Razer BlackWidow V4 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard

First I wanna say I had the original blackwidow keyboard for about 7 years no problems, LOVED IT. Upgraded to this one cause I wanted a smaller one, and love this one too, the quality is amazing, the lights are great, the keys sound and feel awesome. Best sounding keyboard hands down. BUT, it has some skipping problems. Which is just insane to me for a $200 keyboard and for it being Razer who I’ve never had issues with. It’ll double press certain keys here and there and there’s no fix, I have the correct software and everything. The only keys I’ve noticed so far is the space bar (absolutely most annoying) and the f key. I didn’t notice this right away it took me about a month to even game and really use it due to busy schedule, and by the time I did it was too late for return. So now I’m stuck with it I guess, but it’s really frustrating. Other than that this would be a 5 star keyboard hands down. Hopefully yours doesn’t do the same, I’ve tried removing the keys that do it, cleaning out, and testing just pressing the switch and it doesn’t do it. I’ve reseated the keys multiple times it still does it everytime, no debris or anything causing it.

If you are on the fence between this keyboard and another, save yourself the trouble and go with the other. This keyboard has a lot to like and trust me I really wanted to like this keyboard…Let’s talk about the good first.

Out of the box it sounds great and is a pleasure to type with. Build construction feels solid, keyboard has a nice flex to it, RGB is bright and customizable through synapse software. The wrist pad is comfortable and the magnetic attachment makes removal a breeze. There are key shortcuts to cycle through a few static colors and a few preset RGB profiles. I wasn’t able to find a way to save a custom lighting profile directly to the keyboard’s on-board memory. The custom profile seems to load when Synapse software loads up but this isn’t very useful if you use the keyboard on more than one device (gaming PC and work laptop).

On to the bad…This keyboard started to go bad after 2 months. Various keys became plagued by double registering keystrokes which made it virtually impossible to use as a software engineer. I would have only docked a few stars but Razer’s customer service is awful. It took a lot of back and forth for them to attempt to address the issue. They make you do your own troubleshooting and ask for video evidence of trivial issues. I had to RMA my device for a new one knowing I would probably encounter the same issue. Just as I expected the same issue happened one month later. Even after re-opening the service ticket via email they will request info that you had previously already sent them, only responding once every one or two days. At ~$200 I cannot give Razer a pass on this one. There is an inherent design flaw in either the PCB or the switches that I am sure Razer is well aware of. You can find dozens of reviews and posts on forums about this. Maybe you can just replace all the switches and the keyboard will work in the long term but it is all the endured frustration and bad customer service for me that I strongly recommend you avoid this keyboard. If you are looking for a mainstream custom keyboard from a major brand, the ASUS ROG Azoth 75 is probably the way to go.

EDIT: 5/12/24
Since writing this review I’ve swapped out the Razer key switches with WS Morandi switches. I haven’t experienced any issues since. I’m glad I am able to use this keyboard but you shouldn’t have to spend an extra $$ on switches for an already expensive keyboard. Razer did not offer to replace the switches nor would they replace this keyboard with a different model

Works great for a few weeks. Then your keeys will randoomly start doouble typing keys. I’m not even troolling with this review. My “o” key is coompletely broooken.

Personally I’ve bought plenty Razer keyboards, have them stashed all over the place. This one for sure is the best one so far. Althought not a fan of tactile switches straight out of the box, as personally I prefer linears for gaming, the hotswappable design makes it easy enough to swap, currently using WS morandi linear switches.

While it is somewhat more expensive than I’m comfortable with and you could find better options, I do believe it’s totally worth it, great 75% keyboard with the smooth gaskets on the keyboard, the mods that enchance the sound on it, the stock orange switches feel very nice to type on. My only complaint is that the keycap layout limits the keycaps you can use on it a little.

All other Razer keyboards are awful and way too loud.

This new 75% keyboard is actually built well and sounds great. The switches are not bad, the keycaps are nice, it’s hotswap so you can change them to whatever you want. You’re still stuck with Razer’s criminal spyware/bloatware/malware called Synapse to change the settings but unless you buy a Wooting this applies to all other brands as well (Logitech/Steelseries/Corsair all have bad software too).

Wristrest is nice as well. Only issue is it’s overpriced but everything Razer is overpriced so this isn’t surprising.

So far no issues.