Overview:
This is a dual review in which i will compare and contrast between the two flagship keyboards of the respective brands Corsair and Razer. I will also state that recently Razer has Released the all new BlackWidow Chroma X which has slightly better keys and a aluminum body like its competitor Corsair in the Peripheral industry. I have used Razer All my life from its many mice such as the Lachesis 4000, Lachesis 5600, Ouroboros and currently i own the Naga Epic Chroma Wireless, i also owned the Razer Kraken Chroma 7.1 and few years back i also owned the Razer Nostromo. So, please keep in mind that this review is not biased, there is no fan boy-ism involved, just pure hardcore solid facts which i have deduced after my usage of Razer BlackWidow Chroma for a few months and now my switch towards the Corsair K95 RGB and the way i feel about it.
i) Build Quality / Design :
K95 RGB:
This Keyboard is suppose to last a lifetime because of its spectacular quality, the K95 is a solid keyboard consisting of stylish modern aluminum design, which promises durability. The aluminum back plate of the keyboard gives rigidity to the whole keyboard . This Keyboard is unlikely to bend and the aluminum gives it a very clean look . Its detachable hand rest ensures comfort of the user as per his choice of customization whether to use it or not. Although consisting of aluminum its is very light surprisingly . It has a braided fiber wire with two USB connectors, you need to connect both if you do not have a USB 3.0 port otherwise one is more than enough to power both the keyboard and LED's . The Only let down in the K95 RGB is that it does not have a USB pass over which means you need to connect your headphones and USBs directly to your system, which is not all that bad.
BlackWidow Chroma:
This Keyboard is made up of a very sleek and smooth plastic material, which is very soft to touch but unfortunately might not be very good in the long run as the plastic might succumb to bends and breakage. The keyboard is a little bit on the heavier side although one does not expect it from a keyboard with a plastic body. Unfortunately it does not have an arm rest. This keyboard also has a Braided Fiber wire with two USB ports and two audio Jacks. Unlike the K95 this keyboard has a USB pass over which can help gamers who cannot directly connect their other small devices to their system. In the end BlackWidow Chroma still has a solid build as its made up of a hard plastic, not as solid as its counterpart in discussion here.
ii) Buttons / Keys :
K95 RGB:
The K95 RGB has cherry keys which are specially made by a German company which designs the red, brown and blue keys . For gaming Red keys are considered the best as they are soft and need very less force to be pushed. Its high End soft keys which would never tire you when after typing or gaming for hours, according to me the quality of these keys delivers a serious blow to its competitors. As far as the buttons are concerned they are a bit small as compared to its counterpart which needs time to get used to, but the shear comfort of the key switches lets you get the hang of it in a day or two of use. When pressed there sound is relativity not that high as compared to other mechanical keyboards. It has standard buttons like all of the other keyboards, except it has an extra 18 macro keys on the left hand side.
BlackWidow Chroma:
The BlackWidow Chroma Has green Razer Switches which are unfortunately need a lot of actuation force required and have loudest clicking sound, for me this was a major let down as one would grow tired after typing a long university assignment . In the department of keys Blackwidow's counterpart beats it fair and square with no question. As far as the buttons are concerned they are bigger. The keyboard has all buttons like every other keyboard but it also has an extra 5 macro buttons on left side.
iii) LED's / Lighting :
K95 RGB:
The LED's are of very high quality, as there are numerous shades of many different colors which are as real and authentic as shown on the software. The LED's are not very bright which are not hard on the eyes especially in a dark ambient environment. how over sometimes you might witness a light bleed which means light might not be fully contained in a single key cap as the keyboard has open exposed key caps.
BlackWidow Chroma:
The LED's are very good as well they also have many shades but unfortunately they are not as real and authentic as in the software, so we could probably say that the quality of LED's are a bit less than its counterpart, but they are definitely brighter. As the key caps are enclosed and not open there is no light bleed, so the light is contained with in the kep caps .
iv) Software / Interface :
K95 RGB:
Corsair Utility Engine AKA CUE is a very complex and a complicated software which needs a bit of time to be understood, it has many features such as key management, performance, macro management and LED effects through which the LED's can be controlled the best part about it is that you can turn on more than one LED feature at once, the only disadvantage of the CUE software is that it is not automatically synchronized with the popular games such as LOL, DOTA, Overwatch and WOW etc which means custom profiles are to be imported through corsair forums and turned on by which the abilities and ultimate cool downs can be seen via the LEDs.
