Razer has entered the low-profile mechanical keyboard area with a bang with the Deathstalker V2 Professional and we’ve got one in for evaluate. Low-profile is a small, however ever-growing section of the mechanical keyboard market, and one which already has some strong merchandise. Logitech has its personal low-profile entry and may very well be credited for bringing the sub-genre into the limelight. The Logitech G915 landed about two years in the past and was praised for high quality (although hammered for value). Since then, there have been quite a lot of opponents which have put out low-profile mechanical keyboards, each wired and wi-fi.
Corsair and Cooler Grasp, together with smaller firms like Nuphy and Keychron have all thrown hats into the low-profile area. Undeniably, there are fairly just a few prime quality low-profile mechanical keyboards to select from in 2022. So, how does the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional stack up?
Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional specs and construct high quality
Right here’s a fast rundown of the specs for the Razer V2 Professional:
| Characteristic | Description | ||
| Chassis | Aluminum and plastic, matte black end | ||
| Type-factor | Full measurement and TKL | ||
| Keyswitches | Razer™ Low-Profile Optical Switches (Linear) | ||
| Backlight | Individually lit and per-key programmable | ||
| LED coloration | RGB 16.8 million colours | ||
| Keycaps | ABS keycaps w/ anti-wear coating | ||
| Different keycaps | No | ||
| Connectivity | 2.4GHz wi-fi, Bluetooth 5.1, Sort-C wired | ||
| Matrix | N-key rollover | ||
| Onboard profiles | As much as 5 | ||
| Media keys | Sure – single multi-function | ||
| Profile key | Sure | ||
| Brightness key | Sure | ||
| Home windows lock operate | Sure | ||
| Software program help | Sure – Synapse | ||
| Cable | 6.5ft / 2m | ||
| Dimensions | 71.2 x 5.5 x 1 in / 437 x 139 x 21mm | ||
| Weight | 1.7 lbs / 775g | ||
Right away you’ll discover the distinctive construct high quality of the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional. It’s a mix of aluminum and plastic put collectively very effectively. There’s no flex, and nearly no key rattle, even when shaking the board vigorously. Situated on the correct aspect is a quantity wheel (extra of a log actually) that’s used to manage sound ranges by default. The standard of the wheel is up there with essentially the most premium audio units we’ve encountered. Product of aluminum, it’s ridged and has a terrific really feel to the contact. It’s stepped, and feels easy and managed after every notch. With out overstating issues, it’s a pleasure to make use of. Subsequent to the quantity wheel is the multi-function button. It’s manufactured from steel as effectively and has a really satisfying click on to it.
The important thing caps really feel incredible as effectively. The coating feels supple and easy whereas not being slippery. It’s laborious to know the way this coating will maintain up over time, and value mentioning that the board has ABS keycaps that are sometimes extra vulnerable to put on than PBT. As to the texture of the keys and stabilizers, there may be little rattle or wobble. The stabilizers on this are top-notch as effectively. The area bar strikes as one strong piece when pressed, which is strictly what we might need out of it. After our month of testing, the board held up effectively with no indicators of wear and tear or beauty harm.
Two extra issues Razer doesn’t observe within the specs are that you would be able to elevate the board top and that the polling charge response interval for keystrokes is the usual 1,000Hz (1ms).
This thumb drive exhibits simply how skinny the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional is.
Key switches
The important thing switches on the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional that we acquired for evaluate have been the Razer Linear Optical Switches. In in the present day’s market, optical switches are premium tech that make the most of a laser to register keystrokes with minimal debounce. This implies faster and extra exact keystroke recognition. Pair this with a linear change, which is already a sooner extra responsive change, and also you’re able to wreck somebody’s day.
A priority we’ve had with linear switches previously is unintended key presses. With many linear switches, Cherry MX Reds particularly, heavier-handed players have been recognized to make unintended keypresses. This solely occurred in just a few cases with the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional, these sometimes got here right down to person error extra so than the rest.
