Razer BlackWidow Elite Mechanical Gaming Keyboard: Green Mechanical Switches - Tactile & Clicky - Chroma RGB Lighting - Magnetic Wrist Rest - Dedicated Media Keys & Dial - USB Passthrough

This is the first "super high end" keyboard I've bought.I laughed at the thought of spending more than $100 on a keyboard.However, my old one was having issues and I needed a new one.During my review searching, I kept seeing BlackWidow Elite mentioned. It showed up more than a few times.I checked it out and was like "No! I'm not paying almost $200 for that!" then I kept reading. And it showed up a lot.After doing tons of searching through Amazon, I ended up coming back to this one and doing more research. I was intrigued. I started looking for specific reviews about this keyboard. YouTube. Reddit. Amazon. And more...This keyboard has a lot going for it.It's surprising how many bells and whistles this comes with. Each individual key light can be controlled in some manner.The app for it (call Synapse...kind of like in the movie Antitrust) has tons of presets. And there's an entire community of people who make color themes for this. I love it. Someone is always coming up with something new and interesting.The app lets you set up macros and key binds for almost anything. And there's a bunch of other stuff I haven't even messed with.Synapse could use some QOL improvements and some upgrades. The layout design could use some love and navigating the app takes some getting used to. It's not horrible but there is definitely room for improvement. For what it is right now, it's a good app. I don't hate it.What I don't like is that the keyboard immediately prompts you to install Synapse as soon as you plug it in. I'm sure there are some people who want to use the keyboard as just a mechanical keyboard and they don't want to use the app. I'm not sure if this is an option for them, but it should be. A $200 keyboard should not force a software installation to be used.As I have not tried using my keyboard without Synapse, I can't expound on this topic other than to say the popup might be construed as "invasive" to some users.Another small thing I really like about the keyboard is the side USB plug. It's great for doing quick USB connecting and it's within arms reach at all times.I have USB 3.0 hub that I'm going to try connecting to it at some point to give me some additional ports.You also get a plug for audio in and audio out. I don't use these ports so they have no real effect on me and I can't comment on how the sound quality is. But I'm sure there are others who will love the quick audio port access. Especially if you have a tower that doesn't have easily accessible ports.Let's talk about the additional buttons that come with this. The ones not part of the standard 104.In the upper right corner, this keyboard comes with a spinner dial for controlling volume and a rather large mute button in the center of the dial. To the left of the dial are three media buttons. Rewind, play, and forward (in that order).Now, I like having media buttons. But I LOVE these things because, as a scripter, I can reassign these to do a multitude of things.Example: In my main script that I have running at all times, I wrote a piece of code that lets the dial control the main system volume normally but when the Windows key is held, the volume dial adjusts the sound of Winamp without me having to actually open Winamp (Winamp is a music player that has been around forever. I've used it for years and haven't found a better replacement for it.)On a side note, if you're curious about rebinding keys, making advanced custom macros, and more, check out the language AutoHotkey. It's completely free, it's one of the most user-friendly programming languages I know of, and the community loves teaching newcomers how to create programs. They have a very active main forum, subreddit, and Discord.Back to the review.Finally, I want to talk about the key switches. The Razer greens exceeded my expectations. I've been using this keyboard for long enough that I can comfortably say these keys are probably the best ones I've used.Before this, I had Cherry MX Blues and I loved those. But these greens seem like they're just a smidge better. They're really responsive. The pressure requirement per keypress is great. And I love the "clack" they make.There's something almost soothing and zen-like about listening to a keyboard talk as you create something.I do all the major things keyboards are used for: Gaming, coding, and composition.For gaming, it's all about response time and key pressure. The greens have been fantastic in both areas! I've set multiple new records on StepMania (think DDR for your fingers) using this keyboard. The switches seem to be so accurate that I'm hitting notes, rolls, and crossovers that I was having difficulties hitting before. I have a folder of favorite songs and I've gone up 1-2 grades on almost every song in there. Not only that, there are certain songs I had never finished that I've gotten past with this keyboard. I highly doubt that my skill level randomly jumped that much after getting this keyboard. Gotta give props where props are due.For coding and composition, all I care about is not missing keystrokes. Give me what I type.If I'm coding and I miss one letter/number, it can have a myriad of negative effects. It could be an easy error to find or it might be something so unnoticeable that it takes you forever to fix. Either way, I've never had an issue with keystrokes registering when I'm typing. And because the keyboard doesn't have a super high actuation rate, I don't get fatigued fingers after elongated sessions.Finally, I have never experienced any ghosting issues (that's where your keys don't register when you hold too many at once). Apparently, this keyboard has a 10-key rollover with anti-ghosting. I play a ton of different games and not ONCE have I had an issue where multiple keys were being held and some weren't registering. I've also noticed that comments like "BULLS#@T!!! I did too hit that button!!" have become almost non-existent. I couldn't be happier about that.TLDR: The BlackWidow Elite is a solid keyboard, it has great features, the Razer greens are some of the best switches I've ever used, the Synapse app is decent and has a lot of options, side ports are very convenient, the extra media buttons are always welcome, and it never ghosts or miss keystrokes.10/10 would buy again.*Authentic Greg Review*Thanks for reading this review. All of my reviews are 100% "Greg honest". I cannot be bought.Amazon's review system is going downhill. Paid review groups ravage this site and the removal of comment responses has made things worse.I strongly believe in uncompromised reviews where the goal is protecting the buyer and informing the masses.Let's look out for each other!

