Razer Black Widow Ultimate

By: Sean Dibble

Well, it didn't take me long to find another gaming peripheral from Razer that I instantly fell in love with. The Black Widow is a wired keyboard that any gamer desires. With its sleek design and ultra-smooth keystrokes, it’s hard not to fall in love with it. Additionally, for the more hardcore gamer, this Black Widow allows for programming of up to five (yes, five!) different keysets, all for different games if need be.

Design

The Razer Black Widow Keyboard is like most other Razer equipment, with the standard black base color with green highlights. Let me tell you, when you combine all your Razer equipment, your room will glow in a magical green that says you’re the ultimate gamer. The keyboard is slim and easy to carry around if need be. Like I previously mentioned, it has five sets of different keys that you can program for special games which you enjoy playing so you don’t have to go in and reset keystrokes each time you feel like switching it up. Instead of having to go in and reset the keys manually, the keyboard automatically remembers them for you, making it ideal for the veteran gamer.

We all know how useful USB ports are, but the seasoned gamer has more than their fair share of hardware. Counting the mouse, keyboard, external hard drive, printer, headset… you get the picture. Most PCs and laptops have a limited amount of USB ports, and when you have as much stuff as I do, your desk gets pretty cluttered. Razer found a solution for this problem. Remember that pesky headset you use to play games? Not only does this keyboard have USB port, but it also has both a microphone and headphone jack; perfect to plug in your other Razer headgear (or any other headgear. Whatever floats your boat).

Functionality

This keyboard practically screams functionality. With smooth and easy keystrokes, you’ll fly through whatever you’re typing. For me, it increased my typing speed a bit, and it even has an anti-ghosting function which allows you to quickly go from one key to the next without adding in extra characters where they aren’t needed. In the heat of gaming, there’s no telling how many times you might accidentally press an unnecessary key, so it’s a pretty ingenious addition if you ask me.

Again, gamers will love this keyboard due to the ability to store five separate sets of game command keys in it. This keyboard also syncs up with Razer Synapse (a cloud-based hardware driver installer) and it can constantly download the latest device updates for you. This way, your keyboard drivers are always up to snuff and ready to go.

Usually at this point in the review I would mention something bad about the item or game, but honestly… I’m at a loss. I can’t find a single thing wrong with this keyboard. It’s slim and easy to carry, looks sleek and sexy, feels great when you type, and it has a long cord (usually a negative, in my opinion); but what this cord allows me to do is to do all my typing on my big-screen television. I can move my gaming rig to the large-screen TV, which translates into a very happy nerd.

The Black Widow can be purchased for around $130, which might seem pretty expensive, but it’s more than worth what you get out of it in entertainment value. You’ll find that your modest investment was well-made and money well-spent. Who knows? With Thanksgiving and Black Friday just around the corner, you might find a pretty sweet deal on this keyboard… that is, if you can make it through the crowd of crazy, rabid Americans who have forgotten what the meaning of Thanksgiving is.

So, what are you waiting for? Go out there, get the keyboard of your dreams, and GAME ON!

Good:

- Super sleek design. Who can’t love it?

- Gaming preset keys, allowing for immediate action.

- Easy keystrokes for fast-paced gaming.

- Long cord, if you need to move somewhere.

- Compatible with Razer Synapse, so your hardware is always up to date.

Bad:

- Absolutely nothing, unless you want to count the price (which isn’t even all that bad).

Scully Rating: 10 out of 10