At first we would like to thank Razer for offering us their BlackWidow Chroma V2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard for testing and reviewing.

 

About Razer:

"Razer is more than just the world's leading brand in gaming.

We were founded in 1998 in San Diego, California by our CEO Min-Liang Tan and our President Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff in a tiny shared office with a couple other gamers. We have grown today to hundreds of employees worldwide with offices in seven cities, including San Francisco, Hamburg, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore.

Our vision from the very beginning was to be the world's greatest gaming brand and we've set out to achieve that by designing the best gaming products that any gamer has ever seen.

We believe that truly great products are based on technology, designed with extensive human factors and user ergonomic studies and then tested by the top professional gamers. In simpler terms, our own world class scientists and engineers develop cutting edge technology in-house or with partners, design phenomenal products around core technologies – and test the hell out of them in the field with our pro-gamers before we launch them.

We are the only gaming hardware company in the world with dedicated gaming user interface research and development labs, and our technology and designs are incubated in three dedicated design centers located in facilities in California, Singapore and Shenzhen. No other company boasts of technology like we do – because we're the only guys who have what it takes under the hood.

We tell it like it is: some can pretend to co-develop products with professional gamers, but gamers don't develop technology: scientists and engineers do (and ours just happen to be gamers as well).

We develop and design our products in our own labs and then put them to the test with top professional gamers who use them in pro-level tournaments and then provide us with feedback. Then we iterate on the product, refining it with the feedback – over and over and over again. That's how it's done, that's how a Razer product is built from ground up. No marketing BS and no hype.

We pioneered the eSports movement with the world's first $100K tournament back in 2000 and we have continued to give back to the community by sponsoring top eSports athletes who give back to Razer by beta-testing our products. We remain one of the largest sponsors of eSports community sponsoring top global eSports teams worldwide.

The people that work here at Razer are gamers just like you – some amateur, some ex-professional gamers, some just play for fun, just ask our CEO who will lay the smack down on you in Quake Live or our President, who has over ten level 80's on his local server. Hell, he will even take you on a raid in the middle of the work day.

We are the same gamers who are told by the suits that we need adult supervision and we need a professional CEO or management team – and we're the same gamers who tell the suits exactly where to shove it because we like doing what we do – and we do it on our own terms.

We hope our passion for gaming speaks to you like it does to us, through our products and we hope you enjoy the competitive edge we bring to your game."

Product Features:

 

Multi-Award Winning Razer™ Mechanical Switches

 

Designed specifically for gaming, Razer Mechanical Switches actuate at an optimal distance, giving you speed and responsiveness like never before. Razer Mechanical Switches have been lauded as the new standard for all mechanical gaming keyboards since their introduction.

 

Razer™ Green Switch - Tactile and Clicky

Razer™ Orange Switch - Tactile and Silent

Razer™ Yellow Switch - Linear and Silent

 

Engineered for durability

 

Razer Mechanical Switches have consistently proven themselves to be the best for gaming, delivering both top-notch performance and reliable durability without compromise. This very same Razer technology and design is now being manufactured in-house end to end, ensuring even stricter requirements are met for each switch produced, resulting in a life span of up to 80 million key strokes.

 

Razer CHROMA BACKLIGHTING WITH 16.8 MILLION CUSTOMIZABLE COLOR OPTIONS

 

The Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 features individually programmable backlit keys with 16.8 million color options, all easily set through Razer Synapse. From preloaded lighting effects for different types of games, to your own custom uniquely programmed palette of colors, you can effortlessly enhance your gaming experience in a way that is unique only to you.

 

Ergonomic wrist rest For extended gaming comfort

 

Specially designed for the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2, this wrist rest features ergonomics that ensure that no matter how intense your gaming marathons are, you’re always comfortable.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

Razer™ Mechanical Switches with 45g actuation force

80 million keystroke life span

Chroma backlighting with 16.8 million customizable color options

Razer Synapse enabled

10 key roll-over anti-ghosting

Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording

5 additional dedicated macro keys

Gaming mode option

Audio-out/mic-in jacks

USB pass-through

1000Hz Ultrapolling

Braided fiber cable

Approximate size: 475mm/18.72 in (Width) x 171mm/6.74 in (Height) x 39mm/1.54 in (Depth)

Approximate weight: 1500g/3.31lbs

 

System Requirements

 

PC or Mac with a free USB port

Windows® 10 / Windows® 8 / Windows® 7 / Mac OS X (v10.8 - 10.11)

Internet connection

100 MB of hard disk space

Razer Synapse registration (requiring a valid e-mail), software download, license acceptance, and internet connection needed to activate full features of product and for software updates. After activation, full features are available in optional offline mode.

