LABS TEST / MECHANICAL KEYBOARDS
T
he Razer BlackWidow V3 is the
company’s latest conventional
mechanical keyboard, by which we
mean it does without the wireless connection
of the BlackWidow V3 Pro (Issue 208), or the
optical switches of the Hunstman range (Issue
193). What it lacks in fancy extras, though, it
makes up for in value, style and performance.
It’s a great-looking keyboard, with a slick,
all-black look and an aluminium plate on the
top finishing off the premium fe el. It has a
similar vibe to the similarly dark and moody
Corsair K100, but just takes the win for style in
our eyes. It isn’t the heftiest keyboard, though,
lacking the weight and rigidity of the Filco and
Ducky models on test.
For features, the BlackWidow V3 is a much
less outstanding example though. It has a very
aggressively knurled volume wheel in the
top right (that also doubles as a mute button),
and a multi-function media button that will
play/pause, and skip forward and back tracks,
depending on how many times it’s pressed. A
handful of the main keys also have secondary
functions, such as adjusting backlighting
brightness, engaging Gaming mode (disabling
RAZER BLACKWIDOW V3 /£139 inc VAT
SUPPLIER razer.comthe Windows key) and switching profiles.
However, that’s your lot. There’s no USB
pass-through, no gaming keys or any other
extras than the included wrist rest. The latter
is quite large, slim and made from hard
plastic, so it doesn’t offer the comfort of the
padded wrist rest of the Razer BlackWidow
V3 Pro, for instance.
One minor upside to the lack of a USB
pass-through is that you get a slimmer, more
manageable cable than that of the Corsair
K100 and SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL. The
Corsair’s cable is fully 7mm thick, making
it stiff and unwieldy. The BlackWidow V3’s
cable, though, is just 4mm thick yet is still
braided and feels plenty durable enough.
Each key is RGB-backlit, along with the
Razer logo on the front edge, making for a
simple but attractive lighting array – it’s a
shame the wrist rest blocks the front logo
though. The keycaps are also doubleshot, so
the legends should last, but they’re only ABS
plastic, so will go shiny after a while.
In terms of action, the BlackWidow V3
uses Razer’s own mechanical switches,
which are essentially Cherry MX clones, but
they have stabilising plastic surrounding the
central cross on which the keycap sits. This
means they should be compatible with most
Cherry MX profile keycaps, but you’ll need to
check the exact measurements of the caps.
Oddly, the keyboard is only available with
two switch types – a green clicky version
(50g, 1.9m, 4mm) and a yellow linearversion, with no tactile bump version, despite
Razer making a tactile switch. We tested the
clicky version (the only clicky board we tested)
and it was certainly very clicky, putting out a
typically cacophonous din that was really quite
off-putting to our ears (70.3dB compared
to around 63dB that was typical of the other
boards) during heavy typing sessions.
In our typing test, the switches proved to
be decent, but there was a small step down in
speed from the fastest switches. We slightly
underpressed the keys sometimes too – you
can’t use a light touch on these switches.Conclusion
The BlackWidow V3 may not have many fancy
features or the heft and rugged build quality of
some more utilitarian mechanical keyboards,
but it’s still a decent keyboard. It looks great, it
performs perfectly well and is competitively
priced. It’s just shame about the limited choice
of switches.VERDICT
A narrow choice of switches limits the
appeal of this keyboard, but it looks great,
performs well and is priced sensibly too.BLACK WIDOW
Stylish design
Some extra features
Decent value
MONEY SPIDER
- Limited switch options
- Clicky switches
are very loud - Some flex in chassis
DESIGN
20 / 25
PERFORMANCE
20 / 25FEATURES
16 / 25
VALUE
22 / 25OVERALL SCORE
78 %
SPEC
Dimensions (mm) 451 x 154 x 42 (W x D x H)
Weight 1,006g
Format Standard 104 keys
Connections USB
Switch type Razer mechanical green
(clicky) or yellow (linear)
Switch life 80 million keystrokes
Backlighting RGB
Extras Volume wheel/mute
button, multimedia buttonthe Windows key) and switchingprofiles.
Hh’lTh’USBversion, with no tactile bumpversion, despite
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