dark wintery nights.
Gaming Mode
Now, onto what has taken over 500 words to get to: How is it when gaming? The games I tested the keyboard on are on the older or low-effort side, but still, this keyboard was an absolute blessing when playing a variety of titles.
When playing something more simplistic, like a Football Manager when the only real use for it is quick typing in players’ names and clubs into the search bar, the keystrokes are instant and never feel like there is a single delay in the input.
Again, when playing more taxing games that require actual use of the keyboard, there was zero lag in the inputs, and everything was just so smooth that I didn’t experience any issues at all during any of my gaming sessions.
The main way you can remap buttons is via the Synapse 3 application (be aware there is no real support for this keyboard on Mac as I was only allowed to download the old Synapse application on there).
On my gaming Windows laptop, I could fiddle around with different combinations of buttons, which are mapped under the different configurations under the M buttons on the left of the QWERTY keyboard. I don’t see much of a point in mixing up the buttons, especially as I have the memory of a goldfish and would easily forget which button I have programmed to which setting. I can imagine these button choices are a major help for elite gamers and will aid in your gaming experience.
Overall, the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro Gaming Keyboard is an awesome addition to the little burgeoning gaming setup I now have at home, but it is also an amazing everyday keyboard that has really made those days where I have a tonne of writing to do an actual joy rather than the chore it used to be.
