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Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 gaming keyboard, it’s all about the colors

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Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 mechanical gaming keyboard

A responsive performance oriented keyboard is a backbone device for your gaming gear. It may make all the difference when your back is up against the wall and you need to get a shot off. Razer’s BlackWidow Chroma v2 is a slick full size mechanical gaming keyboard, fully RGB backlit with 16.8 million customizable color options.

Available color profiles synchronize color schemes and patterns across Chroma-enabled devices. It can even provide lighting feedback with Chroma-enabled games. Let’s take a closer look.

Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 mechanical gaming keyboardDesign overview

The Blackwidow Chroma v2 features three new award winning mechanical switches with 50g of actuation force for solid, consistent and immediate responsiveness. Green for Tactile & Clicky, Orange for Tactile & Silent and Yellow for Linear & Silent. Each of the new multi-award winning switches are rated for a lifespan of up to 80 million keystrokes. The latest edition switch are the yellows provide a linear silent experience. You need to depress them each fully to initiate a response however it requires very little force to do.

Our test unit is a tactile green/clicky type. It’s pretty noisy by design so if you want something you can play without bothering everyone, go for the Orange or Yellow switches. If you order one you will need to choose the type of switch you want.

Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 gaming keyboard, it's all about the colors man
BlackWidow Chroma v2

The Chroma v2 is a bit heavier for added stability with that minimal tech-industrial style. The metal top cover increases rigidity and durability. The matte black design is clean and minimal and rightly so since it is showing off its RGB back-lighting, they pop nicely off the black background full and bright.

The keyboard is built in the shape of a wedge so the rear is thicker than the front creating a tilted angle so it doesn’t sit uncomfortably flat. For more angle there are the standard tilt tabs on the bottom.

Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 mechanical gaming keyboardThe Chroma v2 comes with a magnetic ergonomic wrist rest that you can easily detach. The wrist-rest is angled so that it marries up to the angle of the keyboard edge. It’s a bit soft in our opinion but this will be purely a personal preference. It is a very nice addition and we’re happy it’s there.

Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 gaming keyboard
BlackWidow Chroma v2

It’s all about the colors

Aside from the mechanical performance, it’s really all about the color customizations on this keyboard. It comes loaded with 8 preset lighting effects; Starlight, Wave, Reactive, Breathing, Spectrum cycling, Static, Ripple and fire you can customize your back-lighting to personalize it for yourself or for whatever game you are on that day. You can make your own or go and download oodles and oodles of user created lighting profiles from razerzone.com/chroma-workshop.

Reactive was pretty neat, lights up the keys you press. You can play and fiddle to your hearts content. You can go completely monochrome or make it breath with colors. Use a seemingly infinite amount of colors and different patterns across your Chroma-enabled devices. The device advertises 16.8 million colors so you’re bound to see a lot of colors that are 1 off from one another etc etc.

You can use the keyboard without the software but for extended functionality you’ll want to install the Synapse 2.0 software that synchronizes all your Razer gear. It can even synchronize your lighting colors and patterns across any Chroma-enabled devices. Pretty cool. If you want to totally geek out you can add on the Razer Firefly Chroma-enabled RGB mousepad for the hat trick.

Chroma SDK’s give gaming developers a way to integrate game feedback and response based on gameplay across the BlackWidow Chroma v2, Death Adder Elite and other Chroma-enabled devices. Games include Quake Champion, Call of Duty Black OPS III, Star Trek Online and more. There are a good handful of about 60 titles so far, with more in development.

“With the Chroma SDK, game developers have the opportunity to integrate lighting effects directly into their game. Creating more intuitive tutorials, pervasive in-game alerts, or even displaying cooldowns and health bars directly across all your Chroma devices” https://www2.razerzone.com/chroma-workshop/games

Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 mechanical gaming keyboard
Without the wrist-rest

Important Specs

The Chroma v2 features a full size keyboard design with number pad and full function key array. There are 5 additional dedicated programmable macro keys that reside vertically along the left side for quick access during gameplay. On-the-fly macro recording makes reassigning functions possible during gameplay. If you’re looking for something more portable, check out the BlackWidow Chroma v2 Tournament Edition sans number pad for a more compact design or the BlackWidow X Tournament Edition for snazzy raised keys and exposed metal top cover and no ergo pad.

Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 mechanical gaming keyboard
USB Pass-through port and 3.5mm audio jack

An integrated USB pass-through allows you to hook up your gaming mouse or even toss in a mini USB hub for easy access. We can’t help but feel good about the braided fiber cable. It feels sturdy and the braiding extends the full length of the cable all the way under the cord bends. The pig-tailed connection requires two USB ports and 3.5mm audio jack for full functionality including the two USB and one audio cable.

1000Hz ultrapolling and 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting technology keeps the key strokes recognized even for when you try and type too fast and pull a fat finger or ignore some keys when you get angry and smash your keys with your palms. It measures 18.72″ wide x 6.74″ deep x 1.54″ thickness and weighs 3.31lbs.

Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 mechanical gaming keyboard

Wrap Up

Gaming is as much about your gaming gear & RIG as it is about the gameplay. So if colors are your thing Razer’s BlackWidow Chroma v2 allows you to apply an almost infinite amount of color combinations to play with. You can even synchronize across Chroma-enabled devices for color themed peripherals. Play popular Chroma enabled games for lighting feedback on your keyboard and mouse, how cool is that?

Razer BlackWidow Chroma v2 $169.99

www.razerzone.com