The Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro is a maximalist fever dream. Razer has thrown just about every dial, knob, and thingamabob in its arsenal at its 2023 full-sized keyboard. It’s packed with RGB lighting, macro keys, dedicated multimedia buttons, a command dial, and a volume dial. It features USB passthrough. It is positively plastered in gamer-chic branding and glowing lights. Heck, even the palm rest has 20 zones of RGB. But while these features make it a surefire winner for tinkerers and macro-enthusiasts, a handful of omissions will make it a more difficult sell for others.
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro – Design and Features
The first thing any normal human will notice is just how massive this keyboard is. Even before you attach the (also massive) palm rest, the BlackWidow V4 is substantially bigger than your average full-sized keyboard. The key caps rise from the alloy top plate like bricks. Without the palm rest the keyboard is a reasonable 18 inches long and six inches deep. But with it, the keyboard is nearly 10 inches deep.
Whether you find it attractive or not will really depend on how much of the “gamer aesthetic” you can stomach. The matte black keys and dark aluminum plate look subtle-ish when the RGB is off, but turn the lights on and this thing lights up like Christmas in Area 51.
As for the keys, the BlackWidow V4 can be configured with either linear switches (Razer Yellow) or clicky switches (Razer Green). As a fan of clacky keyboards, I tested the clicky switches, which were a bit uneven sounding for me. The “tilde” key sounded nothing like the “1” key next to it, and the arrow keys sounded completely distinct from the “1” key. Some gamers won’t notice – and may even prefer the uneven noise, but to me it just sounded cheap.
I also would have liked to see a Tactile switch option in the mix. Like the 75% version we tested here, the full-sized comes with lubricated stabilizers and sound-dampening foam. But unlike the 75%, these are not hot-swappable switches, and that means you’re stuck with whatever configuration you originally spring for.
The keycaps are a Doubleshot ABS with see-through legends. (Historically, Razer’s ABS keycaps are prone to wear after several months of gaming, but I wasn’t able to test long enough during the review period to confirm if this was still the case.) The BlackWidow V4 has per-key RGB, and the actual board features a neat under glow. So does the palm rest, which connects to the board thanks to a magnet and five-pin connector. If you’re using other Razer peripherals, that lighting can be easily synced together in the Synapse 3 software.
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro – Gaming Performance
Despite its “Pro” moniker, which Razer usually reserves for wireless peripherals, the BlackWidow V4 Pro is very much a wired-only keyboard. It’s probably for the best; nearly all its hallmark features are absolute battery killers: extravagant RGB, an 8,000Hz polling rate, and USB passthrough. However, there’s not just one wire: to use the USB passthrough, you'll have to plug into power with another cord, and when you factor in the other USB device plugged into this big ol’ keyboard my desk started to feel noticeably cluttered, disrupting whatever non-gamer feng shui was left over.
The board itself is built well, and everything from the braided cords to the leatherette palm rest feels solid, without noticeable creaking. Of those main features, the 8,000Hz polling rate is perhaps the most jaw-dropping. It’s incredibly fast, and registers keystrokes instantaneously. Beyond that, there was something about the higher polling rate that felt incredibly smooth. While I’m sure some of it was a placebo effect, I did feel like things were just buttery at higher polling rates – especially in something like a fast-paced first-person shooter.
Like all Razer devices, a majority of the customizability takes place in the Synapse software, but I was surprised at what the BlackWidow V4 was capable of straight out of the box. In fact, one of the coolest experiences I had with it was mere moments after I plugged it in, as I happened to be in the middle of a Diablo session. Unprompted, the BlackWidow automatically loaded a custom color scheme; the keys pulsed red, and the number keys bound to my skills showed different colors based on their in-game cooldowns. Wow!
Similarly, the volume roller and multimedia buttons required very little software finessing – although I found that the black-on-black keycap inscriptions were almost illegible. In fact, it wasn’t until long after I finished running the keyboard through my tests that I realized each button has a legend etched on it.
Unfortunately, to take full advantage of the Razer Command Dial (aka the big knob on the top left of the keyboard), you’ll have to leave Synapse running constantly, but it’s at least useful enough to justify occupying some RAM and CPU in the background. By default, the dial can zoom, skip through tracks, switch between applications and games, and adjust keyboard brightness. But there are about a hundred other things it can do (literally), so there’s something in there for just about anybody.
All in all, there are eight macro keys – five below the Command Dial and three on the left-side chassis. And add to that, the keyboard can store five onboard profiles with all different key mappings. That is already an absolutely paralyzing amount of macro freedom, and try as I might, I couldn’t figure out a good use for all of them, much less call upon the right key at the right moment with any kind of consistency. But things get even more complicated when you add HyperShift to the mix, which gives each key a (customizable) secondary command. There is an absolutely spellbinding array of creative freedom available here – provided you can find a use for it.
