Razer Blackwidow V4 Low Profile Tenkeyless Hyperspeed review

Being a gaming keyboard is a challenging moment. Are you jumping on the Hall Effect bandwagon to ensure you’re on trend and able to provide the customizable actuation and brisk trigger response that all budding professionals desire? Or do you stick with the tried and tested mechanical keys, which still make up the extensive majority of the PC gaming market but don’t offer the same customization and response time as those whippersnappers with analog switches?

Razer’s latest incarnation of BlackWidow V4 – aha, sorry Low-profile Hyperspeed BlackWidow without Tenkey support— stays in the realm of old-school mechanics, but combines that ancient, reliable tactical switch with low-profile keys that have a shorter travel from the home position to the bottom of the keystroke. It can be used wired or wirelessly, has three control buttons and a clickable volume wheel, and its claimed battery life of 980 hours is impressive enough. But the real crux of this product is the keystroke feel.

Which means it’s a very subjective thing to review. My review unit comes with Razer’s patented orange, low-profile mechanical switches, one of three options that also include “clear and clicky” green switches and a “smooth and quiet” yellow option. It’s a decent range of touch options, but regardless of your switch choice, the most essential points that determine your experience are the low-profile design and the build quality of everything from the backplate to the keycaps.

I wish I liked this feeling more, but unfortunately I don’t. I find the quiet keys a bit boisterous and actuation a bit sluggish, which is a real shame. Because this board has a lot of specific positives, especially when it comes to aesthetics. Razer certainly isn’t the only one in the all-black design school, but few brands can match the cheerful green giant in terms of the visual appeal of this look.

It works particularly well in a sleek, compact keyless design, built around a brushed aluminum frame and featuring a pleasing mix of finish types. Without looking so gamer as to veer into wretched territory, it embodies the look of high-performance hardware.

I also like the layout, from the precise angle and height difference of the key stacks that feel like they fit perfectly in my hands, to the volume slider with an additional input on click (mute would be the most obvious choice in this case). However, I’m not convinced that this particular combination of low-profile actuation and mechanical switch feedback tickles the touch sensors in my brain enough to justify the mid- to high-end price tag.

When does a low profile really seem like an advantage? Again, this is subjective. Personally, I find it much easier to type precisely using low-profile keys than time-honored travel keys, especially when mechanical switches are involved. This means that a whiteboard like this really appealed to me as an all-in-one work and gaming device that I can apply during the workday to write “nothing from me” in Google Meet chat windows. Then WASD delayed at night with ARC Raiders (who am I kidding? It’s still Quake III Arena).

In this particular scenario, I got all the features I asked for and – unusually for Razer – no bloat. Just as this model ditched the keys in pursuit of a sleek, proficient physical form, the spec list reflects the same mentality.

In the upper left corner of the board, I have a wired/wireless switch that allows me to choose between zero-latency connectivity via a USB-A-to-USB-C cable or very, very close to zero latency via the Razer Hyperspeed wireless connection. So if I’m caught with my lower garments down when the battery dies, I’m just one USB port away from uninterrupted work or gaming again.

I’m also wondering about the form. Not working in accounting or playing a lot of games circa 1996 using the default keyboard shortcuts, I can generally lose track of the number keys without losing much sleep. And while 60% of keyboards often feel too tight for my fingers, this compact layout remains ergonomic

Truth be told, the three control buttons don’t offer much apply. One of them is the AI ​​button, which feels like someone high up at Razer said, “I need an AI button!” and a group of designers trying to make sense of this demand. I can’t really blame them for following through with this nonsense trend-following request – pressing it brings up a pop-up window in the Synapse app that takes you to ChatGPT or Copilot. The point is, no one needs this button.

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Another button displays battery status, which is partially useful and once again brilliantly done, turning the number keys into a charging bar when pressed. But honestly, this isn’t a feature for which I would choose one keyboard over another. Finally, there is a universal media button that you can program to do whatever you want. It’s okay. His absolutely Thin.

So when it comes to overall gaming performance, I feel like the feature set and touch experience simply meet my needs, not exceed them. Compared to the build quality and comfort of Logitech’s G515 family of low-profile boards, there’s a subtle but significant difference in favor of the latter that makes typing and gaming a bit smoother, more solid, and more enjoyable. And that’s before you get to the fact that the G515 RAPID TKL has Hall-effect analog keys that let you customize the actuation point and key priority, while the BlackWidow V4’s mechanical keys offer no such functionality.

I can’t fault this last point too much. This is a mechanical board for people who like the comfort and reliability of mechanical keys. And it delivers on these terms. However, its price is similar to other low-profile boards that can do more, so it’s challenging to really get excited about it.