Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 Review

Razer products are one of the best gaming products you can buy at the moment, and if you are more into E-sports, you’ll see that this brand has a significant influence. Razer Blackwidow is a great series of keyboards by this company, and this Tournament Edition Chroma V2 is one of the most expensive keyboards you can get for improving your gaming performance. Being just over six-months-old, Chroma V2 boasts some great performance that we’re going to take a look at in just a minute, but it’s also very expensive.

Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 Design and Build Quality

Let’s start with the design and build quality. For a keyboard to be good, it needs to be well-crafted, especially when we talk about gaming keyboards like Chroma V2. More or less, Blackwidow keyboards look almost identical, with a little-to-no difference in design. It’s 18.7 inches wide, and around 6.7 inches tall. Just take a measure, and you’ll see that it’s pretty big, almost half a meter long, and the keyboard I’m typing on is around 30 centimeters, so I took my time to get used to this keyboard. Thankfully, Chroma V2 justifies its size, with all of the keys being at the right place, with nothing subtracted. They even added an extra six macro keys to the far left.

Check: Razer Blackwidow X Chroma Review.

At the bottom, there is a small Razer logo which adds a nice touch to design. The new thing that Tournament Edition offers is a detachable wrist rest. It also took me some time to get used to it, and it’s very comfortable, properly sized and it can be easily detached or attached. I often hear Razer fans arguing about the wrist rest is the only innovation here, but hey, think about it again. This is surely a hell of a feature, that you’ll want more and more once you get used to it. Aside from that, the build quality is top notch, with the all-black chassis covering the entire of the keyboard.

Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 Keys

As with every Blackwidow keyboard, Chroma V2 comes in three switch flavors variants: Yellow, Green, and Orange. If you read the past review of Blackwidow keyboards on our site, I told that Green variant is a little noisy, Orange is quieter and the Yellow is a new feature. Yellow switches require much lower force to activate it, so it may be odd in the beginning, once you get used to it. As I don’t like to have to press the keys so hard, the Yellow variant was my favorite, along with the Orange. Pity, as Green is my favorite color!

For whatever variant you decide, the keys are very comfortable; not too clunky, not too loose, but just about right. The keys are also properly spaced, so I often found myself typing very fast and accurate with it, with minimal mistakes. Yes, the typing is great for this one! Surely, it’s a gaming keyboard, but I must again praise the feeling when typing. The gaming works really well, and the keys are responsive, comfortable and work flawlessly. I’m glad they fixed those clunky keys from Blackwidow X Chroma keyboard. Now I have a full-fledged keyboard, capable of everything I want from it.

Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 Review Features

In the end, it all boils down to features. Is Chroma V2 a worthy piece of peripheral in the series? Well, with this much improvements, it’s definitely YES for me. The great Razer Synapse 2.0 software makes its return here, along with a vivid RGB Illumination. Let’s quickly check Chroma V2’s features in the list below:

Razer Synapse 2.0

Razer Synapse 2.0 is a great addition to this keyboard, letting you change various settings once you install it. You can now remap certain keys and make some of them have a function of a mouse click, control your lighting, create various schemes for games and much more. It works really fast, and I found it to be very reliable, setting up my gaming profile upon opening the particular game.

Great RGB Illumination

It’s not the classic RGB Illumination in this keyboard, as it offers various manipulation in the mentioned software. You can now create rainbow effects, use your own pattern to create effects or the pre-existing patterns from Razer. There is also an automatic RGB lighting profile for some games, alerting you to various variables like an empty clip or low health in some games.

Great response time

I tested the keyboard in some of the most popular games, and I’m amazed by how fast it is. It’s almost like reading my mind. The moment I press it, things start happening. It’s one of the greatest gaming keyboards I’ve reviewed in some time.

Great durability

Having an all-black, plastic design and coating, you would think that durability isn’t the strength of this keyboard. Well, let me tell you-you would be wrong! The keyboard is big, but it’s also almost 3 pounds heavy, making it robust, sturdy and very durable. It will even sustain a fall to the ground, but I highly doubt that you’ll carry this chunky keyboard around.

Wrist rest

Last but not least, wrist rest is a great innovation for this keyboard. You can now rest from your gaming by placing your arms on a wrist rest, or even game with it, as it offers a great comfort for your wrists. It’s also easily detachable or attachable, so if you don’t like it, you can just store it away.

Verdict

So, is Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Chroma V2 worth $169? Well, both yes and no. I’m not a fan of that expensive keyboards, and I sure as hell don’t need all of these fancy features. But, if you like to have all of these features, a great RGB lighting, and want to have an edge in gaming, then Chroma V2 is probably worth your money. It’s a solid, durable and reliable gaming keyboard, able to serve you even for the other needs and still perform very well.