HWM Singapore – June 2019

Thebraidedmicro-USBcable

isdetachable.

slightlyreducetheoverallkey

traveldistanceandcreatea

mushyfeel.

If you’resuperparticular

aboutnoise,theo-ringswill

helpsilencetheswitches,but

I personallyprefertousethe

keyboardwithoutthem.

Razer’sOrangeswitches

8.5/10

TESTED & RATED

SINGAPORE

are also based off the design

of Cherry MX switches, but

they feature dual side walls

for reduced key wobble.

In addition, the walls help

protect against the ingress of

dust and liquids, particularly

useful if you’re in the habit of

eating at your desk.

When it comes to design,

the BlackWidow Lite may be

my favorite BlackWidow yet.

It’s simple and minimalist,

sporting a clean, matte

aluminum top plate. The

base is still plastic though,

and it would have been really

cool if Razer crafted the

entire base from metal. The

 oating key design is easier

to clean as well, and you can

blow out dust and detritus

without having to remove

all the keycaps.

CONCLUSION

A seriouskeyboardthatlooksgood

andworkswellforitsprice.

don’t compare with the

approach of the Zilent

switches though. While the

o-rings stop the key stroke

just short of bottoming out,

thus reducing the noise

produced on the way down,

they can’t do anything about

the stem hitting the top of

the switch housing on its way

up. Furthermore, they also

the noise of the stem hitting

the bottom and top of the

housing on its way down

and back up.

To mitigate this, Razer

has included a pack of

matching, orange o-rings

that you can install on the

keycap stems. These still

ATA GLANCE

ACTUATIONFORCE

45g

TRAVELDISTANCE

4mm

DIMENSIONS

355 x 127x 12.7mm

WEIGHT

660g

PRICE

$149

silent switches. They have
an actuation force of 45g
and a total travel distance
of 4mm, so they’re pretty
similar to Cherry MX Browns.
There’s also only a 0.05mm
diff erence between the
actuation and reset points,
so I didn’t really have any
trouble with rapid key
presses. All told, I like the

feel of these switches, and
they make a satisfying ‘clack’
sound when they hit the
aluminum top plate.
However, even though
Razer is branding these as
silent switches, they’re really
not all that quiet. They’re
only silent because the
switch mechanism doesn’t
produce a click, but they’re
quite diff erent from true
silent switches like Zilents,
which feature dampeners on
the switch stem to help mute

JUNE 2019 | HWM 71