Razer Blackwidow X Chroma Reviewed - RGB Mechanical Keyboard

Показать описание

A decent improvement from previous Blackwidow models?

Transcribtion of the video:
Razer. With that I'm concluding the introductory part of the video, where I present the brand that we are reviewing. The Blackwidow series of keyboards was first announced in 2011 and had a really really steep price that went around 200€ in the European market. In time they went from the German made Cherry MX switches to Kailh switches. Now they have their own manufacturing of the so called Razer switches that are in fact made in the same factory as the Kailh switches but under a different brand name. And they do sport a higher MTBF rating, but I have yet to have a mechanical keyboard fail on me, so there is that.

With the Chroma X series they have started to deflate their pricing so that they are more in line with their competitors on the market that is now fully fully saturated. The Chroma X is a simplified version of the Blackwidow Chroma with a lack of five macro buttons on the left side and a design that puts all the key on a flat metal surface, similar to the Ozone Strike Battle. Therefore the whole upper surface is made of a one solid block of black anodized metal that is elegantly curved above edges. With that Razer guarantees a smaller footprint compared to previous Blackwidow keyboards, and that we do like. The decision to not have them integrated into the board itself is good for easier maintenance sake and of course because of the reflection of the RGB back lighting that looks absolutely spectacular. More on that later.

Under the metal plate the rest of the housing is built from solid plastic in which we can find electronics pathways for easier cable management of the USB connector cable. It can be routed to three different sides so that they don't get on our nerves. The cable itself is very thin, and that is mostly due to there not being any audio or USB pass through cables - and that is a feature that we quite honestly miss in this price range. To add to that the cable could be removable. Well - maybe in the future.

The keys are similar to other Razer mechanical models with soft plastic covered keycaps that is resistant to fingerprints and looks more soft compared to Blackwidow 2013 Stealth for example. Finally they decided to get rid of the barely readable font on the keys - these are now relatively standard. The LED indicator part has the standard holy trinity, but besides that featured a macro recording button and illumination through the use of shortcuts on the keyboard, as well as the game mode indicator that disables the Windows key and other combos (such as Ctrl+Alt+Del).

But now onto the main feature of the product - the lighting itself. The diodes are positioned above every switch and the keys themselves are more than bright enough and evenly lit even on the primary functions. Sadly because of the position of the LED diode itself the secondary functions are not sufficiently visible so we can't see the slashes, asterix, etc. We can choose between over 16 million color combinations through the use of Razer Synapse, which also helps us configure macros and special profiles for games such as Counter Strike and League of Legends - so for example if we play Overwatch we can see our reload times through the changing of the color of the back lighting on the colors of the keys, on the other hand we see our Ignite and Flash status in our League of Legends game - when they are available they turn green or some other color for example. The whole Razer Chroma concept went so far that some Scandinavian went and designed the Razer Snake for the Razer Chroma X. Incredible.

But now we have to look at what is in my opinion the greatest mistake of the keyboard - the switches inside. We were given a review sample with Green Razer switches that are most similar to Cherry MX Blues, so meant for typing enthusiasts and people who enjoy loud typing sessions. All is well and true but the sound compared to Cherry's is of higher frequency on the Razer and it achieves a frequency range that is not enjoyment or comfort anymore, but is sheer, sheer anointment. Additionally we have to point out that some buttons occasionally squeak, but it is possible they break in through time and do not squeak anymore.

To summaries - the Razer Blackwidow X Chroma is a notable improvement from Razer that represents a great, although expensive product for RGB enthusiasts and people who are already involved or bought into the Razer Chroma ecosystem. Just do buy the Razer Orange switches if you don't want everyone to move away from you.