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Conclusion
Razer bills its custom switch as ideal for gaming, and that claim is not untrue. However, it's also not necessarily true for a number of gamers. The clickiness and tactile bump may turn off those who are linear (eg, Cherry MX Red) diehards. On the other hand, the clicky feel may appeal to gamers that also spend lots of time typing, or those who just enjoy the tactility and noise.
In my time clacking away on the Razer BlackWidow Chroma, I found the experience perfectly acceptable while both typing and gaming. Reds, of course, can be a little tricky for typing because of the lack of tactile feedback, but then Blues can be a bit noisy (and with complicated key stroke events) for some gamers. There is a barely perceptible difference between Razer Green switches and the Cherry MX and Kailh Blue switches I compared them to.
Razer has invested much of its energy into the lighting and software, and it shows. Although I dislike the need to download a Synapse update and restart my PC every time I connect a new Razer peripheral, once you have things set, the software is sufficiently easy to use and offers myriad customization features. Other than the rare, odd dead key issue, I found no glitches in Razer Synapse 2.0, and its performance was consistent, if a little slow at times.
The lighting customization options are so vast and granular that it's almost ridiculous, and Razer has done strong work in designing a backplate that enhances the LED performance.
Although that soft-look finish is attractive—moreso than hard, textured plastic—it shows "shine" too quickly. After just a couple of hours of use, especially on the palm rest, you can tell that it's been used.
One aspect of the BlackWidow Chroma that I take serious issue with is the Costar-like stabilizers on the wider keys. They break far too easily, which makes cleaning underneath the keys a nail-biting task, and they can offer an uneven key stroke if you strike at all off-center. Essentially, the stabs torpedo the otherwise strong performance of the switch. This is especially true of the spacebar; how often do you hit the spacebar dead center compared to striking it somewhat to the left or right? For a premium-priced keyboard, this is a tough pill to swallow for me.
What the Razer BlackWidow Chroma (Origin PC Edition) has going for it is the strong lighting and robust software offerings. It also has that "Razer" look, including the funky font on the keys, which will appeal to fans of the company's products.
However, the noisy Green switches won't appeal to some users, and the stabilizer issues could be a dealbreaker for others. (The same is true for the BlackWidow Ultimate.)
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Seth Colaner is the News Director of Tom's Hardware. Follow him on Twitter.
