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What material is the Razer BlackWidow V4 Tenkeyless HyperSpeed made of?
What mechanical keyboard keycaps are compatible with the Razer BlackWidow V4 Tenkeyless HyperSpeed?
What switches are compatible with the Razer BlackWidow V4 Tenkeyless HyperSpeed?
My BlackWidow V2 was on death’s bed. Found the next version one at Best Buy for $40 off (in Canada). I like the less keys so was happy to snag this!
I wanted to write a relatively short review on the Blackwidow V3 TKL with the Yellow Switches since I've seen no videos or articles online covering it in English. I personally ordered mine from Best Buy and there are a few differences over the Green Switch model. I've listed the primary differences below
Key Switch Generation: The Yellow Switch model comes with the revised Yellow Switches that include the clear housing as well as the sound dampeners
Key Caps: While there doesn't seem to be a consensus online regarding whether the key caps on the Green model are ABS or PBT, my model came with the Doubleshot ABS caps that Razer is using on their other Blackwidow Keyboards
Overall, I only have 2 complaints regarding the V3 TKL. For starters, the logo does not glow like it is shown in Razer's marketing. This is pretty deceptive and while it's not a bummer for me, I'm sure it would be for some other people considering the glowing logo is so iconic across the Blackwidow line. My only other complaint lies in the horrible cheapo rubber cable that it comes with stock. As you can see in my included pictures, mine has a braided cable. This is because I couldn't stand the horrible bulky rubber one that it came with so I decided to swap it with the cable from my water damaged Blackwidow V3 that the TKL was replacing. With the swap done, I really have no other complaints.
I also think that it's worth pointing out that the acoustics are better on the TKL than the normal full-sized board. This is mostly because of there being less wasted space inside of the board. There is no ping whatsoever after you lube the stabilizers and for Razer's ground-floor model of the Blackwidow, I think that's worth praising. During my tear-down I even noticed that there is dampening foam in between the PCB and the top plate now which is nice to see in an off the shelf board.
Value: 7/10 - The rubber cable at the $100.00 bracket is simply unacceptable. The retention bracket is the same in the V3 and V3 TKL, this means that Razer went out of their way to make the tooling for a rubber cable for the V3 TKL just to save on manufacturing costs. Obviously it makes sense for them to go this route, but it really makes the board look cheap which is very disappointing for $100.00.
Build Quality: 9/10 - Other than the missing glowing logo I have no complaints. Built well for a modern gaming keyboard overall. No deck flex when typing or gaming and it cleans up easily with a Swiffer.
Acoustics: 9/10 - Easily one of the best sounding stock boards I've heard for $100.00, let alone from a gaming brand. After you lube the stabilizers, the only sound you'll hear is the thocking of they keys as you type
Performance: 10/10 - No issues with typing or gaming whatsoever. Double pressing issue was resolved with a firmware update about a year ago and mine came with the patch out of the box.
Imgur Photos: https://imgur.com/a/u7kasOQ