BlackWidow Chroma:
The razer synapse is a cloud based software which is very hands on and easy to use, like its counter part this software controls everything for the keyboard key mapping, performance and LED control but unfortunately it does not have many complex LED features like the k95, rather they have to be added via custom profiles, but the best part about this keyboard on which its counterpart lacks is that it is synchronized with the latest games and cool downs of ultimates or abilities are visible on the LED'S of the keyboard, they do not have to be added manually.
v) Pro And Cons :
K95 RGB:
Pros:
a) The Best build quality in almost all of the gaming keyboards.
b) High end cherry Red switches
c) Bang for Ones Buck
d) Corsair Utility Engine for professional gaming use.
e) Light weight
Cons:
a) No USB pass over
BlackWidow Chroma:
Pros:
a) Easy to Use Razer synapse software.
b) Excellent illuminated LED's.
c) Sweet Design.
d) USB pass over.
Cons:
a) Build quality is not the high end.
b) Green Switches are very bad for typing.
c) Expensive for what this keyboard offers.
d) Recording Macros difficult.
vi) Verdict:
Both Keyboards are pretty decent but according to my experience i would clearly and openly say that K95 is the winner because of its high quality Cherry Red switches which give the end user a certain comfort both in typing and gaming in which Razer lacks, in the same way the aluminum finish of the K95 beats the plastic body of the BlackWidow especially for what it is priced at. The only advantage which the BlackWidow has is the USB pass over which according to me is not that big of a let down for corsair, as for me quality of the keys and body is paramount .
vi) Video Preview:
Following is the video preview of both keyboards sorry about the low quality of the video as it has been recorded by an iPhone 6s camera, in this video the K95 is on the left and the BlackWidow is on the right. my main purpose of recording this video is to show every the LED's of both keyboards and quality of keys especially when they are pressed and the noise they make.
This is a dual review in which i will compare and contrast between the two flagship keyboards of the respective brands Corsair and Razer. I will also state that recently Razer has Released the all new BlackWidow Chroma X which has slightly better keys and a aluminum body like its competitor Corsair in the Peripheral industry. I have used Razer All my life from its many mice such as the Lachesis 4000, Lachesis 5600, Ouroboros and currently i own the Naga Epic Chroma Wireless, i also owned the Razer Kraken Chroma 7.1 and few years back i also owned the Razer Nostromo. So, please keep in mind that this review is not biased, there is no fan boy-ism involved, just pure hardcore solid facts which i have deduced after my usage of Razer BlackWidow Chroma for a few months and now my switch towards the Corsair K95 RGB and the way i feel about it.
i) Build Quality / Design :
K95 RGB:
This Keyboard is suppose to last a lifetime because of its spectacular quality, the K95 is a solid keyboard consisting of stylish modern aluminum design, which promises durability. The aluminum back plate of the keyboard gives rigidity to the whole keyboard . This Keyboard is unlikely to bend and the aluminum gives it a very clean look . Its detachable hand rest ensures comfort of the user as per his choice of customization whether to use it or not. Although consisting of aluminum its is very light surprisingly . It has a braided fiber wire with two USB connectors, you need to connect both if you do not have a USB 3.0 port otherwise one is more than enough to power both the keyboard and LED's . The Only let down in the K95 RGB is that it does not have a USB pass over which means you need to connect your headphones and USBs directly to your system, which is not all that bad.
