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Testing & Conclusion
We ran the Razer BlackWidow X Chroma for a couple of weeks and it delivered pretty respectable play. The 50g actuation point is
a little more pressure than we were used to but wasn’t a major impediment to gaming for long periods of time. The gaming feel of the BlackWidow X Chroma matches the feel of the BlackWidow Chroma but the tactile response is a little sticky and the clicking is louder. We had the BlackWidow, the BlackWidow Chroma and the BlackWidow X Chroma all up on the bench and after a while we found that we missed all the bells and whistles on the BlackWidow Chroma and the slight price drop of $10 for the BlackWidow X Chroma cost too much in amenities.
Razer produced a great keyboard but became its own greatest competition by pricing the top-tier keyboard to closely to the BlackWidow X Chroma. The small $10 dollar savings makes you give up more than $10 perceived value. For $10 you lose dedicated Macro keys, USB pass through, Audio Pass through and the plastic cowling. There’s little runway for your wrists to rest on which was a big change for us.
If you desperately need the extra desk space the BlackWidow X Chroma may be the keyboard for you but if we were considering price vs amenities the BlackWidow X Chroma would lose out to the BlackWidow Chroma. That $10 price difference is just to small to make the BlackWidow X Chroma an attractive lower cost option.
| Razer BlackWidow X Chroma Pros |
Razer BlackWidow X Chroma Cons |
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Exposed plate mounted switches like this Razor uses is a more sensible design than keyboards with the switches mounted directly to the PCB with a plastic shroud to protect and hide the switches. Dust and debris are easily removed from the plate mount design (no place for debris to get stuck) while the plastic shroud/cover variety tends to let dust and muck accumulate under the plastic and in the corners. Makes it harder to clean without taking off all the caps and blasting it with air. The plate also protects the PCB, though a lot of newer keyboards with plastic shrouds are using a plate between the PCB and the switches to improve backlighting.
Other than all that it comes down to esthetic preferences; I like the minimal design thing. In fact I thing Razer’s as well as Corsair’s plates are still too big. And what is this military spec metal? That is silly when referring to a keyboard. It is a piece of aluminum.
I agree–I think the open design of the Black Widow X Chroma actually allows it to be cleaned much easier than one with a plastic cowling. Dust might get through but it can also easily be cleaned out by blowing–something that would be hard with a more enclosed keyboard. There wouldn’t then be a need to take out the key caps much while cleaning, unlike that of a more regular keyboard. So really I think this is good for those who would like a keyboard that is easy to maintain and clean, contrary to what the article states.
Other than the part about maintenance and cleaning, overall this is a good, comprehensive article about the Razer Black Widow X Chroma. I have been thinking of getting this or the regular Chroma keyboard, but with its open feature I would think this would actually be much better since it can easily be maintained.