I'm not a gamer but this keyboard let's me type with far fewer mistakes. The keys are better separated, very concave for accuracy feel, and the keys are loaded enough that a light touch doesn't set them off.

It’s my third Razer keyboard, first one is the Black Widow X (similar to the Elite, I think they don't make it anymore) but it has no RGB or USB pass-through, no media controls and it has slightly different, inferior, build quality. The second one I have is the Huntsman Mini with clicky optico-mechanical switches, it's very light but sturdy, easy to game on when sitting in lotus position on the couch, 60% size of a regular keyboard.But let's talk about the The Black Widow Elite... It is truly build like a tank. There’s no flex or squeak (unlike what I experience with the X version). It’s heavy, but very comfortable to type on. Keys sound bright and “thump-y” at the same time. Mine has clicky Green switches. According to my subjective opinion the feature the perfect amount of actuation force needed, perfect length of travel, a nice crisp click in the end. I love them the most for typing. Razer's optico-mechanical switches are a bit faster and require slightly less force, so I like them for gaming more, but really either work fine at any task, it's all just a matter of habit.The USB pass-through can be very handy but you don't have to utilize it. It's basically a fast 2.0 capable USB port nearby that can be used for a bunch of different things, like running a mouse, connecting a thumb-drive or an external sound card.What sets this keyboard apart from other cheaper RGB keyboards (minus the USB pass-through) are the media control keys. Controlling the volume in Windows using the wheel is super handy. I don't ever have to right click on the icon and do this with the mouse cursor ever again! Or having to use shortcuts :) The volume wheel is metal, the other three buttons are plastic but don't feel cheap.There’s really nothing bad to say about the keyboard. The keys are not of the fancy double cap variety but sit and feel very solid. Unlike the cheaper key caps, they have reinforced X-shaped slots for the caps to connect with the switches. Basically, there's a circle of plastic around the X-shaped slot, so they sit on top of the switches extra firm. I did get a box of Razer PBT key caps to experiment with but they are not required to enjoy this keyboard at all. Personally, I don't like half-transparent caps Corsair use on some of their keyboards, but to each their own. Subtle RGB underglow to me looks better and less distracting. The RGB itself is certainly bright enough. There are lot of ways the lighting can be done via the Synapse. Some of the options for the effects are: breathing, wave, wheel, static, star light, reactive, music/sound-depended, etc. There's certainly something that anyone could find to their liking. You can synchronize the lighting with other Razer devices. Can make awesome looking combinations using the keyboard together with the FireFly mouse mat with RGB on all sides and Razer mice that have RGB zones -- if you are into that kind of thing.The wrist cushion the keyboard comes with connects with it by magnets. Easy to take off or put back on. It's soft but firm and looks sturdy enough to me. I never used any kinds of wrist rests, so I can't really compare it with anything. It's good enough in my book, serves its purpose.A lot of folks dislike Synapse, I’ve been using it for years and got used to it. It has some very powerful RGB control software that works great if you have multiple Razer items. I have plenty of RAM, so it doesn’t matter to me that it takes some of it, certainly way less than the Windows. The 3.0 version looks great design-wise and never gives me any issues (unlike the Cortex software, which I don't think works well with new AMD Radeon/Ryzen PCs very good, so I run it only on the older Intel machine I have).If you are skeptical of the brand — don’t be. I have three Razer mice and three keyboards I got over the years of PC gaming — and they all work fine, oldest items are 4-5 years old and only show some wear. Unless I've been extremely lucky, I think Razer peripherals do have good build quality. If you like the looks, you will love the rest!