BlackWidow Chroma:
This Keyboard is made up of a very sleek and smooth plastic material, which is very soft to touch but unfortunately might not be very good in the long run as the plastic might succumb to bends and breakage. The keyboard is a little bit on the heavier side although one does not expect it from a keyboard with a plastic body. Unfortunately it does not have an arm rest. This keyboard also has a Braided Fiber wire with two USB ports and two audio Jacks. Unlike the K95 this keyboard has a USB pass over which can help gamers who cannot directly connect their other small devices to their system. In the end BlackWidow Chroma still has a solid build as its made up of a hard plastic, not as solid as its counterpart in discussion here.
ii) Buttons / Keys :
K95 RGB:
The K95 RGB has cherry keys which are specially made by a German company which designs the red, brown and blue keys . For gaming Red keys are considered the best as they are soft and need very less force to be pushed. Its high End soft keys which would never tire you when after typing or gaming for hours, according to me the quality of these keys delivers a serious blow to its competitors. As far as the buttons are concerned they are a bit small as compared to its counterpart which needs time to get used to, but the shear comfort of the key switches lets you get the hang of it in a day or two of use. When pressed there sound is relativity not that high as compared to other mechanical keyboards. It has standard buttons like all of the other keyboards, except it has an extra 18 macro keys on the left hand side.
BlackWidow Chroma:
The BlackWidow Chroma Has green Razer Switches which are unfortunately need a lot of actuation force required and have loudest clicking sound, for me this was a major let down as one would grow tired after typing a long university assignment . In the department of keys Blackwidow's counterpart beats it fair and square with no question. As far as the buttons are concerned they are bigger. The keyboard has all buttons like every other keyboard but it also has an extra 5 macro buttons on left side.
iii) LED's / Lighting :
K95 RGB:
The LED's are of very high quality, as there are numerous shades of many different colors which are as real and authentic as shown on the software. The LED's are not very bright which are not hard on the eyes especially in a dark ambient environment. how over sometimes you might witness a light bleed which means light might not be fully contained in a single key cap as the keyboard has open exposed key caps.
BlackWidow Chroma:
The LED's are very good as well they also have many shades but unfortunately they are not as real and authentic as in the software, so we could probably say that the quality of LED's are a bit less than its counterpart, but they are definitely brighter. As the key caps are enclosed and not open there is no light bleed, so the light is contained with in the kep caps .
iv) Software / Interface :
K95 RGB:
Corsair Utility Engine AKA CUE is a very complex and a complicated software which needs a bit of time to be understood, it has many features such as key management, performance, macro management and LED effects through which the LED's can be controlled the best part about it is that you can turn on more than one LED feature at once, the only disadvantage of the CUE software is that it is not automatically synchronized with the popular games such as LOL, DOTA, Overwatch and WOW etc which means custom profiles are to be imported through corsair forums and turned on by which the abilities and ultimate cool downs can be seen via the LEDs.
BlackWidow Chroma:
The razer synapse is a cloud based software which is very hands on and easy to use, like its counter part this software controls everything for the keyboard key mapping, performance and LED control but unfortunately it does not have many complex LED features like the k95, rather they have to be added via custom profiles, but the best part about this keyboard on which its counterpart lacks is that it is synchronized with the latest games and cool downs of ultimates or abilities are visible on the LED'S of the keyboard, they do not have to be added manually.
v) Pro And Cons :
K95 RGB:
Pros:
a) The Best build quality in almost all of the gaming keyboards.
b) High end cherry Red switches
c) Bang for Ones Buck
d) Corsair Utility Engine for professional gaming use.
e) Light weight
Cons:
a) No USB pass over
BlackWidow Chroma:
Pros:
a) Easy to Use Razer synapse software.
b) Excellent illuminated LED's.
c) Sweet Design.
d) USB pass over.
Cons:
a) Build quality is not the high end.
b) Green Switches are very bad for typing.
c) Expensive for what this keyboard offers.
d) Recording Macros difficult.
vi) Verdict:
Both Keyboards are pretty decent but according to my experience i would clearly and openly say that K95 is the winner because of its high quality Cherry Red switches which give the end user a certain comfort both in typing and gaming in which Razer lacks, in the same way the aluminum finish of the K95 beats the plastic body of the BlackWidow especially for what it is priced at. The only advantage which the BlackWidow has is the USB pass over which according to me is not that big of a let down for corsair, as for me quality of the keys and body is paramount .
vi) Video Preview:
Following is the video preview of both keyboards sorry about the low quality of the video as it has been recorded by an iPhone 6s camera, in this video the K95 is on the left and the BlackWidow is on the right. my main purpose of recording this video is to show every the LED's of both keyboards and quality of keys especially when they are pressed and the noise they make.
