65% size, 100% power – Razer Blackwidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed review

The Razer Blackwidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed sure lives up to its “mini” name. As touted on its product page,

Compact enough for any space, and versatile enough for all setups—this is the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed. Enjoy seamless gaming in a sleek package with a wireless 65% mechanical gaming keyboard that’s the perfect balance of form and function.

Let’s get into it.

DESIGN

It’s a 65% keyboard designed to be compact, which means trimming back on a variety of buttons:

• No Function Key (the F1 to F10s)
• No Numpad
• Buttons above arrow keys reduced to Del, Pg Up, Pg Dn and Ins

For its small size, it can feel a bit heavier than it appears, but otherwise it fits the Compact design it’s going for. It’s not very flashy either, with a much more understated design. The Razer logo is placed modestly below the spacebar. As for the lighting, that’s as usual, customizable through Razer Synapse, with on-board profiles available.

In a more practical sense, the bottom of the keyboard has four huge rubber pads, that will prevent the keyboard from sliding around too much. The “stands” have two elevation levels, but the first level has essentially no difference from being laid down flat.

The Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed is meant to be a wireless keyboard, so you’ll have Bluetooth connection. It can connect up to three devices, and you can swap between them with Alt + Fn + 1 / 2 / 3 as needed. You’re still able to connect it wired with a USB Type-A to Type-C cable that’s provided, with the 2.4GHz USB Type-A receiver tucked under a cap at the bottom of the keyboard. If at any point you need to change your wireless connection options, slide the switch next to the Type-C slot.

Perhaps an oversight, but there’s no light indicator for the Caps Lock key, nor is there any sound for the minor inconvenience of needing to test type to check if it’s on or off.

BATTERY LIFE

After continuous gaming and use, the battery got taken down to 70-75% after 2 hours. The product page claims up to 200 hours, which should vary according to how vigorously you’re using the keyboard. It’s not too bad all things considered, when it’s also running alongside the RGB effects. Another 2 hours will charge it right back up to full.

Remaining battery power is indicated by an LED light:

• Fully charged: Green
• Low battery: Yellow
• Critical (<3%): Blinking Red

TOUCH FEEL

The key caps can come off feeling a little “sandy”, though it’s likely something you’ll get used to it after continuous use. There’s options in the Razer Yellow and Green switches, with the primary difference being the feedback and the sound.

The Razer Yellow comes with sound dampeners, so this is for discreet typing. It’s smooth, and doesn’t require much force to read your inputs. In fact, even if you’re just resting your hands, it could still be enough to read it as an input. It lacks some in the feedback, but it’s still good if you’re looking for something quiet.

The Razer Green in contrast, is Loud. These keys are clicky and tactile, requiring a certain level of force. It at least means there’s less likelihood of accidental inputs. The feedback is solid though. Much as I like loud clicky sounds, the Razer Green has an unfortunate side effect of occasionally drowning out in-game audio, so if you’re already finding it hard to catch audio cues, it might be better to avoid. Still, this is also admittedly an experience that can vary across persons. The general typing experience itself is satisfying.

RAZER SYNAPSE

The ever present proprietary companion software is here, where you can change more than just RGB effects. Feel free to fiddle around with customizing functions of individual keys if you so desire.

For wireless use, you can set the RGB lighting to dim or to turn off the keyboard after a certain amount of inactivity, further prolonging the battery life. If used for gaming, Gaming Mode is available where it disables the Windows key, Alt + Tab or Alt + F4 depending on your settings.

VERDICT

If you’re going to use the keyboard for gaming wirelessly, worry not as there’s no latency. It’s a very competent travelling companion, with its compact size, long battery life and Bluetooth connectivity with up to 3 devices. Of course, its actual use is going to vary on the games you play most; if you often need the Function keys, it would be suboptimal. You can have 4 Macro keys, which you’ll still need to access by hitting the Fn key. If you need more space for mouse movements, then it would be less of an issue.

With some compromise and tweak keybinds, then you can’t go wrong with the Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed.

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