The Razer BlackWidow Chroma is an older keyboard—I knew that going in and I knew what I was getting into. I was just hoping that in spite of it being discontinued for some time, I could still find one somewhere. Amazon came to the rescue! The Chroma resembles another Razer keyboard of mine, the BlackWidow Ultimate 2016, which I loved in 2016 and still love today. The main differences are that the Chroma has 5 macro keys in a column on the left side of the keyboard and is a full RGB keyboard with per-key customization and 16.8 million available colors. The 2016, on the other hand, only has green back-lit keys with no per-key customization.
I needed the 5 macro keys and the per-key RGB customization. However, the biggest attraction for me were those Razer green keyswitches (they're all so deliciously clicky and tactile). The Razer BlackWidow Chroma can also be purchased with Razer’s Orange keyswitches, which are tactile and silent (similar to Cherry MX browns). The Razer mechanical keyswitches are virtual clones of Cherry MX keyswitches. These Razer keyswitches, branded as "Kailh" keyswitches by their manufacturer, Chinese firm Kaihua Electronics, were simply copied from the Cherry design exactly (Cherry's patents expired a while back). Kailh, by-the-way, is pronounced "Kale," like the cardboard-inspired, flavorless, lettucelike vegetable. The Kailh green keyswitches might as well be Cherry MX blue keyswitches with an additional 30 million keystroke lifespan added to them (80 million keystrokes versus Cherry's 50 million keystrokes). They feel and sound EXACTLY like Cherry MX blue keyswitches, which happen to be my favorite type of mechanical keyswitch. Kudos to Razer for using this wonderful alternative to the more expensive Cherry keyswitches, thereby keeping their keyboards more affordable for us working stiffs.
There was one other reason I wanted the Chroma. The newer Chroma V2 (or ANY newer Razer keyboard) would probably be a better choice for everyone else. The Chroma, however, had a feature I not only wanted, but desperately needed. Up until the Chroma V2 was introduced, Razer used what some people called an "alien," or "gamie gamer's" font on their keycaps. It's a weird font, with a weird "@" and "&" and a lowercase "r" when all the other keys have uppercase letters. This was perhaps because the "A" looked like an "R," among other oddities, so the "R" had to look different. Let's face it, it’s a poorly designed font, but I found it charming. More importantly, however, this "alien" font is very bold, which lets a lot of light through the keycaps in comparison to the V2's skinny, normal font. The corner of the room where my computer is located, is very dark and poorly lit. A bold, "alien" font on a brightly back-lit keyboard like the Chroma, is exactly what an older gentleman with poor eyesight needs—especially at night, when the older gentleman does most of his work. Let's face it, I work in complete darkness and my other high-end keyboard, the Corsair K95 (which also sports a bold font) is much dimmer than the Chroma.
I know what you’re thinking: "Hey dummy, why not buy a lamp instead of all these expensive RGB keyboards?"
I like working in the dark. It helps me concentrate. And speaking of price, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that a new Chroma cost more than the K95! (Yes, a few of these older, discontinued keyboards are apparently still available “new.” Maybe they sat in their unopened boxes for years in a warehouse somewhere)? Amazon came to the rescue again by offering refurbished Chromas for only $109.
I know what you're thinking: Refurbished...Ugghhh!
Of course, I was expecting the Chroma to arrive in generic packaging, not the original box, all scratched up and with the "minor cosmetic imperfections" I was warned about all over the place. The instruction manual would probably be missing, too, along with a few keycaps. During a chat session with a Razer customer service person, I was told that Razer is officially the only entity authorized to refurbish Razer keyboards, not the supplier, Ocean Reef Electronics (or Amazon). Also, all Razer refurbished products come with a 90-day warranty! That was encouraging, at least. With any luck, all the keycaps would be there, but the "minor cosmetic imperfections" I was warned about, would probably still be there along with sloppy, inelegant brown cardboard generic packaging.
