Razer BlackWidow Lite TKL Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard : Orange Key Switches - Tactile & Silent - White Individual Key Lighting - Compact Design - Detachable Cable - Classic Black

This is a superb gaming keyboard with limited button features, but Razers synapse program makes it an amazing tool to keep your game sharp. Four stars for a great build, cool customizable lights right now to the individual key, an excellently built wrist rest that conveniently snaps on to the keyboard, and an intuitive program that allows for all of the customization. Fast and reliable, obviously tough with lots of use. While an expensive keyboard, I got the tactile and clicky version on sale, and holy crap do they mean clicky. It sounds like a damn typewriter, but is a very effective and deadly fast board for anyone looking to step up their game. I’d advise to wait for a sale, or spend a little extra on a version with some more options if you got the coin, and probably a quieter switch set.

Bought in March 2020. Its now May 2023. The keyboard itself was perfect for me... but the left ALT key no longer works. I use the keyboard for work and light gaming. Im disappointed because I have a Razer mouse that lasted almost a decade. That was through lots of gaming sessions.

The biggest reason I like it is how perfectly it fits right on top of my 15 laptop so I dont have to use the cruddy laptop keyboard. The wrist pad stays exactly where it should stay, which covers up the touch pad on the laptop, but Id just as soon use my mouse anyway (a Razer DeathAdder V2). Together, the TKL keyboard and wrist pad fit on top of my open laptop as if they were made for it. To get the Razer keyboard and mouse working on my linux OS, I had to install both the open-source Razer Chroma Linux drivers and a linux program called Polychromatic, but both were fairly easy to install and straight forward with plenty of places online for instructions on downloading and installing. I did replace the USB cable it comes with, in spite of it seeming like a durable cable, partially because I didnt need such a long cable for my purposes, but mainly because I was afraid the cable would not last as long with it sticking straight out from the back of the keyboard and potentially rubbing against the laptop screen. I replaced the cable with a shorter cable and a right angle USB adapter. One thing that was slightly annoying is that the keyboard requires a Mini-B connector for the end of the USB cable that plugs into the keyboard instead of a USB-C or USB-A. This makes finding a suitable replacement for the cable should it one day be necessary just a little more difficult.

Not the fault of the keyboard. I think I have just not been typing on mechanical keys in too many years. In any case, I found it too difficult to type on or do much of anything else. But, no problem. My daughter has the membrane Razr Chrono and more than cheerfully traded with me. She tends to pound the keys and loves the mechanical keys. So, problem solved. It was a very good trade. My thoughts about the mechanical keys (which I previously adored). I love the click and tactile feedback. It was quite difficult for me to hit the keys with enough force to properly execute any function. However, I have been working off laptops with membrane keys for probably over a decade at this point, so my hands are trained to that orientation now. You love mechanical keys? This is the keyboard for you. It is quite lovely. Just not for the old lady me.

This is my 2nd mechanical keyboard. My first was loud clunky. This was an amazing switch. Worth every penny. With the synapse program I can control the brightness, which is great. I dont like it being super bright, so its just bright enough to read the letters well. That is actually my only complaint, that the letters and numbers are lit, but not the characters. It makes it difficult to see if I need to use a character I dont use often (The plus sign, for example). This keyboard comes with o-rings, which I am using as well. It does help dampen the sound a lot, but there is still a bit of a clicky sound. Which can suck when youre gaming with an open mic, but I havent received many complaints, as my gamer friends seem to like the sound.

I purchased this keyboard as part of my Work from Home setup. I like the feel of the keys and its quiter than my other mechanical keyboard I use for gaming. I put the orange o-rings on, and its really only slightly quieter. I intend to take this keyboard to work for my office setup when my office opens back up. This keyboard looks very professional and the onboard controls allow me to adjust backlight without the need for the Razer Software, which is good for those trying to use the keyboard on a corporate computer. I like having the functionality of a mechanical keyboard without the rainbow of backlight, which cant be controlled on a corporate computer. Overall, a great keyboard that is good for gaming and work.

Wanted a tkl for gaming and working from home. I definitely found it with this one. The orange switches are nice and tactile with a quieter but still audible actuation. The included o-rings are essential for the sound to be dampened further and since this is advertised as a silent keyboard Id say the rings are completely necessary to get as close to that as possible. Typing feel good and smooth, caps sit at a normal height, not flat like a mac keyboard for reference. I type quick and the board responds well with no accidental keystrokes. Aesthetically I love the minimal look of the board, lighting is vibrant on full and can be minimized from the keyboard shortcuts or through Razer Synapse. Keycaps are ABS and after more than 2 months of daily use, mainly gaming, the WASD keys are a bit shiny but otherwise the board holds up to all my expectations.