 

We will begin our next presentation by looking at a smaller black box, which has arrived along with the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 product packaging:

 

 

 

Its inside content is fully wrapped inside a semi-transparent plastic bag, for additional protection:

 

 

 

Well….what do we have here? Razer has also provided to the reviewers a small board for being able to easily spot the difference between the three different switches the BlackWidow Chroma V2 keyboard variants come with! We have the well-known Razer Green switch that is tactile and clicky, the Razer Orange switch that also preserves the tactile feature but is silent, but also the most recent Razer Yellow switch that comes with linear and silent characteristics:

 

 

 

By using a decent spacing between the three different switches, removing the keycaps is a really simple process:

 

 

 

The assembly does also feature RGB LED lighting:

 

 

 

This is possible thanks to the battery power; the compartment is located on the bottom layer:

 

 

 

 

The first BlackWidow keyboards were launched back in 2010 and later on Razer designed its own mechanical switches for gaming purposes. The 2014 version of the BlackWidow did contain these switches (Green and Orange variants) and were also equipped with Chroma full-spectrum RGB lighting. This year, Razer is taking another look at the BlackWidow flagship by releasing the Chroma V2 and this also comes with the introduction of a new switch, the Razer Yellow. The new series contains a refined ergonomic wrist rest, updated Razer mechanical switches that are engineered for durability (up to 80 million key strokes) and these are also accompanied by the Razer Chroma lighting:

 

 

 

The manufacturer has also included a Razer Chroma keycap keychain in order for us to try the Razer Orange switch even before unsealing the box:

 

 

 

In addition, here the manufacturer informs us that an ergonomic wrist rest accompanies the product:

 

 

 

On the box side, Razer has listed the box contents, keyboard layout but also system requirements:

 

 

 

Nearby we have the approximate size and weight specifications:

 

 

 

The main product highlights can be spotted on the bottom area:

 

 

 

 

A comparison between the Razer switches is also available here; the Razer Orange switch does have a similar behavior to the Cherry MX Browns but with a shorter actuation distance:

 

 

 

The BlackWidow Chroma V2 keyboard is surrounded by black cardboard for additional protection, but also features a transparent dust cover. The cover is a very handy accessory that we have seen with a very little number of manufacturers nowadays:

 

 

 

The key chain is neat and also comes with RGB lighting:

 

 

 

 

The documentation is offered inside a black envelope:

 

 

 

 

The green leaflet does come with additional resources in order to get access to the Razer community:

 

 

 

Inside the manual, Razer does also explain the extra key functions:

 

 

 

A set of silver Razer stickers are, of course, included:

 

 

 

As mentioned before, the keyboard is also offered with a wrist rest that is packed inside a similar way as we have seen along with the Razer Ornata:

 

 

 

The wrist rest does have a soft leatherette cover and is surrounded by a plastic frame; as we have seen with the Ornata, it attaches to the chassis of the BlackWidow V2 Chroma via magnetic force:

 

 

 

 

On the bottom area of the wrist rest, we can spot several rubber feet, so the product won’t slip on the surface we will place it on:

 

 

 

The keyboard does feature a smudge free top cover finishing and weighs about 1.5Kg:

 

 

 

This particular model also includes five macro keys on the left side, for even more functions:

 

 

 

Beginning with the first set of Windows keys, we can see the Mute, Volume Down/Up buttons:

 

 

 

Moving further to the right, we can spot the music player keys:

 

 

 

The last set of function keys are also mapped for Macro recording on-the-fly, Game mode activation, but also LED light intensity activation:

 

 

 

On the top right side of the keyboard, we’ve got the LED function activation panel, which is available for the NumLock, ScrollLock and CapsLock, along with the Macro recording and Game mode functionality:

