The Razer BlackWidow V4 could be considered the magnum opus of gaming keyboards so far. With RBG lighting, green or yellow switches that give the keyboard a fantastic type feel, two levels of dampening foam, a wrist rest that magnetises the keyboard and provides excellent ergonomics, eight macro keys, a multi-functional rotary knob and a media slider. This keyboard is absolutely packed with everything you could possibly ask for with a gaming keyboard.
Note: This keyboard was supplied by Razer, although we were not paid for this review.
The Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro is Razer’s latest entry into its popular BlackWidow lineup. Although the BlackWidow V4 Pro is a departure from previous entries, as this keyboard is a wired-only model, most other Razer products under the “Pro” category are usually wireless.
The keyboard is also the biggest boy, no seriously this thing is huge, especially with those extra macro keys on the side. Coming up to 46.7 centimetres in width alone should tell you that you better be prepared to make some space for this thing.
But it’s not only the size of this keyboard that’s dramatic, if you’re into macro setups, the BlackWidow V4 Pro comes with eight macro keys. If you’re like me and play a heap of MMO’s or simply want a handy mute and unmute button for calls, you won’t be struggling to allocate your bindings.
The BlackWidow V4 Pro is my first foray into a keyboard with a focus on ergonomics. Maybe it’s my terrible posture, but it took me some time to adapt. At first, I thought the wrist rest was too high, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about my hands resting like a t-rex. After about a week though, I definitely came around to it and really came to like it. I’m still adjusting to the key placement as I find myself hitting some error keys like hash instead of entering or holding onto the shift too long and yelling at people mid-sentence.
I will say though, that the keyboard sounds incredible, and it’s been a guilty pleasure of mine this past week watching ASMR videos featuring this keyboard as well. That’s not to say it’s a loud keyboard, it certainly makes noise when you type, but thanks to diffusers in the board, it really helps to dampen the noise.
Not only does it sound so satisfying to type on the BlackWidow V4, but it might also be the most satisfying typing experience I’ve had with a keyboard. I used the green switches for this review and I don’t think I can go back to anything else after.
Some might be a bit disappointed that this isn’t a wireless model, but personally, I prefer the USB-C cabling. It’s a personal preference, but I find that wireless keyboards tend to have issues with latency and input delay. A slight downside for the cabling though was that the BlackWidow V4 would need to take up two USB slots to power on, which might be a problem if you’re set up with a ton of peripherals.
Another minor nitpick is that the macro buttons along the left side of the BlackWidow V4, are awkwardly placed towards the back end. These three buttons are essentially macros for quickly snipping a screenshot, the Windows and the Xbox bar.
These sound like handy macros to have, but the placement of where they are fairly awkward. I kept accidentally hitting these buttons when moving the keyboard, as they’re placed right where you’d need to hold onto the keyboard to move it. This has been a minor nitpick shared with other reviewers as well. While I get the utility, I do wish these keys were placed a little lower, or there was a tiny handle somewhere to grab to move the keyboard to avoid this.
The biggest feature of the Razer BlackWidor V4 Pro is its immense customisable possibilities thanks to its many macros and command dials.
I personally didn’t use this too much, however, if you’re a graphic designer, these macros could be a godsend. From using the command dial to toggle your brush size or quickly undo an edit, these can be immensely helpful to keep you in your workflow. Couple this with the side macros which you can toggle for layer adjustments or tools, and you could have a way to immensely streamline your graphic design workflow.
The Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro is an excellent keyboard that does a lot to justify its immensely steep $400 AUD price tag. If you are serious about setting up a battle station, however, this is definitely a great long-term investment.
Where you can buy the BlackWidow V4 Pro: Mwave ($399.95), Amazon, ($386.95) eBay ($399).
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