Razer BlackWidow X Chroma
Comes in any colour you like.
Razer continues its campaign to confuse the hell out of anyone looking for a keyboard, with the BlackWidow X Chroma joining the likes of the Deathstalker Expert, Deathstalker Chroma Membrane, BlackWidow Tournament Edition Essential, BlackWidow Tournament Edition Chroma, BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth and more.
The Chroma has a multicoloured lighting mode — a system that lights keys as you press them, and leaves them lit for a few seconds, before gracefully fading them out, with 16.8 million colours to choose from. The light passes through the letter cutouts on top of the keys, rather than spilling out around the sides, and we prefer it this way. All the lighting effects are controlled from the bundled Synapse software, which is simple to use.
The Chroma comes with Razer’s own switches or the Cherry MX Blues. The height of the keys will come as a surprise to anyone used to a standard membrane keyboard, and we found it tiring to type on for long periods. But this keyboard is built with gamers in mind, rather than typists. Holding your hand on WASD is comfortable, though you may want to add your own wrist rest. The small feet at the back are capable of altering the angle, but only in one position. The Chroma lacks any macro keys and the metal of the keyboard’s frame is exposed, with no plastic cover.
In a world where more is often looked upon as being, well, more, we applaud this smaller keyboard, with its simplicity. It’s only $20 cheaper than its bigger brother, but do you really need those macro keys?