mind the dust

I may have a problem. After purchasing a bunch of RedDragon and two Keychron mechanical keyboards, I then got this beauty, the Razer Blackwidow v3 Mini Hyperspeed! In betwen my last post and this post is when I got the Keychrons. I got a K3 and aK4, and on the K4 replaced the red switches it came with, with black switches, and then switched back to the reds. Can't beat reds. I also replaced the ABS keycaps with these KVX PBT keycaps. But you know what ... this isn't about that keyboard. This is about:

I don't have a dusting lady for my office

So, with my extensive experience with mechanical keyboards, what do I think about this Razer Blackwidow v3 Mini Hyperspeed? Let me tell you!

Size

The Razer Blackwidow v3 Mini Hyperspeed is a 65% keyboard. They chopped off the row of function keys, and practically everything to the right of the ENTER key, keeping only the arrow keys, Del, PgUp, PgDn, and Ins. Most of the other keys can be accessed by holding the Fn key down and pressing the modifier key, e.g. Fn+apostrophe to press Home. These keyboards sacrifice the dedicated navigation keys and numpad for a compact form factor, which means your mouse doesn't have to be three miles away from your hand, which is usually sat by the home row. Another advantage is that this keyboard is ultra-portable. Which brings us to

Connectivity

Just grab the 2.4 Ghz wireless dongle, slot it under the keyboard (there's a dedicated space for it), and you're on the go! If you don't want to worry about the dongle, you can also connect to up to three Bluetooth compatible devices. When all else fails, you can connect via USB-C cable (included).

Customizability

There are four definable macro keys across the right side of the keyboard, which are programmable either via Razer software, or directly on the keyboard. With four profiles, you could potentially have 16 different macros set up. It's handy to have them, but since you need to press Fn in order to use them, they aren't the most convenient to use.

Lighting

RGB lighting with 6 different presets and multiple color options, programmable both under Razer Synapse and directly on the keyboard.

Switchfeel

The keyboard comes with Razer yellow switches. They're linear and really quiet. I kind of like these keys a lot. Keypresses are all consistent and even the stabilizers are top-notch. The keyboard is also available with Razer Green switches, but I'm not a fan of the clicky ones so I didn't even bother trying it out.

Despite these keys being linear, and supposedly comparable to Cherry MX reds (or silent reds), I find them a bit mushy feeling. I enjoyed the crisp typing experience on my other mechanicals with Red switches; even the Otemu ones felt comparable to better, and they all tout 45g force but these just don't feel as good.

I've dug up some numbers, and it looks like the Razers have a shorter travel distance (1.2mm pre-travel vs Cherry's 2.0mm, with a total travel of 3.2mm vs 4.0mm), but it certainly does not translate to a better switchfeel.

But how do I like it?

I'll be honest. I don't like it as much as my daily driver, the Keychron K4. I like Keychron so much I helped kickstart the Q4. But I do like this keyboard a lot.

Yes, I've got my problems with the keyboard. When compared to the low-profile Keychron K3 this keyboard is a couple leaps and bounds better, and you can even swap the keycaps with other Cherry MX-compatible keycaps. Wireless gaming on this is great with the Hyperspeed dongle. And even though I'd prefer having that row of function keys across the top, it's no big feat to train myself to hit Fn+5 instead of F5 (for example), so I can still use this keyboard for work.

The Razer Blackwidow V3 Mini Hyperspeed retails for $179.99 but right now it is available on Amazon at 17% off, for $148.53