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Testing
Testing keyboards are pretty straight forward so the first thing we did was plug it in and wait for a minute or two for Synapse to detect it and update the software to support it. We then looked up a few of our favorite games common keystrokes from online databases and programmed several profiles for the games we would be testing on. We like to use one FPS, one RPG and one Dota 2 style game giving us a full gamut of games to test on keyboards and for that matter mice.
We noticed a short actuation stroke in the 1 to 1.2mm range and the keys were smooth and crisp in actuation. They were a little too crisp and precise so we went digging a little and here’s what we came up with.
Gold plated contact points and high-quality return springs account for the crispness and precise feel of the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2.
Seen in the diagram above the (green) switch is pressed with a 50g force and it forces it down on the spring pushing the tactile response clip then returning on the high-quality spring. Why high-quality spring, well if they are cheap springs with a lower tensile strength they quickly get mushy so a good spring is more important than most people know.
We opened Synapse and programmed in our profiles, one for Skyrim, one for Doom 2 and one for DOTA 2. We used the record macro on the fly feature to do a couple of “Oh no we need to bug out” macros. Most of our strategic retreat macros involve throwing a grenade or spell, ducking and quickly moving to another area while firing a burst of ammo or quick series of area spells. Synapse made both macros and lighting effects a snap, but we are used to Synapse and if you are a Synapse noob it will take a little learning curve.
Our overall impression of the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 was good, very good but in order to stay on top the gaming keyboard heap, Razer will need to Que up a few things. On board processor, hardware storage of profiles, profile storage space, multi-media keys and cable routing. Keyboards have gone high tech and the tech on the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 is good bordering on great but not state of the art.
Even though the Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2 isn’t cutting edge of the virtual warfare munitions anymore it’s still more than enough for 99% of all gamers and the price reflects that. Seen at $169.99 with free shipping on Amazon it’s not the most expensive keyboard out there now but it is a little hefty on price. Usually, the price will drop marginally over the first 12 months after release but if you want to stay on top your game and dominate you have to pay the high technology price.
I’ll take one please! 😀
The Yellow switches that are a lot more quiet and have a shorter range of movement are amazing. If you like fast paced games and you make a few thousand keypresses during a match then not having that constant loud clicking is a huge plus. Also, having the shorter keypress range makes your presses a few millisecond faster than your opponent. Sure, those milliseconds don’t really matter that much but it makes you feel better.