Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro Wireless Gaming Keyboard Review: Full-Sized Fun

Our Verdict

The BlackWidow V3 Pro screams Razer, from its premium build and keycaps to its flashy RGB, media controls and included wrist rest. It's a fantastic option as a full-size wireless gaming keyboard, but it's expensive and requires software to change the RGB.

For

Double-strike keys feel premium, resist smudges

Satisfying multi-function dial and media keys

Premium wrist rest

Versus

Expensive

Finishing when the battery is very low

No macro keys

RGB is too software dependent

Sometimes the

best wireless keyboard

is one it is small and small. This makes it ideal for travelling, moving between different systems and small offices. But what if you want all the feel and functionality of a full, full-featured mechanical keyboard but just want to ditch the cable?

The Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro (

$230

at the time of writing) has many features of the

best gaming keyboards

, including a full set of media keys, RGB and even a quality wrist rest. But it also cuts through the cable, allowing gamers to connect via a 2.4GHz USB dongle, Bluetooth 5.0, or braided cable when it needs to charge. It's the keyboard for the gamer who wants everything but the wire.

Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro Specifications

Switches

Razer Green or Razer Yellow

Lighting

RGB per key

Built-in storage

Up to 4 profiles

Multimedia keys

Yes

Connectivity

2.4GHz USB Type-A (Razer HyperSpeed), Bluetooth or USB Type-A dongle

Cable

USB Type-A to USB Type-C, braided, detachable

Additional Ports

No

Key caps

ABS Doubleshot< /p>

Construction

Aluminum top plate, plastic base

Software

Razer Synapse 3

Dimensions (LxWxH)< /p>

17.7 x 9.8 x 1.7 inches (450.7 x 248.4 x 42.3mm)

Weight

3.1 pounds (1,423g)

Design< /p>

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The BlackWidow V3 Pro looks like many Razer keyboards. Take its showy media dial or the slithering snake emblem at the bottom of the keyboard and its included plush leatherette wrist rest. Overall, it's a simple, all-black build with a sturdy aluminum top plate and plastic base. Most of this keyboard's flash comes from the RGB, which Razer has never been too bad of but has made even better by releasing transparent versions of its mechanical switches that are supposed to help

LEDs

shine through more.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The key font, which strikes a good balance between serious and fun with roundness, helps in the mission of flavorful RGB. friendly curls and thin letters. Having things like Caps and Shift in lowercase letters keeps the vibe light, without looking silly. The thin font also brings out the RGB against the double-shot black ABS plastic keys that look and feel almost as premium as PBT and held up well to fingerprint smudges after a week of use intensive - although the aluminum top plate is not so lucky.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

RGB bleeds between the well-spaced keys for a glow that shines from the south side of the feature row at brightness settings like as low as 20 per cent. Note that you can adjust RGB brightness on and off with the keyboard and you can also hold FN, Ctrl and 1-7 to switch between RGB presets.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Logitech G915 Lightspeed

, with its brushed aluminum top plate and matching volume wheel and tactile buttons, looks more expensive and special at first glance. The Razer RGB logo is a no-brainer, but it intersects the aluminum top plate and lives behind a textured plastic that strips away the aluminum finish subtly and makes the snake emblem look a little blurry.

Certainly, many players will. rejoice in the potential for keyboard subtlety. And there are still premium keys. The wrist rest (which Logitech's rival omits) is well padded. Many free wrist rests are flimsy plastic fish that I would immediately reject in favor of my

HyperX Wrist Rest

. But the wrist rest here fights well. It's not the same luxurious, cooling memory foam, but it's comfortable and the leatherette feels great on the wrists.

Like the wireframe

Razer Huntsman Elite

, the BlackWidow V3 Pro sports a sleek volume wheel that lights up with RGB, offers tactile control, a frosted center of pressure, and protrudes from the side of the keyboard for a bold shape. Adjusting the dial changes the volume by two steps and gives the feeling of being a DJ. The wheel also offers additional functionality as a programmable button. The accompanying three media buttons also stand out proudly and feature a smooth plastic finish. The symbols on thmn, however, are difficult to read, especially if you're in a well-lit room. Speaking of which, the icons south of the navigation keys are also hard to discern.

The BlackWidow V3 Pro is wireless, but that doesn't mean it's travel-friendly. It's the same size as a typical full-size wired keyboard at 17.7 x 9.8 x 1.7 inches and 3.1 pounds. The keyboard's biggest rival is Logitech's G915 Lightspeed (18.7 x 5.9 x 0.87 inches, 2.3 pounds), which remains balanced with low-profile switches.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Razer has thoughtfully included dongle storage on the underside of the keyboard, and the dongle is well registered, so you'll always know what it's for unless you have a plethora of Razer wireless gear. The underside of the keyboard also has flip-up feet for 6 or 9 degrees of elevation, another thoughtful touch.

