Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: Keyboards don’t need screens

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If you ask a dozen PC gamers who makes the ultimate gaming keyboard, odds are good that more than one will answer Razer. If you ask Razer which of their keyboards is its own ultimate, they’ll answer “the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%.” Then they’ll take a breath, because that is a mouthful. 

The Pro upgrade to the original BlackWidow V4 75% adds wireless capability, an OLED screen, and PBT keycaps. Oh, and over $100 on the price tag — this $300 keyboard is now the brand’s most expensive by a healthy margin. While it’s not the priciest keyboard on the market, it’s definitely a splashy flex of a purchase, and well beyond the realm of an impulse buy.

Is the Pro version of Razer’s ultimate keyboard design better than its original wired model? Yes. Is it $110 better? No. If you want a wireless upgrade that has this keyboard’s premium materials and customizable options, I’d recommend going with a competing model. But if you’re a die-hard Razer fan and you want its ultimate mechanical keyboard, it’s at least plausible as a purchase. 

Design 

If you’re interested in the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% (I’m just going to call it the “Pro” from here on out), odds are pretty good that you’ve already looked at the non-Pro predecessor. I’d recommend perusing that review, as I don’t want to cover too much of the same ground. The original is a fantastic mix of custom keyboard and gaming keyboard features, but if you aren’t sold on it, you probably won’t be along for the ride here, either. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

But to summarize, the V4 75% is a damn good blend of features from high-end gaming boards you’d expect from the Razer heritage, and a ton of new features borrowed from increasingly popular premium designs from the likes of Keychron and Nuphy. We’re talking high-end, satisfying tactile switches, hot-swap sockets if you want to try out something different, internal padding for a better feel and sound profile, and all the extra goodies like RGB, a volume knob, and side-lighting. 

Pretty much the only major features that the original design lacked were wireless and adjustable actuation, the latter of which remains an exclusive to Razer’s Huntsman line. It’s a great choice if you like to tweak your keyboard, but you still love Razer’s gaming-focused features…and you don’t mind a bit of a splurge. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

Aside from the jaw-dropping asking price, the Pro adds Razer’s high-speed wireless with Bluetooth for multi-device functionality, the company’s first display on a mechanical keyboard (it’s tried this before, but not recently), and upgraded PBT keycaps. Let’s tackle all of those first. 

Wireless upgrade

Razer has been making wireless PC gaming accessories for a long time now, and pretty much has it down to a science. Testing out the Pro for several weeks I never encountered a single hiccup, even though I was using either the 2.4GHz connection or Bluetooth for almost the entire time. It’s rock-solid, and if you have the superhuman reflexes to notice the 4,000Hz polling rate, I’m sure you’ll appreciate it. 

That speedy polling apparently requires a bit more hardware than can be fit into the usual dime-sized dongle seen on other Razer keyboards and mouse. This one needs a separate USB-C cable, and it’s chonky, about the size (but not the weight) of a 9-volt battery. It’s a bit of a disappointment as part of the allure of a wireless keyboard is keeping your desk nice and tidy, and it also limits this thing’s travel appeal. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

But be honest: If you’re spending $300 on a gaming keyboard, you have a massive desktop setup anyway. One more cable to mind probably won’t be a huge hindrance. A bigger issue might be the battery life, at least when using this keyboard to its full potential. But that’s an issue for later in the review. 

PBT keycaps 

It’s about damn time. 

I’ve complained about Razer’s insistence on cheaper ABS plastic for its keyboards for years, and been told by Razer representatives that its customers only really wanted the more premium feel of PBT on the Huntsman line. This, while offering its own PBT upgrade as a separate purchase, rang hollow to me. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

I dare say that even Razer couldn’t keep up that reasoning for the most expensive keyboard in its current lineup, no matter what branding was put on the box. The Pro upgrade comes with PBT keycaps out of the box, as it darn well should. 

The keycaps are solid and pleasant for both typing and gaming, even while offering shine-through for the RGB lighting. If you’re not a fan of the all-black look you can replace them with your own set, with only the right modifier keys being non-standard. Even then, this 75% layout is so common that you shouldn’t have trouble finding something to match. 

Screen…dangit.

The OLED screen is perhaps the most dramatic change in the Pro upgrade. It’s a 2-inch, black-and-white strip that can show you your current configuration, offer adjustments to the keyboard, and (most of the time) enhance your typing experience with a looping animation. 

Let’s get down to brass tacks: I think putting a screen on a keyboard is stupid. It adds essentially zero functionality — after all, if you’re using a computer you’re already looking at a screen. And any changes or adjustments you make on-the-fly can be communicated via an alert from paired software (Razer’s Synapse in this case) or just displayed via the keyboard’s own lighting (see the Huntsman’s adjustable actuation visualization for a good example). 

Michael Crider/Foundry

No matter how you dress it up with lighting or keycaps or other ornamentation, a keyboard is a tool you’re not supposed to be looking at while you actually use it. Doubly so if you buy a gaming