Technologies

Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro Review: A Lot of Choice in a Big Package

Razer’s latest iteration of its function-rules gaming keyboard atones for some sins of the past and adds some new tricks.

Razer’s customizing-comes-first mechanical gaming keyboard line, BlackWidow, hits its fourth generation with the BlackWidow V4 Pro, a $230 full-size model with some notable improvements over its predecessor. These improvements include expanded lighting, more programmable controls, USB passthrough and an improved wrist rest design. These are all notable updates; but while I welcome all the changes in spirit, I’m not thrilled with the execution in a few cases.

Nothing has changed in its fundamental keyboard aspects, with the exception of a boost of the maximum polling rate to 8,000Hz, something I’m not sure you really need here. The switches and keycaps remain the same: You have a choice of the latest generation of Razer’s tactile Green or linear Yellow switches and Razer’s durable DoubleShot ABS keycaps.

Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro

$230 at Razer

Get Price Alerts

You’re receiving price alerts for Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro

Like

Expanded lighting zones
More programmable controls
Vastly improved magnetically attachable wrist rest
Added USB passthrough

Don’t Like

Buttons on left side are really easy to hit accidentally
multicontroller roller is too low relative to the height of the keys

There are a lot more lighting zones thanks to the addition of underglow strips on the left and right, plus a front strip on the wrist rest, five new backlit macro keys down the left side and a new programmable control dial in the upper left corner.

Razer says it’s added lenses to the individual backlight LEDs, which does seem to improve the focus in particular directions. I also think it’s made a difference in the number of perceptible brightness levels — if you need that level of granularity. I wish you could take advantage of that by controlling the brightness levels for individual or groups of keys the way you can control colors: That way the keys you need most frequently could be brighter as well as a different color, but not completely dark.

The new control dial allows you to map zooming, scrolling and other customization to your profiles. For example, the mappings default to zoom, keyboard brightness, task switching and track jogging. That’s becoming a more common feature these days, and it’s a useful one that extends beyond gaming. The physical control is fine, if a bit hemmed in. The downside is there are no presets beyond the basics — usually these controls come with sets — which means it requires a lot of time-intensive setup for a control you may end up not using.

There are also three new switches on the left side. I love the idea, but not so much the execution. I constantly make microadjustments to the location of keyboards — a nervous tic when I’m not actively typing — and so I end up hitting them a lot. It doesn’t help that I’m also adjusting to avoiding the left-side macro keys when reaching for alt-tab, where my compensation means my ring and pinky fingers naturally fall on those switches. And they’re too easy to activate, which may probably be a more broadly applicable issue.

These aren’t really complaints, since it’s certainly not the first keyboard to put the macro keys down the left side, but if you’re used to other layouts your muscle memory might need some retraining.

Then there’s the redesigned multicontroller, the roller bar with a bank of five, tall, round buttons above the number pad. It’s similar to the design on other keyboards, but the location and elevation don’t work, at least for my hands. The keys are so tall, relative to it, that it’s awkward to use. And remapping the control dial to do the same things, like adjust audio volume, isn’t quite as convenient, since you have to press it to cycle through the different mappings.

Like a lot of the programmability, you have to be running Razer’s Synapse utility for your customizations to work; you can’t save a lot of them to the internal keyboard memory. On the other hand, when you cycle through the mappings for the control dial there’s a popup telling you what the setting is and what the rotation does. There’s also a backlight color attached to each mapping but it’s not persistent, so you don’t know which setting the dial is currently mapped to with a glance.

The USB passthrough is a nice-to-have, and the new wrist rest is a lot more comfortable than the old one, plus it now attaches — pretty strongly — to the keyboard. If you’re sensitive to textures in a «I wear my shirts inside out because the seams make me crazy» kind of way, the bumpy faux leather may bother you, though.

It’s still big and heavy, but solidity in a keyboard isn’t something to complain about. Razer has upped the switch rating to 100 million keypresses, but they’re the same switches as before — they’ve just been tested more. I don’t put a lot of stock in durability ratings, but it’s nice to know that pounding on the keys won’t kill them any faster than it used to.

I’ve been using optomechanical switches for so long — and, more recently, linear ones — that going back to the feel of the tactile mechanicals has required some adjustment. But it’s nice to know that my fingers won’t accidentally trigger strokes if I rest them on the keys. That’s one of the perks that I miss with other types of switches.

For games where fast keyboard combos you can program are more important than single-key quick responsiveness, the BlackWidow V4 Pro makes a lot of sense. But unless you’re on board with how all the controls work, $230 might feel too expensive for your needs.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, June 8

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for June 8.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword isn’t too tough, but 1-Across might make you think of the sky, and that’s not the direction you need to go. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Org. with shooting stars
Answer: NBA

4A clue: Buildings with weather vanes, stereotypically
Answer: BARNS

6A clue: Swiss watch brand
Answer: OMEGA

7A clue: What Santa, Gandalf and Dumbledore each have
Answer: BEARD

8A clue: Pie in the ___
Answer: SKY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: «I’m bad with ___» (party excuse)
Answer: NAMES

2D clue: Start of a billiards game
Answer: BREAK

3D clue: Seeing red
Answer: ANGRY

4D clue: Timothée’s role in «A Complete Unknown»
Answer: BOB

5D clue: Feeling blue
Answer: SAD

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for June 8, #258

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 258, for June 8.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition isn’t too tough, but let’s hope you know the résumé of a certain NBA player to get the blue group. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Let’s go at it.

Green group hint: Signal-callers.

Blue group hint: Hoops star’s teams.

Purple group hint: Great barbecue town.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Competition.

Green group: Names of NFL QBs.

Blue group: Teams Tyrese Haliburton has played for.

Purple group: Kansas City ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is competition. The four answers are bout, contest, event and match.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is names of NFL QBs. The four answers are Baker, Bo, Dak and Tua.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams Tyrese Haliburton has played for. The four answers are Iowa State, Kings, Pacers and USA.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Kansas City ____. The four answers are Chiefs, Current, Monarchs and Royals.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for June 8, #728

Here are some hints and the answers for Connections for June 8, #728.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle could be tricky. The purple category is one of those «sounds like» groups, that can be really tough to figure out. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Keep at it.

Green group hint: Think Wall Street animals.

Blue group hint: Online encyclopedia subheads.

Purple group hint: $$$.