I'm new to this forum, and I just really needed someones opinion on this.
I have a Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013 now, and I was thinking on replacing it since I'm not a big fan of blue switches. I wanted to stick with Razer cause it hasn't failed me yet. I came across G710, looked through its performance and saw it uses browns. Its one of my favorite switches, and the quality of it is great (or so it says). I never purchased any Logitech products, so I'm not quite familiar with it. Razer Blackwidow 2014 uses orange switches (in the stealth version), it's the same replica of the 2013 but has 60 million keystrokes, 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting, etc. I saw the video reviews on this, and they've been having good ratings. Now, I'm stuck between choosing Razer or Logitech.
Any thoughts?
Razer Blackwidow 2014 Stealth Edition or Logitech G710+?
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Findecanor
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- DT Pro Member: 0011
Welcome to the forum!
The numbers in the marketing don't mean much. Razer is notorious for exaggerating in their marketing, often making misleading claims. Partly for that reason, they are not very liked among enthusiasts...
I have not tried Razer's orange switches, but supposedly they are like the Cherry MX Brown in the Logitech G710 except that the tactile point is higher up and that the Logitech has O-rings factory-installed making the keys softer when you bottom out. You could always install O-rings in the Razer afterwards.
There are lots of keyboards from other makers that differ quite little in quality. All major mechanical keyboards have Cherry MX Brown as an option and have good response time and rollover. I think you should go for the features, layout and styling that you want, and of course price.
If backlighting is less important and you want to be able to use aftermarket keycap sets in the future, then I think you should choose Ducky instead, even though their keyboards look plain in comparison and don't have as many gaming-features. They make quality keyboards and the standard size of the keys make exchanging keys easier.
The numbers in the marketing don't mean much. Razer is notorious for exaggerating in their marketing, often making misleading claims. Partly for that reason, they are not very liked among enthusiasts...
I have not tried Razer's orange switches, but supposedly they are like the Cherry MX Brown in the Logitech G710 except that the tactile point is higher up and that the Logitech has O-rings factory-installed making the keys softer when you bottom out. You could always install O-rings in the Razer afterwards.
There are lots of keyboards from other makers that differ quite little in quality. All major mechanical keyboards have Cherry MX Brown as an option and have good response time and rollover. I think you should go for the features, layout and styling that you want, and of course price.
If backlighting is less important and you want to be able to use aftermarket keycap sets in the future, then I think you should choose Ducky instead, even though their keyboards look plain in comparison and don't have as many gaming-features. They make quality keyboards and the standard size of the keys make exchanging keys easier.
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RadikulRAM
- Location: United Kingdom, England
- Main keyboard: Razer Blackwidow '13 ult
- Main mouse: Zowie FK 2014
- Favorite switch: I can't decide!
- DT Pro Member: -
I've got the Razer Black Widow ultimate 2013, the same as yours, and I would not recommend it.
I guess you haven't used the software much? Or for long? It's bloody atrocious.
As for the hardware, it's fine, but really expensive for what it is. I regret not doing much more research.
The "orange" switches in the 2014 edition are Kalih switches, a cheap Chinese knock off of the Cherry switches. Are they going with 60 million actuations now? I seem to remember 40 million or something from their video.
Other than that Findecanor is on point. If you're interested in Mechanical keyboards, check out IBM model M's (buckling switches), Alps and Topre's too.
I guess you haven't used the software much? Or for long? It's bloody atrocious.
As for the hardware, it's fine, but really expensive for what it is. I regret not doing much more research.
The "orange" switches in the 2014 edition are Kalih switches, a cheap Chinese knock off of the Cherry switches. Are they going with 60 million actuations now? I seem to remember 40 million or something from their video.
Other than that Findecanor is on point. If you're interested in Mechanical keyboards, check out IBM model M's (buckling switches), Alps and Topre's too.
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Findecanor
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- DT Pro Member: 0011
Actually, the switches in the Razer keyboards are an improved type of Kailh switches, but yes the original Kailh switches are cheap knock-offs. I would love to see a proper in-depth comparison of Razer switches, Cherry MX and older Kailh switches.RadikulRAM wrote: ↑The "orange" switches in the 2014 edition are Kalih switches, a cheap Chinese knock off of the Cherry switches.
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RadikulRAM
- Location: United Kingdom, England
- Main keyboard: Razer Blackwidow '13 ult
- Main mouse: Zowie FK 2014
- Favorite switch: I can't decide!
- DT Pro Member: -
What makes them improved?
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Findecanor
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- DT Pro Member: 0011
The Razer switches have gold-plated contact points - which Cherry MX always have had, but older Kailh switches haven't. As to materials and manufacturing tolerances, Razer claims improvements but I have yet to see that confirmed. I (have already said that I) would love to see a close-up comparison.
It has been confirmed by many that have tried them that the Razer switches - both orange and green - do indeed have a pre-actuation travel that is a fraction of a mm shorter than Cherry MX ... but so does Alps. You can't objectively say that shorter pre-actuation travel would be better or more "for gaming": If that was so important then more gamers would use keyboards with Alps (XM, Fuhua, etc) than Cherry MX.
It has been confirmed by many that have tried them that the Razer switches - both orange and green - do indeed have a pre-actuation travel that is a fraction of a mm shorter than Cherry MX ... but so does Alps. You can't objectively say that shorter pre-actuation travel would be better or more "for gaming": If that was so important then more gamers would use keyboards with Alps (XM, Fuhua, etc) than Cherry MX.