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Razer BlackWidow Tournament Edition Review

TheSLSAMG
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So, this won't be long, but I have some thoughts about this keyboard. I bought this keyboard at Amazon on sale for $70. It was my first mechanical keyboard, and I am mostly not disappointed. It feels great, it looks nice, but it has it's problems. I will break it up in 2 categories.

 

Build Quality / Design

 

For the most part, it has good build quality. It feels solid and it takes a lot of force to bend. The soft touch plastic feels nice, but it picks up moisture and oils like moths to a flame. So, you will be cleaning it a lot. This keyboard has a fatal flaw, one which keeps me from ever recommending it to anyone. The detachable cable is extremely weak, and the mini USB connector in the keyboard breaks easily. If my keyboard's cable is not positioned with force to the right of the connector, it will not make contact no matter what cable I use. Also, I would have liked to see a slimmer design with a more raked drop off from the end of the keys to the end of the keyboard. It gets a 2.5/5 from me.

 

Typing Feel

 

It feels good to type on. Cherry MX Blue switches are very nice, as many have established. They are good for typists and for anyone typing a lot, including programmers, authors and people who write code. I like the feel of the switches, but sometimes my hands become fatigued when typing for long amounts of time since MX Blue switches have an actuation force of 50g with a peak force of 60g. They have a large amount of travel for me, 2mm to actuation, 4mm to bottoming out, but I have become used to that. Overall, good. It gets a 4.8/5 from me.

 

Overall, I give the this keyboard a 7.3/10. It is a great deal for what I paid and earns points for the nice switches and solid feel, but it loses points for the iffy mini USB connector and fingerprint-loving surface finish. I have been contacted by Razer offering to replace my keyboard, but I don't have the time to ship out mine, and I have been spoiled by the Cherry MX Blue switch.

 

This is my first review, and any constructive criticism is appreciated.

Main Rig: CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) KLEVV CRAS XR RGB DDR4-3600 | Motherboard: Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX | Storage: 512GB SKHynix PC401, 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2x Micron 1100 256GB SATA SSDs | GPU: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra 10GB | Cooling: ThermalTake Floe 280mm w/ be quiet! Pure Wings 3 | Case: Sliger SM580 (Black) | PSU: Lian Li SP 850W

 

Server: CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3100 | RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) Crucial DDR4 Pro | Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS AC-HES | Storage: 128GB Samsung PM961, 4TB Seagate IronWolf | GPU: AMD FirePro WX 3100 | Cooling: EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB | Case: Corsair 5000D Airflow (White) | PSU: Seasonic Focus GM-850

 

Miscellaneous: Dell Optiplex 7060 Micro (i5-8500T/16GB/512GB), Lenovo ThinkCentre M715q Tiny (R5 2400GE/16GB/256GB), Dell Optiplex 7040 SFF (i5-6400/8GB/128GB)

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Posted

Nice review.

I like the color scheme of Noctua fans. Deal with it. Forget about the bad memories of the past.


"wunder you really are as straight as a rainbow" - Lanoi "can I fisterino your nose" - WunderWuffle


Forget about the bad memories of the past, take the good ones along with you through the present, and look forwards to the good things that will come in the future.

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Nice review.

 

Thanks. It's my first review and I enjoyed writing it :D

Main Rig: CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) KLEVV CRAS XR RGB DDR4-3600 | Motherboard: Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX | Storage: 512GB SKHynix PC401, 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2x Micron 1100 256GB SATA SSDs | GPU: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra 10GB | Cooling: ThermalTake Floe 280mm w/ be quiet! Pure Wings 3 | Case: Sliger SM580 (Black) | PSU: Lian Li SP 850W

 

Server: CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3100 | RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) Crucial DDR4 Pro | Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS AC-HES | Storage: 128GB Samsung PM961, 4TB Seagate IronWolf | GPU: AMD FirePro WX 3100 | Cooling: EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB | Case: Corsair 5000D Airflow (White) | PSU: Seasonic Focus GM-850

 

Miscellaneous: Dell Optiplex 7060 Micro (i5-8500T/16GB/512GB), Lenovo ThinkCentre M715q Tiny (R5 2400GE/16GB/256GB), Dell Optiplex 7040 SFF (i5-6400/8GB/128GB)

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Posted

 fingerprint-loving surface finish. 