Razer’s linear switches are surprisingly good to make use of, not only for gaming, however for writing as effectively. The actuation may be very easy, gentle nearly, however nonetheless exact and responsive. There was no fatigue in any respect after lengthy gaming and writing periods.
(Picture credit score: Razer).
Performance
One of many essential promoting factors of the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional is it’s low-latency wi-fi functionality. Right here is the place issues get a bit of dicey. When it labored, it labored flawlessly. You’d by no means know that it was wi-fi for a way responsive it was, which we predict needs to be anticipated in 2022. Nonetheless, we encountered some issues the place the keyboard would sporadically unpair in testing.
This didn’t appear to correlate with any port it was plugged in, or with the motive force model. Nonetheless, it stopped and by no means acted up once more after reconnecting the keyboard just a few instances. It’s laborious to say what triggered this or what made it cease, as there have been no firmware or software program updates utilized throughout this time. We have been tempted to not embody this and write it off as a random incidence, nevertheless it endured for lengthy sufficient and was annoying sufficient to be value mentioning.
For multimedia performance, there may be clearly the quantity wheel, but in addition a single multi-function media button. This can be utilized to pause and play media you’ve got in your PC. One press performs or pauses, two presses skips to the subsequent observe, and three reverts to the final observe. The “subsequent” and “final” features work for video playlists as effectively. We felt this labored nice and was straightforward to get used to. Anybody with a pair of wi-fi earbuds needs to be aware of the idea.
In wi-fi mode, the battery life was greater than sufficient. Rated at 40 hours of steady use, we have been by no means involved with working out of juice in the course of an Apex Legends match. Nonetheless, because of the restrict of quarter-hour earlier than the board goes to sleep we discovered that it required charging each three days or so. In comparison with a direct competitor just like the Logitech G915 that would take weeks to so long as a month between expenses, it’s noticeable. Granted, this received’t affect you throughout a gaming session, at full cost, however it’s one thing you’ll must sustain with in the event you don’t like taking part in with the cable linked.
Razer Synapse
The most important weak point of the Razer Deathstalker Professional V2 is the Razer Synapse software program help. Many journalists and customers alike have complained about Razer’s software program. And it hasn’t gotten any higher. It’s clunky to make use of, buggy, and a (subjectively) ugly person interface. So far as the settings for the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional, it has a full RGB lighting controller with individually illuminated keys, customized macros, sleep time settings (the period of time the keyboard stays inactive earlier than going to sleep), in addition to establishing completely different profiles that may be saved regionally in your keyboard.
A few of these options work nice, others much less so. RGB management works on par with the highest opponents. A number of completely different lighting profiles and results, per-key lighting management, and Razer Chroma integration imply that you would be able to make the board glow nonetheless you need.
For some motive, Razer made the minimal time increment setting earlier than your keyboard goes to sleep be a full quarter-hour, which is a reasonably lengthy period of time. By comparability, the Logitech G915 goes as little as one minute. This can be a nonsensical choice, particularly whenever you consider that the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional already has a shorter battery life than competing keyboards on account of its optical sensors. Tempering this with a extra aggressive sleep timer would have been good.
As well as, the time it takes from an preliminary key press to when the keyboard wakes and registers your keystrokes is noticeable. The Logitech G915 has a close to immediate wake time by comparability. It could be good to see Razer take into account these components for future software program updates and successive keyboards.
Remaining ideas
The Razer Deathstalker V2 is a incredible entry into the low-profile mechanical gaming keyboard market. Whereas it’s held again by some software program points, the general expertise is hard to beat. The most important situation most individuals could have with the keyboard isn’t the construct high quality, the switches, and even the software program, nonetheless. It’s the worth. Coming in at $249.99 USD for the total sized mannequin and $219.99 USD for the TKL mannequin, it’s a steep asking value for the typical PC gamer. Nonetheless, we predict it’s definitely worth the value when you’ve got the cash and are available in the market for a brand new low-profile mechanical gaming keyboard.
