Razer Deathstalker Professional V2 gaming keyboard evaluate: A slim win

Razer has entered the low-profile mechanical keyboard enviornment with a bang with the Deathstalker V2 Professional and we’ve got one in for evaluate. Low-profile is a small, however ever-growing phase of the mechanical keyboard market, and one which already has some strong merchandise. Logitech has its personal low-profile entry and could possibly 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 rivals 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 enviornment. Undeniably, there are fairly just a few top 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:

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 effectively. There’s no flex, and virtually no key rattle, even when shaking the board vigorously. Positioned on the precise 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 gadgets we’ve encountered. Made from aluminum, it’s ridged and has a fantastic really feel to the contact. It’s stepped, and feels clean 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 implausible as effectively. The coating feels supple and clean whereas not being slippery. It’s exhausting to know the way this coating will maintain up over time, and price stating that the board has ABS keycaps that are usually 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 effectively. The house 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 damage or beauty injury.

Two extra issues Razer doesn’t be aware within the specs are which you can elevate the board peak 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 obtained for evaluate had 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 swap, which is already a quicker extra responsive swap, and also you’re able to destroy somebody’s day.

A priority we’ve had with linear switches prior to now is unintentional key presses. With many linear switches, Cherry MX Reds particularly, heavier-handed players have been recognized to make unintentional keypresses. This solely occurred in just a few cases with the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional, these usually got here all the way 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 effectively. The actuation may be very clean, tender virtually, however nonetheless exact and responsive. There was no fatigue in any way after lengthy gaming and writing periods.

(Picture credit score: Razer).

Performance

One of many principal promoting factors of the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional is it’s low-latency wi-fi functionality. Right here is the place issues get a little bit dicey. When it labored, it labored flawlessly. You’ll by no means know that it was wi-fi for the way responsive it was, which we expect ought 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 driving force model. Nonetheless, it stopped and by no means acted up once more after reconnecting the keyboard just a few occasions. It’s exhausting to say what induced 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 embrace this and write it off as a random prevalence, however it endured for lengthy sufficient and was annoying sufficient to be price mentioning.

For multimedia performance, there’s clearly the quantity 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 following observe, and three reverts to the final observe. The “subsequent” and “final” capabilities work for video playlists as effectively. We felt this labored high quality and was simple to get used to. Anybody with a pair of wi-fi earbuds ought to be accustomed to 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 working out of juice in the midst 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 might take weeks to so long as a month between costs, it’s noticeable. Granted, this gained’t impression you throughout a gaming session, at full cost, however it’s one thing you’ll need to sustain with when you don’t like enjoying 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 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 establishing totally different profiles that may be saved domestically in your keyboard.

A few of these options work high quality, others much less so. RGB management works on par with the highest rivals. A number of totally different lighting profiles and results, per-key lighting management, and Razer Chroma integration imply which you can make the board glow nonetheless you need.

For some purpose, 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. It is a nonsensical choice, particularly while you take into accounts that the Razer Deathstalker V2 Professional already has a shorter battery life than competing keyboards resulting from 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 instantaneous wake time by comparability. It might be good to see Razer contemplate these components for future software program updates and successive keyboards.

Closing ideas

The Razer Deathstalker V2 is a implausible 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 value. 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 common PC gamer. Nonetheless, we expect it’s definitely worth the value in case you have the cash and are out there for a brand new low-profile mechanical gaming keyboard.