Scharon Harding
| Specs at a look: Razer BlackWidow V4 Professional | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Switches | Razer Inexperienced (clicky) or Yellow (linear) | ||
| Keycaps | Doubleshot ABS plastic | ||
| Connectivity choices | USB-A cable | ||
| Backlighting | Per-key RGB | ||
| Dimension (with wrist relaxation) | 18.3×9.35×1.73 inches (466×237.5×44 mm) |
||
| Weight (with wrist relaxation) | 3.37 kilos (1,530 g) | ||
| Guarantee | 2 years | ||
| Worth (MSRP) | $230 | ||
| Different | 1x USB-A passthrough port, removable wrist relaxation | ||
Should you’ve ever wished your keyboard had extra buttons, Razer’s BlackWidow V4 Professional could also be for you. It expands the full-size keyboard structure to incorporate a column of macro keys and three non-mechanical buttons on the keyboard’s left edge. The keyboard additionally has a quantity curler and a so-called Command Dial, which helps you to twist your inputs to manage zoom, scroll by way of an extended spreadsheet, or tweak the dimensions of a Photoshop brush.
Regardless of Razer’s gaming focus, the BlackWidow V4 Professional matches properly in work settings due to its excessive, multi-layer programmability, a powerful however imperfect typing expertise, and a USB-A passthrough port. It is simple to dim the RGB lighting and get to work with complicated key bindings; you may launch regularly used apps and websites with a keypress and navigate packages with the dial.
However lots of the BlackWidow V4 Professional’s finest options require you to maintain Razer’s Synapse app open, and whereas this is not a brand new grievance, the introduction of the multi-function dial places a harsh highlight on this limitation.
Sufficient keys for ya?
The BlackWidow V4 Professional is marketed as a gaming keyboard, however I spent hours doing work with it. The keyboard’s handiest productiveness characteristic is the additional programmable keys. The 5-key macro financial institution does not evaluate to the 18-key one on the 2014 Corsair K95, but it surely nonetheless has all of the keys I would like from a productiveness keyboard—together with the beloved numpad—after which some.
The structure holds nice potential for energy customers. I typically put macros on the operate row, however the BlackWidow V4 Professional’s additional keys meant I did not must. I used the bonus key financial institution for every thing from launching generally used packages to rapidly coming into lengthy textual content strings or controlling Photoshop layers. Onboard reminiscence (with 5 profiles) and the flexibility to hyperlink keybindings with sure apps gave me loads of choices for customizing the board to the precise sort of labor I used to be doing.
The three aspect macro keys did not get as a lot use, although. They are not seen from a typical seated place, so you must take your fingers off the keyboard’s important rows and really feel up and down to determine which of the buttons you are about to press.
Scharon Harding
I used to be additionally liable to urgent the aspect buttons by chance. I have a tendency to regulate my keyboard as I work, and once I would raise the keyboard on its left aspect (my go-to aspect since my proper hand is normally on my mouse), I might press one of many aspect buttons. I may get round this by programming the aspect keys to do nothing, however that is a waste of keys. I might want having an “M6” key within the macro column, like Corsair’s K100 and K95 and Logitech’s G613 have, quite than these non-mechanical aspect items.
Scharon Harding
A full set of programmable media keys completes the structure, however their legends are laborious to learn due to their shiny designs and dark-gray-on-black styling. I additionally dislike devoted mute buttons, particularly when there is a quantity curler in play. A quantity wheel that may alter and mute sound (comparable to by urgent it in) feels extra intuitive and saves house.