I thought most matte finishes are finger print resistant?

I like the color scheme of Noctua fans. Deal with it. Forget about the bad memories of the past.


"wunder you really are as straight as a rainbow" - Lanoi "can I fisterino your nose" - WunderWuffle


Forget about the bad memories of the past, take the good ones along with you through the present, and look forwards to the good things that will come in the future.

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I thought most matte finishes are finger print resistant?

 

That's what I thought. My keyboard picks up fingerprints a lot though. It's strange.

Main Rig: CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) KLEVV CRAS XR RGB DDR4-3600 | Motherboard: Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX | Storage: 512GB SKHynix PC401, 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2x Micron 1100 256GB SATA SSDs | GPU: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra 10GB | Cooling: ThermalTake Floe 280mm w/ be quiet! Pure Wings 3 | Case: Sliger SM580 (Black) | PSU: Lian Li SP 850W

 

Server: CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3100 | RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) Crucial DDR4 Pro | Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS AC-HES | Storage: 128GB Samsung PM961, 4TB Seagate IronWolf | GPU: AMD FirePro WX 3100 | Cooling: EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB | Case: Corsair 5000D Airflow (White) | PSU: Seasonic Focus GM-850

 

Miscellaneous: Dell Optiplex 7060 Micro (i5-8500T/16GB/512GB), Lenovo ThinkCentre M715q Tiny (R5 2400GE/16GB/256GB), Dell Optiplex 7040 SFF (i5-6400/8GB/128GB)

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Short and to the point. I like this review. :)

Setup: i5 4670k @ 4.2 Ghz, Corsair H100i Cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB Ram @ 1600 Mhz, MSI Z87-GD65 Motherboard, Corsair GS700 2013 edition PSU, MSI GTX 770 Lightning, Samsung EVO 120 SSD + 2TB&1TB Seagate Barracudas, BenQ XL2411T Monitor, Sennheiser HD 598 Headphones + AntLion ModMic 4.0

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That's what I thought. My keyboard picks up fingerprints a lot though. It's strange.

:( My Cooler Master Quickfire Pro has a matte surface, and does not have one fingerprint on it... I also have a Das Kayboard, which has a glossy surface, and only has 2 fingerprints on it which wipes away easily...

I like the color scheme of Noctua fans. Deal with it. Forget about the bad memories of the past.


"wunder you really are as straight as a rainbow" - Lanoi "can I fisterino your nose" - WunderWuffle


Forget about the bad memories of the past, take the good ones along with you through the present, and look forwards to the good things that will come in the future.

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  • 1 month later...
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Update: The keyboard has finally died. Do not buy one if you want reliability. I would tell you to spend an extra chunk of change and get an MX Blue Corsair K70. I will probably buy one, and also direct solder a USB cable to the internal connector of the BW Tournament.

Main Rig: CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X | RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) KLEVV CRAS XR RGB DDR4-3600 | Motherboard: Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX | Storage: 512GB SKHynix PC401, 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus, 2x Micron 1100 256GB SATA SSDs | GPU: EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra 10GB | Cooling: ThermalTake Floe 280mm w/ be quiet! Pure Wings 3 | Case: Sliger SM580 (Black) | PSU: Lian Li SP 850W

 

Server: CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3100 | RAM: 32GB (2x16GB) Crucial DDR4 Pro | Motherboard: ASUS PRIME B550-PLUS AC-HES | Storage: 128GB Samsung PM961, 4TB Seagate IronWolf | GPU: AMD FirePro WX 3100 | Cooling: EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB | Case: Corsair 5000D Airflow (White) | PSU: Seasonic Focus GM-850

 

Miscellaneous: Dell Optiplex 7060 Micro (i5-8500T/16GB/512GB), Lenovo ThinkCentre M715q Tiny (R5 2400GE/16GB/256GB), Dell Optiplex 7040 SFF (i5-6400/8GB/128GB)

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  • 1 year later...
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Hello, I'm planning to buy this keyboard so I was wondering is it worth buying since it has been updated with new Razer green switches?

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