Wireless experience

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While the keyboard isn't easy to carry around, Razer makes it easy to pair with multiple PCs. A solid rocker that won't be accidentally hit on the left side makes it easy to switch between systems. You can opt for the 2.4 GHz dongle connection, a Bluetooth connection or the detachable braided USB-C cable. I also managed to pair the clacker with up to three Bluetooth devices and skipped pressing FN and 1, 2, or 3, making the keyboard a decent, but heavier, option for productivity or input. in the living room. Unlike many wireless gaming peripherals, you can even control the BlackWidow V3 Pro with software when paired to your PC via Bluetooth. After 13 hours of using the keyboard in Bluetooth mode while using a wireless mouse, the keyboard suddenly connected three times, each time after a few minutes of inactivity. Your mileage may vary, and it could be a problem with my computer, but I've never encountered this when using the Bluetooth connection of a

Logitech G915 TKL

with that same PC, (and my mouse's Bluetooth connection didn't drop).

For gaming though, connecting the HyperSpeed ​​dongle is recommended. Razer claims up to a 25% speed increase over "any other wireless gaming technology", according to certification institute TUV SUD. The connection served reliably on the battlefield, even when also using my

best wireless mouse

and sometimes a 2.4 GHz headset. I experienced lag when battery life was 3% or less. At this point the keyboard goes into low battery mode which makes the RGB weak and erratic and causes a 1-2 second delay before registering my keystrokes.

Typing experience

The BlackWidow V3 Touch and Click Features

Razer Green

or linear and silent

Razer Yellow

(3.5mm total stroke, actuating at 1.2mm with 45G of force) mechanical switches. Razer has updated the latter for the Blackwidow V3 Pro with non-removable silicone shock absorbers to ensure true silence. Our review unit has green switches, which are similar to switches

Cherry MX Blue

--strong and proud.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)< /p>

Razer's Green Switches have a total travel of 4mm and actuate at 1.9mm with a force of 50G. This makes them a bit lighter and faster to actuate than the Cherry Blues (4mm total travel operating 2.2mm with 60G). In a side-by-side comparison, they feel familiar, but Cherry's switches take a noticeable amount (if you're into that sort of thing) more force to depress. Both switches have a noticeable bump along the way, but the Razer Greens seem to ride over that bump with more pop. If you like Cherry MX Blues or similar switches, you should like Razer Greens.

But more than anything, these switches are noisy. When you press down on the actuation point, there's a quick plastic click, followed almost instantly by the sound of the keycap snapping back into place. Despite the BlackWidow V3 Pro's aluminum top plate, there's not much echo, as you'll hear in the

SteelSeries Apex Pro

. But like many mechanical keyboards, the spacebar is much louder. I heard a solid thock as I frequently bottomed out. Meanwhile, big keys, such as backspace, offered a more hollow thump that overpowered the clicking sound of switches and retracted quickly and strongly. When typing, my “home office” appeared to be the only place in the apartment with a tin roof bombarded with raindrops of varying sizes.

One of the most impressive things about the BlackWidow V3 Pro is its keys. The double shot ABS is premium, providing a healthy texture that you can see if you look closely. They are so well made that you might mistake them for PBT. PBT plastic keycaps have even more texture, but these double-shot ABS keycaps fit respectably close and resist fingerprint smudges much better than standard ABS keycaps on many other mechanical keyboards.

The combination of clicky and lighter switches, quality keys and well-spaced and shaped keys for efficient and pleasant typing. On the 10fastfingers.com typing test, I averaged 125.7 words per minute (WPM) and 97.6% accuracy, compared to my typical average of 115 wpm and 98%. I attribute the increase in speed to the quickness of the key and the thunderous clicks that cheer me on.

gaming experience

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

The BlackWidow V3 Pro performed very well on the battlefield. I used Razer's HyperSpeed ​​dongle for gaming, as it's supposed to provide a more reliable, lag-free connection than Bluetooth.

With MMO games, it was fun to type in different key combinations, and the well-spaced keys made it easier to tell which button I was pressing without having to take my eyes off the screen. However, Razer's Green Switches are so loud they can be annoying, especially when you can hear them over loud explosions and laser blasts. If your teammates hear you, they'll probably have notices too.

With

Borderlands 3

, I once again found myself enjoying the durability offered by the textured keys. This allows my fingers to stay put on the keys without slipping and to quickly switch to a new key when manipulating hordes. If you focus on repeatedly pressing the same button very quickly, the linear version of this keyboard would be advantageous. Still, the Razer Green switches snap back into place eagerly to aid in quick typing.