I bought this keyboard in December 2021, and its October 2022 now. I use this keyboard regularly for gaming, and everything has been great up until recently where my left alt key isnt working half the time I press it, and I use it a LOT for the game I play, so its not looking good. The tab key is also starting to not work when pressed. Id expect this to happen over time, but not when its been less than a year and other keyboards have never had this issue.

Update: Now that I know there is a much bigger world in mechanical keyboard, I see that this one is just an entry level cheaper-than-average keyboard. Considering the price, it is ok, but I want more, and more! I recommend to pay a little more and get a better quality keyboard in terms of feels and noise. So far, this keyboard is an outstanding experience for a new mechanical keyboard user. I’ve been using logitech K800, which uses scissor type low profile membrane keys, which works great with no wrist pain thanks to its extremely low profile, laptop-like keys. However, it lacks the fun, which I did not know there can be any fun in typing before I met this. Typing mechanical keys is so much more fun than typing the membrane keyboards. The mechanical key bounces back after being pressed, and that makes typing a lot more responsive and faster. Typing sound can be a matter of preference. Even though it uses orange keys, your coworkers may not like it. O-rings do not help much. It slightly reduces noise, but the typing feels better without it. The caveat is that the key height is much higher than my old low profile keyboard K800, so I am worried that there might be some fatigue in the wrist. I purchased a wrist pad as well, and so far it looks fine. If I ever purchase another mechanical keyboard, I would purchase the one with integrated wrist pad like the latest blackwidow v3.

I bought this hoping for a silent keyboard to use in the work environment. The build quality of the keyboard and cable are all good, the functionality is overall good, but the advertised silent attribute is not really there. I have experience with mechanical keyboards and commercially-made silent switches, and knowledge of what contributes to noise in a mechanical keyboard setup. The Razer Orange switches used here are comparable to Cherry MX Browns or Gateron Browns in terms of both feel and sound level. The keycaps look similar to Cherry profile and they are shine-through. The keyboard has a sort of floating design in which you can see the sides of the tops of all the switches, and that helps with spreading the lighting effect. You do not have to install or use Razer Synapse software to use the keyboard and control backlighting, but you can use the software if youd like to remap keys, create custom macros, etc. Package included: - keyboard - thin plastic cover to protect the keyboard from dust - detachable braided micro USB cable with rubber covers - optional o-rings for keycaps - basic keycap puller (ring claw type) - Razer papers and stickers Overall good features: - plug and play, not required to use the software for basic functionality - good overall lighting visibility - good build quality overall - switches feel good to type with Personal complaints: - The tactile switches dont really make this keyboard silent. A different switch design and/or case design would have helped to further reduce sound. The o-rings only helped a little bit to dampen the sound from the keycaps downward motion. Speaking from experience I have used Cherry MX and Kailh silent switches before, and they are noticeably quiet as desired with no keycap o-rings needed either. - The backlighting does not light up the shifted symbols or FN functions on the keycaps. For example on the number row in the dark you cannot see the symbol legends like ! and on the F row in the dark you cannot see the volume control/media control legends. On other keys like the slash / you cannot see the question mark ? in the dark since its also not lit. This issue is not as bad if you are not working in the dark or very low lighting, but isnt the best purpose of backlighting for helping to see it all in the dark or low lighting? At minimum, it would have been better if the shifted symbols were also lit with backlighting, because I think almost everyone uses those as much as all the letters and numbers. - The stabilizers used are the basic metal bar style (no Cherry style stems on the ends). The stabilizers contribute to noise a little bit and this design contributes to the difficulty of swapping in different keycap sets because youll need additional pieces that go into the Cherry style stem holes on most keycap sets. They did have some lube/grease from factory. - The bottom key row (CTRL, WIN, ALT, spacebar, etc) has mostly non-standard/uncommon sizes. This makes it harder for you to find full keycap sets (from non-Razer brands) to customize this keyboard with because of the bottom row keycap sizes. This non-standard bottom row sizing is also present on a lot of other gaming brand keyboards unfortunately. My thoughts: If you do not need the keyboard to be truly silent and you are not intending to change out the key cap set, this is a good affordable TKL option overall. Tactile switches are lower noise than any clicky, but to be quieter than a clicky is a low benchmark to beat. For me, the number one requirement I had was looking for a setup that is silent, and this really did not do it. Even with the provided optional o-rings installed, it did not bring the noise down to what other mechanical keyboards with silent switches provide. A lot of other brands offer keyboards with different silent switches installed within a variety of price ranges. Some are Ducky, Durgod, Leopold, Vortex, Obins, Varmilo, Filco, KBParadise, IKBC, Mistel and Ganns. For silent switches, Cherry MX, Gateron, and Kailh have affordable ones and have both linear and tactile types available. Theres some others out there when you get more in-depth into mechanical keyboard building but they cost more and are not often seen in pre-built commercially-offered setups.