The brand new Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional 75% has simply landed, and it brings a stunning variety of upgrades over its non-Professional sibling with it. Together with a brand new multi-function Command Dial and OLED show, this Razer gaming keyboard can chat to your PC at a 4,000Hz polling price but additionally final a large 2,100 hours on one battery cost.
We’re not solely certain why you want such a protracted battery life on a desktop PC gaming keyboard, however it’s spectacular nonetheless. The brand new Razer contender for a spot on our greatest gaming keyboard information additionally contains hot-swappable switches and Razer’s HyperSpeed wi-fi tech, in addition to Bluetooth 5.1.
The brand new board is the follow-up and improve to the BlackWidow V4 75% and BlackWidow V4 Professional, the previous of which we discovered to be a improbable providing that properly balances being a straight-to-the-point speedy gaming keyboard (for a non-ridiculous worth) with providing a few of the customization choices that many keyboard patrons now need. The brand new BlackWidow V4 Professional 75% cranks up the method by a number of notches, although, with one very unusual change.
The most important new function of the Professional is its OLED display and Command Dial. The latter is a typical configurable digital encoder dial that sits within the high proper of the board, though somewhat than sitting on high, as on the Superb GMMK 3, it’s tipped over and onto the aspect. By a mixture of turning the dial and tapping its neighboring button, you’ll be able to management capabilities such because the polling price, lighting results, energy saving choices, quantity adjustment, zoom, observe selector, and extra.
One other swap on the again of the board offers the choice to slip between 2.4GHz wi-fi and Bluetooth, with the latter in a position to connect with three units without delay, so you’ll be able to rapidly swap between controlling your PC, console, and telephone or pill, for example.
The 4,000Hz polling possibility can also be accessible by way of the two.4GHz wi-fi connection, however utilizing the wired connection drops this right down to a most of 1,000Hz. Not solely is that odd in isolation, however it’s even stranger when you think about that the non-Professional model of this board, which is wired solely, provides as much as 8kHz polling. So continues Razer’s current development of creating its product stack decidedly complicated – we’re taking a look at you Razer Viper V3 Hyperspeed.
One other slight oddity is that the V4 Professional 75% will ship by default with Razer’s orange tactile switches, somewhat than linear switches, which are usually most well-liked by quite a lot of players. It’s additionally notable that each the BlackWidow boards don’t supply analog switches with the much-talked-about Razer Snap Faucet know-how for fast counter strafing. This function stays unique to the Razer Huntsman keyboard vary.
Per-key backlighting is after all current, and the keycaps are constructed from hard-wearing PBT plastic so the keyboard ought to stand the take a look at of time. Sound dampening can also be prevalent, with two layers of froth and even a “tape-enhanced PCB,” which accurately refers back to the act of placing sticky tape over the again aspect of the PCB to assist take in higher-frequency noises.
As to that battery life, that full 2,100 hour determine is just obtainable by utilizing the board’s energy saving mode that disables the lighting and OLED show whereas additionally pausing comms to Razer’s Synapse software program. Presumably a comparatively low polling price can also be required, although Razer doesn’t specify. In additional typical “every thing turned on” situations, you’re more likely to be taking a look at battery life within the area of 50-200hrs, we’d estimate.
The Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional 75% is on the market now for a somewhat wince-inducing worth of $299.99 (€349.99), making it a very costly keyboard contemplating it doesn’t enterprise into the realm providing analog key capabilities, or the customization of different extra premium choices.
For a better have a look at one other premium providing, take a look at our Drop CSTM80 assessment, and you may also learn in regards to the controversy surrounding the Razer Snap Faucet CS2 ban lately.