 

 

 

Here is also a look on the right side of the keyboard, which does come with an audio jack pass-through but also one extra USB port; since most of us are using the mouse on this side of the keyboard, we would have preferred to have these two interfaces available in the frontal area:

 

 

 

 

The bottom layer of the keyboard is quite simple and does feature a large sticker in the middle:

 

 

 

Several small rubber feet can be found here too:

 

 

 

 

 

The sticker we have mentioned before does come with the product code name, power rating but also its serial number:

 

 

 

As the previous high-end motherboards we have reviewed, the cable is braided:

 

 

 

The BlackWidow Chroma V2 does come with an USB connector for the keyboard, one for the USB port but also a jack plug for the audio pass-through:

 

 

 

The wrist rest can be attached or removed in just a couple of seconds:

 

 

 

After connecting the keyboard to a spare USB port, the LED light show will begin:

 

 

 

For getting access to the BlackWidow Chroma V2 keyboard advanced features we do have to download, install and log in to our Razer Synapse account; the software is unified and will take care of peripheral firmware updates when needed. Its Keyboard main menu is populated with several other sub-sections such as Customize, Lighting or Gaming Mode. From the Customize mode, we can assign different functions to the desired keys:

 

 

 

We just have to select the respective key and a separate window will pop up for remapping purposes:

 

 

 

 

A full set of remap functions is available:

 

 

 

Keyboard Function

 

 

 

Mouse Function

 

 

 

Macro Assignment

 

 

 

Launch Program/Website

 

 

 

Multimedia Functions

 

 

 

Windows 8 Charms

Windows Shortcuts

Disable Key

 

From the Lighting tab, we can adjust the LED lighting brightness, but also choose the desired LED lighting effect. Razer also gives us the possibility to switch off all LED lighting when the display turns off:

 

 

 

We do have several preset modes we can work with right away, or we can go to the Custom mode and access Chroma Configurator:

 

 

 

Chroma Configurator does open up in a separate window, in order to allow a completely configurable LED lighting setup.

 

We can select preset groups of keys or we can always go with our custom selection; Effect layers can be added from the lower part of the interface, which can be configured in detail:

 

 

Preset key groups

 

Effect layers

 

 

The Gaming Mode area does allow the user to choose the respective disabled keys:

 

 

 

From the Macros section, we can create new macro sequences, for later assignment to a specific key:

 

 

 

Chroma Apps integration can be enabled, so the compatible games will drive the LED lighting system in a specific way. Chroma Workshop online website can be checked out for current games that do support this technology:

 

 

 

 

 

The Stats menu opens up in a new window, in order to offer in-depth information regarding the usage style of the Razer peripherals:

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the BlackWidow Chroma V2 keyboard, Razer is incorporating its own technologies inside the mechanical switches, which are RGB enabled and have the advantage of the Chroma LED lighting system. The Chroma Configurator section is very easy to use compared to other brands and the effects are very fluent; depending on the effect, we can always choose miscellaneous options such as speed, width, pause, speed, angle and so on. If the current game does also support the Chroma SDK, we will get a dedicated LED effect as intended by the developers in that game mode.

 

We have tried the BlackWidow Chroma V2 keyboard in both games such as Quake Champions, The Elder Scrolls Online, Wild Eight, Grip and MXM and the keyboard responded very well to our inputs, reminding us of the Cherry MX Browns. The keys do feature a 45g actuation force and are considerable more silent than their Green counterparts, which is also a nice feature when live streaming (the extra key click noise does not get in the way). The Razer Orange switches still do produce a more noticeable sound when bottoming out versus the Cherry MX Silent, but this effect can be further smoothed out with some mechanical keys sound dampeners.

 

Besides the fact the BackWidow Chroma V2 keys are fully-customizable, we do also get five extra ones specifically for macros, which we can assign for in-game combos (Aion MMO and many more).

 

We could remind of two aspects one could mark as negative with this model: the placement of the USB port and audio pass-through, which are available on the right side of the keyboard instead of the front and the fact that the product is quite expensive for the mainstream segment (190 Euros at the time of the review).

 

Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is Recommended for:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Razer for making this review possible!