The Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition is a gaming grade keyboard that features tactile mechanical keys designed for a feel and sense that you are pressing keys.
Ease of Use, Performance: 24/25
Look & Feel: 23/25
Features 24/25
How much I enjoy 23/25
Total: 94/100
The Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition continues the mechanical keyboard series from Razer and follows hot on the heels of my Razer BlackWidow Ultimate review. The Stealth Edition is very similar to the Ultimate edition but with a quieter mechanical key design to soften the noise from the keyboard.
Going retro may mean going to an old technology that did give you a better sense of accomplishing a task in computing like typing but for gaming this backwards move may mean a better gaming session. Razer is always looking to improve gamers chances at a better score, not to mention bragging rights, and the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition does this.
I am not one to continually recommend a product like a keyboard if you already have a good working one and the huge variety of them on the internet really can be overwhelming. Keyboards seem like such a simple product but I have certainly found that not all keyboards are made alike and good ones have individual characteristics and features that set them apart.
Whether you like keyboards with tactile indications of the key press that mechanical keys allow or the taller height there is something much different to a mechanical keyboard. Keys are taller as well as having a specific telltale feel when you press them so you know they are being used along with sound that is louder than current membrane keyboards.
Razer has released another edition of their BlackWidow Ultimate in the Ultimate Stealth Edition for an answer to what gamers wanted differently in the BlackWidow. When fans of Razer products complain or give suggestions about features Razer works to give users the features they want.
Of course, it is up to Razer to decide when enough features or suggestions are needed before a new product is released as well as how many people complain about any particular feature before it is scrapped or changed. Razer regularly releases new products both when new games are used to highlight the look and design like the recent Star Wars The Old Republic editions and when design features are change enough to warrant a new release.
The Razer BlackWidow design with its mechanical keys worked well and I was impressed but some users complained about the mechanical keys giving off too much sound when pressed. So Razer went back to the design process and used a different type of mechanical key to give the same feel but less noise when pressing any particular key.
A mechanical keyboard is a bit different from other types of current keyboards where the keys use rubber buttons over a plastic membrane to give the keys its rebound after pressing. Mechanical keyboards use a spring underneath to push the key back up after pressing which has the tendency to increase noise when a key is pressed.
The problem with the older style mechanical keyboards is it took more pressure to press each key and each key would travel to its fully pressed position before registering as a key press. Razer has created the mechanisms inside each key that take less pressure and actuate when the keys are pressed part way down to increase its accuracy.
The BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition does have a lot of the same features as the BlackWidow Ultimate with about the same size of 18.7 by 6.75 inches with a height of a little over an inch. The BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition has two flip up feet to add a half inch to the back of the keyboard that tilts the keyboard up if you want more of a slant.
The keyboard connects to your computer with two USB connections on the end of the multiuse cable that is a little over six feet and braided. One USB connection is for the keyboard and backlighting while the other is for a USB connection on the side of the keyboard which is a handy pass-through USB connection.
The keyboard also includes the audio for a headset and microphone with two connections on the right side of the keyboard next to the USB connection. You can use the keyboard with only the one USB connection but the others do make for a convenient way to connect other peripherals to your computer.
The keyboard has the usual function keys, full set of letters, navigation keys and numbers, number keypad and programmable keys that many other keyboards do not feature. The programmable keys use the Razer software to set the keys to any single key press, macro assignments like multi key presses as well as special features like opening programs.
The software is one of the best for features and allows you to set any key on the keyboard to almost whatever you want it to including starting programs and macro assignments. Macros allow you to set a single key to a series of functions like delays or multiple key presses.
To use the multimedia keys like volume and play you simply open the program like Windows Media Player and all the volume and play keys can be pressed to control volume and your media. The media keys work as long as media playing programs are open but during games it also adjusts the volume so the keys to change seats also changes volume or mutes your system.
This is really the only feature I do not like and would like to a have the ability in the software to change but they did not have this as an option. Other features work well and I really like the software program that allows you to reassign keys, especially for the caps lock which I do not use at all.
When all is said and done the BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition is a little less noisy than the Ultimate edition but has all the other features for a great keyboard for use in gaming and general computer use. The Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition costs $139 and is a great gaming keyboard that also works well for other uses.
