The Origin PC BlackWidow Chroma Mechanical Keyboard Review
by E. Fylladitakis on August 6, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Peripherals
- Keyboard
- Origin PC
- Razer
- Mechanical Keyboards
Gamers based in the US and Canada are very likely to have heard of ORIGIN PC. The company, one of the major botique system builders, specializes in building and marketing high-end PC systems, including laptops, workstations, and of course gaming desktops, retailing them along with assorted services such as lifetime support and labor. More recently however, ORIGIN PC decided to diversify their product lineup and branch into selling other items such as peripherals and All-In-One liquid coolers.
The ORIGIN PC BlackWidow Chroma mechanical gaming keyboard is one of the new peripherals that the company recently released, and is what we are looking at in today's capsule review. After reading its name, a well-informed gamer has already realized that this keyboard is an exact copy of Razer’s BlackWidow Chroma. ORIGIN PC is not trying to hide that. On the contrary, Razer is openly named as the company that supplies the switches and the software. Therefore, in every respect, this review can also be regarded as the review of the Razer BlackWidow Chroma.
ORIGIN PC BlackWidow Chroma Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - Key features and specifications
- Razer Mechanical Switches with 50g actuation force
- 60 million keystroke life span
- Chroma backlighting with 16.8 million customizable color options
- Razer Synapse enabled
- 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting
- Fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
- 5 additional dedicated macro keys
- Gaming mode option
- Audio-out/mic-in jacks
- USB pass-through
- 1000Hz Ultrapolling
- Braided fiber cable
Packaging & Bundle
ORIGIN PC supplies the BlackWidow Chroma in an almost entirely plain, brown cardboard box. The only artwork on the box are the logos of ORIGIN PC and Razer, side by side. Inside the box, we found a minimal bundle offered into a black envelope with Razer’s logo on it, consisting of a quick start guide, warranty information and product registration cards, as well as two large stickers. There is no media with the software, keycap extraction tool, replacement keycaps, wrist rest or any other accessories.
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yhselp - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
Thing is, Razer nowadays seem to consider themselves a fashion brand above all else. A while back they pretty much forced retailers to permanently increase prices of older and newer products alike. Word goes round that on the headphones' side they'd like to be seen as the new/next Beats. Judging by the increasing amount of teenagers sporting Krakens out in public here in Europe, it would seem that the strategy is working -- good luck trying to convince these kids that anything is better than Razer. I would imagine most of these products are bought as gifts and hence the inflated prices. It's sad for people that care, but it seems to be working out great for Razer... I personally haven't been excited about a Razer peripheral for quite a while now.hansmuff - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
Their marketing department is good, that's for sure. The only razer product I ever had was some mouse pad that was aluminum and had a rough and a smooth side. That was a good product, lasted many years. When I wanted a new one it was discontinued and a far inferior product sold instead.Been using NGen C4 since then and never looked back.
khanikun - Friday, August 7, 2015 - link
Ya, Razer's mousepads are total junk today. My old Razer mousepad was great, but the surface has been worn smooth. I replaced it with a Razer Vespula. It's junk. The mousing surface has separated from the plastic base. I had to superglue it back down, but the middle of it started bubbling up now.I'm on the search for a replacement.
Morawka - Friday, August 7, 2015 - link
try the Razer Sphex.. once you get one of these, you wont want a traditional mousepad again.Its basicly a thick sticker, that sticks to your desk, never moves, and comes in several surface options.
FMinus - Wednesday, August 12, 2015 - link
I was gaming competitively a lot from the mid 90s to late 2000, Quake and such games, and after going through about 50 mouse pads, which all turned to crap after half a year or sooner, I decided to buy something more permanent and bought the Razer Manticore (Aluminium) and haven't changed a mouse mat since.Now that I think of, if could go to some metal works and buy a think sheet of polished aluminium for cheaper, but never the less, the Manticore is with me now for it's 4th year I believe and I don't think I'll ever buy a new mosue mat again, unless the aluminium all of a sudden disappears or it gets bend misteriously.
piiman - Saturday, August 8, 2015 - link
Corsair has them. I have one and love it.edzieba - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
" Furthermore, downloading the software requires that the user sign up for a Razer Synapse account and go through email validation. One cannot simply download the software/drivers, install them and be done with it. "Jeez, they're STILL doing this? Razer got slammed a year or so ago for pulling this nonsense with their mice. I'd have hoped they'd have learnt by now.
Stuka87 - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
Thing is, it works really well. I have a Black Widow Ultimate and an Imperator mouse (love them both) and the software works very well for me. It tells me when there is a new update, never requires reboots when patching, allows me to customize both in one control panel. I can understand there may be a small minority that game on their PC and don't have the internet, but VERY few games that I play are not online. So the online requirement has never bothered me.HOOfan 1 - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
If you like it, great sign up for it. They shouldn't be forcing people to do this though.Flunk - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
I have a Razer Blackwidow keyboard and I find the software to be overwrought, buggy and rather pointless for a keyboard. Having to log in just to use it is insulting and pointless, if they want to do that it should be an optional feature. Also, since I uninstalled it Windows is constantly redownloading the installer and running it for me. Why it does this I have no idea, it's irritating.