Razer has entered the low-profile mechanical keyboard area with a bang with the Deathstalker V2 Professional and we have now one in for evaluate. Low-profile is a small, however ever-growing phase of the mechanical keyboard market, and one which already has some stable merchandise. Logitech has its personal low-profile entry and might 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 a wide range of opponents which have put out low-profile mechanical keyboards, each wired and wi-fi.
Corsair and Cooler Grasp, together with smaller corporations 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:
Function
Description
Chassis
Aluminum and plastic, matte black end
Kind-factor
Full measurement and TKL
Keyswitches
Razer™ Low-Profile Optical Switches (Linear)
Backlight
Individually lit and per-key programmable
LED colour
RGB 16.8 million colours
Keycaps
ABS keycaps w/ anti-wear coating
Different keycaps
No
Connectivity
2.4GHz wi-fi, Bluetooth 5.1, Kind-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 perform
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
Immediately you’ll discover the distinctive construct high quality of the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional. It’s a mixture of aluminum and plastic put collectively very nicely. There’s no flex, and nearly no key rattle, even when shaking the board vigorously. Situated on the best facet is a quantity wheel (extra of a log actually) that’s used to regulate sound ranges by default. The standard of the wheel is up there with probably 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 amount wheel is the multi-function button. It’s manufactured from metallic as nicely and has a really satisfying click on to it.
The important thing caps really feel unbelievable as nicely. The coating feels supple and easy whereas not being slippery. It’s exhausting to know the way this coating will maintain up over time, and value mentioning that the board has ABS keycaps that are sometimes extra liable to put on than PBT. As to the texture of the keys and stabilizers, there’s little rattle or wobble. The stabilizers on this are top-notch as nicely. The area bar strikes as one stable piece when pressed, which is precisely what we’d need out of it. After our month of testing, the board held up nicely with no indicators of wear and tear or beauty injury.
Two further 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 reveals simply how skinny the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional is.
Key switches
The important thing switches on the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional that we obtained for evaluate had been the Razer Linear Optical Switches. In at the moment’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 swap, which is already a quicker extra responsive swap, and also you’re able to smash somebody’s day.
A priority we’ve had with linear switches previously is unintentional key presses. With many linear switches, Cherry MX Reds specifically, heavier-handed players have been identified to make unintentional keypresses. This solely occurred in just a few situations with the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional, these sometimes got here right down to consumer error extra so than anything.
Razer’s linear switches are surprisingly good to make use of, not only for gaming, however for writing as nicely. The actuation may be very easy, delicate nearly, however nonetheless exact and responsive. There was no fatigue by any means after lengthy gaming and writing classes.
(Picture credit score: Razer).
Performance
One of many important 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. Nevertheless, 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. Nevertheless, it stopped and by no means acted up once more after reconnecting the keyboard just a few occasions. It’s exhausting 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 had been tempted to not embody this and write it off as a random prevalence, nevertheless it endured for lengthy sufficient and was annoying sufficient to be value mentioning.
For multimedia performance, there’s clearly the amount wheel, but in addition a single multi-function media button. This can be utilized to pause and play media you could have in your PC. One press performs or pauses, two presses skips to the subsequent monitor, and three reverts to the final monitor. The “subsequent” and “final” features work for video playlists as nicely. We felt this labored fantastic and was straightforward to get used to. Anybody with a pair of wi-fi earbuds needs to be acquainted with the idea.
In wi-fi mode, the battery life was greater than sufficient. Rated at 40 hours of steady use, we had been by no means involved with operating out of juice in the course of an Apex Legends match. Nevertheless, 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 influence you throughout a gaming session, at full cost, however it’s one thing you’ll need to sustain with if you happen to don’t like taking part in with the cable related.
Razer Synapse
The largest weak spot 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 consumer 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 organising completely different profiles that may be saved domestically in your keyboard.
A few of these options work fantastic, 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 nevertheless 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 determination, particularly while you think about that the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional already has a shorter battery life than competing keyboards as a result 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 on the spot wake time by comparability. It could be good to see Razer contemplate these components for future software program updates and successive keyboards.
Last ideas
The Razer Deathstalker V2 is a unbelievable 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 largest subject most individuals can have with the keyboard isn’t the construct high quality, the switches, and even the software program, nevertheless. 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. Nevertheless, we predict it’s well worth the value you probably have the cash and are out there for a brand new low-profile mechanical gaming keyboard.