Razer's included wrist rest deserves a special shout out, helping me stay comfortable and focused on the game and playing longer. Other features gamers will appreciate include

the reversal of n-key

and on-the-fly macro recording. If you compare this to Logitech's G915 Lightspeed, you'll miss the extra G-keys.

Battery life

I set the keyboard RGB to maximum brightness and shifted between (depending on my task) a rainbow wave or a static color. Ready to use, it is programmed to turn off after 15 minutes of inactivity. With these settings, my review device lasted an average of just over 14 hours before needing a recharge. However, I could have extended battery life if I let the RGB dim after not using the keyboard for 1-15 minutes. Razer makes this optional, unlike Logitech's wireless rival, which claims 30-hour battery life with RGB at maximum brightness, but automatically dims after inactivity.

I didn't have enough time before posting to drain the keyboard battery with a Bluetooth connection, but after 13 hours of use via Bluetooth and RGB set to the same max brightness and settings as above, my BlackWidow V3 Pro had 18% battery remaining.

The problem, as mentioned above, is that at 3% battery life the keyboard becomes unreliable. My keyboard's RGB would flicker between faint rainbow wave, faint static colors, and turn off. Worse, there was a noticeable delay before registering keypresses, especially the first one after a while of inactivity. Synapse also stopped being able to identify the device. Razer told me this was all because the keyboard was in low power mode, but that makes it difficult to use the keyboard. Of course, once that starts, it's easy to plug in the keyboard's detachable USB-C cable and get back to business.

Razer claims up to 192 hours of battery life if you use the BlackWidow V3 Pro without RGB. If you run the light show, however, that number drops to 5-25 hours. Razer has offered the following chart to give an idea of ​​keyboard lifespan based on RGB settings.

Brightness

RGB effect

Claimed Battery Life

50%

spectrum cycle

25 hours

50%

White static

14 hours

100%

Cycle Spectrum

13 hours

100%

White static

5 hours

Along with having power saving settings, Synapse has an almost hidden battery indicator which, thankfully, provides an accurate percentage.

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Features and Software

The BlackWidow V3 Pro is relatively feature-rich, but that depends more on the

Synapse 3

software that I would like. It's not a horrible thing since Synapse is detailed enough and easy to use.

Although you have up to four onboard memory profiles, the RGB settings applied to each profile will not transfer without the software open, and you need the software to create the profiles. This means that if you want any RGB outside of the default 7 to be available to toggle, Synapse must be running. The software sometimes stumbled and failed to change the RGB settings even though Synapse showed otherwise. RGB is a luxury, and switching to a different computer or other steps may have solved the problem, but this type of troubleshooting is exactly why it's good to have a working RGB control without application.

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With Synapse, you can change RGB brightness (you can also do this without software) and change RGB behavior to extend battery life. The software includes 10 RGB presets, including rainbow wave and RGB that match your screen colors or react to audio. More advanced RGB fanatics can also program their own per-key settings through the Razer Chroma Studio portion of the software.

You can switch between the built-in memory of the keyboard by pressing FN and Menu. In addition to onboard memory, you can create profiles that can be launched with specific games and other applications.

Synapse also lets you reprogram every key except the Windows key and the right FN key. Even the four multimedia keys are reprogrammable, including the volume wheel. With Razer's Hypershift feature, you get double the functionality. When you hold down the right FN key, each key can have an additional function. Razer has made it easy to program various tasks, like open programs, Windows shortcuts, and macros. The keyboard also offers on-the-fly macro recording.

Summary

The Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro lives up to Razer's reputation for high-end gaming. Despite its wireless connection, it proved to be as reliable as a wired keyboard, as long as the battery life didn't run out of steam. From its dual-tap keys to its incredibly fun media wheel and well-designed wrist rest, the keyboard does its best to earn its hefty price tag.

But I would like to be able to associate RGB parameters to the profiles stored in the onboard memory. And at that price, it would be handy to have macro keys, like the

Logitech G915 Lightspeed

has, although at

$20 more p>

as our review topic (at the time of writing). Logitech's wireless gaming keyboard also has a silent tactile switch option, which the BlackWidow V3 Pro lacks, but you can only get it with low-profile switches.

For a full-size wireless keyboard that has everything a wired mechanic has - plus all the software, RGB and plush keys, like per-key RGB and fancy media controls, that enhance the gaming experience - the BlackWidow V3 Pro is hard to beat.

Sharon Harding< /p>

Sharon Harding is an editor at Tom's Hardware. She has a particular affinity for gaming peripherals (especially monitors), laptops, and virtual reality. Previously, Scharon covered business technology, including hardware, software, cybersecurity, cloud and other IT events, at Channelnomics, with signatures at CRN UK.