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.

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"You’re still valuing your investment against a fairly ironclad guarantee of quality on three fronts: functionality, design and durability...”

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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

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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.

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"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...”

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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

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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

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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.

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"When it comes to the modern world of plug-and-play, it’s hard to look past this agile option...”

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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.