The package from Amazon arrived a few days before the scheduled arrival date. You can imagine my surprise and shock when I opened the package and saw that the keyboard had come in the original manufacturer's box. This was a welcome sight because Razer is known for having some of the best, most beautiful packaging of any company, anywhere. But what about all the scratches and "minor cosmetic imperfections?" I gingerly opened the box, expecting the worst. My jaw dropped all the way to the floor...the keyboard looked to be in pristine condition! I turned it over, carefully examining the back and all surfaces. Not one scratch! But would it function? I plugged it in and reveled in the clicky, tactile sound and feel of the Razer green switches. This couldn't possibly be a "refurbished" keyboard, I told myself. It showed no sign of prior use. It was fresh-from-the-factory sparkling clean. As far as I could determine, this was a NEW keyboard, not "refurbished." It even looked better than my BlackWidow Ultimate 2016, which I had bought new at Micro Center. It had the usual molded-plastic shield over the keyboard, the instruction manual, the congratulatory “welcome” card, the “Exclusive Rewards” card and the obligatory Razer “three snakes” logo stickers (that I can never figure out where they should go). No…as far as I’m concerned, this is a brand new keyboard. It doesn’t smell of “used,” “pre-owned,” or “refurbished.” It copiously exudes “newness.” The unboxing experience had proven gratifying and pleasurable. SHHHHHHH! Don’t tell anyone that a mistake has been made and that a new Chroma was sent to me instead of a refurbished one.
I closely compared the Chroma to my Corsair K95, often called the “Rolls Royce” of keyboards. Many consider the K95 to be the best keyboard in the world. If the K95 is a Rolls Royce, then the BlackWidow Chroma is a very high-end Bentley. The K95 has six macro keys, the Chroma only has five. But this hardly matters because ALL the keys on both keyboards can be remapped. The Chroma’s L.E.D.s are MUCH brighter, have more vivid colors and are easier to read in the dark than the K95’s. The Chroma is a little more humble and less ostentatious than the K95, but still beautiful nonetheless. Razer’s Synapse software is much easier to use, more elegant and intuitive than Corsair’s ungodly mess, iCue, which is so seriously flawed, you'll want to take it out to the barn, shoot it and put it out of its misery. You will find numerous complaints about the Rolls Royce of keyboards in Corsair's own User Forums, on Reddit, many of the specialty computer websites and all over the Web. In fact, if you Google: “K95 disconnects and freezes often,” you’ll discover perhaps thousands of dissatisfied Corsair customers, many of which ended up uninstalling iCue (the source of the problem) and refusing to ever use it again. Of course, they can’t assign colors or macros to any of the K95’s keys without iCue. They would give up these features just to be able to type on the K95 without it disconnecting from the USB port and freezing the keyboard. What they’re left with, is a $50 mechanical keyboard, not the $179 or $200 keyboard they paid for.
The Chroma has no such issues. It’s downright easy to assign multi-colored lighting patterns, macros and key remaps to the Chroma with the included Synapse software. Unlike the K95, the Chroma simply never freezes nor behaves badly. I can compare the Chroma to the K95, point-for-point and the more antiquated Chroma holds its own very nicely, thank you. Oh, and did I mention, you can assign on-the-fly macros with the Chroma? So even if Synapse were as crappy as iCue, you could still have macro keys that work! A BIG advantage over the K95. The sad fact is that no one at Corsair has the slightest idea about what causes the K95’s problems or how to fix them. Reading the Corsair User Forums clearly confirms this point. Perhaps one day, Corsair will rewrite iCue in order to fix the problems and have it work on ALL Windows platforms. Until then, K95 owners will have to continue to RMA their brand new keyboards back to Corsair, which is a pointless exercise since the hardware is impeccable and not at fault.
So, would I recommend the Razer BlackWidow Chroma over the Corsair K95? As I mentioned at the beginning of this review…as good as the Chroma is, it’s an older keyboard. Unless you have keyboard needs and wants identical to mine, I would hesitate to recommend it. It would be like buying a five year old Toyota over a brand new Yugo because you know that even an older Toyota is going to be a better, more reliable car than a brand new Yugo.
There’s another factor here I haven’t yet mentioned. Although Razer makes incredibly great products, Corsair has one thing Razer doesn’t: mystique. The Corsair mystique will cause perfectly rational people to make perfectly irrational buying decisions. For many, the Corsair mystique carries STATUS other brand names simply can’t measure up to. Once they purchase a Corsair product, however, they notice that no one “ooohhs and aaahhs” just because they own a Corsair product. And then there are the potential headaches that come with owning some Corsair products. For some people, however, the Corsair mystique and status are worth it.
Razer, on the other hand, is fighting an uphill battle. The reviewers that hail Corsair as the “Rolls Royce” of the computer world, don’t have to live long-term with faulty software like iCue. In addition, they rarely give Razer any of the high marks it deserves. In fact, I think it should be the other way around: Razer should be the one with the mystique and status, NOT Corsair.
| Wireless Type | 802.11a |
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