Product: BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed
Type: Mechanical gaming keyboard
Price: $299.95 AUD
Availability: Out Now
Link: https://www.razer.com/gaming/keyboards/razer-blackwidow-v3-mini-hyperspeed
I’ll admit the
BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed is my first < 100% gaming keyboard. But having just
finished up reviewing, yet still actively using, the
Razer Orochi V2 Wireless Gaming Mouse, staying small just felt like a good fit. Well, that and it’s kind of my job, but I digress. Razer’s new 65% gaming keyboard, to get right into the nitty-gritty, is robust and form-perfect. It’s smartly crafted where FN is concerned and while designed as an effective on-the-go keyboard, it more than doubles as a pro gaming keyboard option. In essence, you don’t need to be nomadic to get the most out of an investment here, the BlackWidow V3 can very much be your stay-at-home keyboard, warrior.
"You’re still valuing your investment against a fairly ironclad guarantee of quality on three fronts: functionality, design and durability...”
The price of entry might seem high at first glance for a product of this stature, but when you’re talking about any Razer entry, and we know there are more price-friendly products in the peripheral maker’s stable, you’re still valuing your investment against a fairly ironclad guarantee of quality on three fronts: functionality, design and durability. And so far on the first two there, we’re impressed. On the third… well time will tell, but from a quantifiable usage perspective, you get 200-odd hours from a fully charged BlackWidow V3 in wireless mode, but need the lights off for that marathon to run its touted course.
Look and Feel
As with anything labeled “mini”, the BlackWidow V3 is as advertised -- small. But not delicately so. In fact, it comes across in its decent weight of 800ish grams as a robust product you can back your flailing fingers and wrists behind. In this area too the whole thing, while small, is incredibly comfortable. Being wireless, both via Bluetooth and a 2.4Ghz USB dongle, gives you the freedom to position it anywhere on your desktop, and if you’re doubling it with the Orochi V2, as I have, the extra room you now have for activities between mouse and keyboard real-estate is
Step Brothers levels of excitement.
"The mechanical keys are just the right amount of clickity-clack, for lack of a better description, that you trust every input is doing its job -- they’re incredibly tactile...”
It’s easy enough to just embed Razer dot points throughout a review such as this, but at the end of the day punters want to know how a product
feels. Short of writing the words “*swoon*” and “bliss”, what I can relate is this: the “robust” adjective I’ve used gives the keyboard a solid foundation -- you trust it. The mechanical keys are just the right amount of clickity-clack, for lack of a better description, that you trust every input is doing its job -- they’re incredibly tactile. And switching from a traditional 100% keyboard to the BlackWidow didn’t feel like an adjustment aside from understanding a handful of key placements, though all of this is perfectly placed and highlighted in an easy-to-discover way. The extra 5% in this smaller offering has also allowed for the inclusion of navigation keys, and while 5% might sound trivial, stacked against other 60% offerings (I had a play with a few others for comparison), it’s actually a substantial difference, without hindering the mini selling point.
Clicks and Specs
This is fun stuff for the nerds out there, because Razer has packed a lot into a small package. It helps that this keyboard’s namesake is practically royalty where mechanical gaming keyboards are concerned, and so from a 1Up perspective, it’s biggest competitor is its own version history since the original released way back in 2010 (of which we’ve since seen a number of updates and iterations upon).
Here’s what you get at face value, and under the mini hood:
- Razer™ HyperSpeed Wireless Technology
- Razer HyperSpeed Multi-device Support
- Connect via Razer™ HyperSpeed Wireless (2.4 Ghz), Bluetooth, or USB-C
- Razer Mechanical Switches designed for gaming
- Doubleshot ABS Keycaps
- 80 million keystroke lifespan
- Razer Chroma™ RGB customizable backlighting with 16.8 million color options
- Hybrid On-Board Memory and Cloud Storage – up to 5 profiles
- Razer Synapse 3 enabled
- N-key roll-over
- Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
- Gaming mode option
- 1000 Hz Ultrapolling
- Aluminum construction
There’s a lot to unpack there. From a gaming perspective, we honestly didn’t miss a beat. Playing twitch outings like Overwatch as well as macro-heavy games like
World of Warcraft and
The Isle (actually that was my nine-year-old testing that) just felt easy to transition to, and great to play. Razer boasts a wireless response rate of 1ms, and the difference between USB C wired and 2.4Ghz wireless was negligible in my opinion. Where I found the BlackWidow V3 Mini truly outstanding is in its non-gaming functionality, specifically as someone who uses a PC most days for myriad tasks that range from basic writing and web navigation to design, editing and more.
Type Cast
And it’s in the keyboard’s multi-faceted and supported functionality that I found its price-point worth it. I’ve established that it’s essentially a solid piece of kit, but the mobility that comes from that, alongside the extra 5% to help boost it above other 60% offerings in-market, beyond the actual maths, just gives it an overall edge. I found jumping between cheeky rounds of Overwatch, into Filmora or Photoshop, or in navigating our tired old cumbersome AusGamers backend and its many annoying moving parts… well, easy.
"When it comes to the modern world of plug-and-play, it’s hard to look past this agile option...”
And that’s the best way to sum up the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed -- an easy keyboard. It’s doing and offering a lot under the hood, but when it comes to the modern world of plug-and-play, it’s hard to look past this agile option. Whether it’s work, gaming, leisure, or all three, Razer has delivered a product that can easily take its place on a dedicated desktop, or lie in wait for a backpack excursion alongside its Orochi V2 wireless sibling.
Highly recommended.