Why should gamers enjoy all the fun?
In Pro Type Ultra, Razer has improved its excellent productivity keyboard with a maximum speed switch and longer wireless battery life, creating the best non-ergonomic keyboard on the market.
The Razer gaming keyboard needs no introduction, but the company’s first office keyboard launched last year caused a sensation, and the Razer Pro Type won the PCMag Editor’s Choice Award. What did Razer do for Encore? Introduced a keyboard with faster switching, twice and a half battery life and padded wrist rest-Pro Type Ultra. Its $159.99 price will discourage shoppers accustomed to seeing desktop keyboards for $49 or $79, but it is a very responsive, comfortable, and customizable PC control center that replaces its predecessor. Become the editor's choice for our wireless productivity keyboard.
At first glance, you might mistake the Pro Type Ultra to be a $20 Pro Type-a full-size 104-key keyboard with white keycaps above the silver top plate and full white backlighting instead of a customizable keyboard. The key RGB rainbow of Razer gaming models. Ultra is barely bigger at 1.6 x 17.3 x 5.2 inches (HWD), which does not include a comfortable 17 x 3.7 inch leatherette wrist rest that can be placed in front of it, if you wish. (The wrist rest is a separate part and has no lock or magnetic connection to the keyboard, so you can put it anywhere.)
The engraved keycaps are made of soft-touch ABS plastic, and the hinged feet on the bottom rear allow you to choose two small angles to support the keyboard, if you like tilting typing. There are no decorations like volume wheel or USB pass-through (although by default the top row F1 to F3 keys are for mute, decrease and increase volume). The F11 and F12 keys dim and brighten the backlight, which is very bright at its peak setting.
However, under the keycaps, the situation has changed. Last year's Pro Type was equipped with a Razer Orange mechanical axis, which does not have the noisy click of the solid Green axis provided by Razer's gaming keyboard customers, but has the same tactile feel and 4mm travel (1.9mm to their actuation point). Ultra uses the Razer Yellow switch, which is linear rather than tactile, and shallower (3.5 mm travel, 1.2 mm drive point).
Coupled with the sound-absorbing foam, this makes the keyboard not quiet, although Razer's ad copy-almost any mechanical keyboard is louder than a keyboard with a laptop-style scissor switch or cheaper desktop rubber dome switches. But it only produces a quiet click, while rewarding fast typists with a pleasant response feel. In addition, mechanical switches are more durable. (Razer rated the number of presses on the Pro Type Ultra as 80 million, which is eight times the expected lifespan of the switches on a universal keyboard.)
The new keyboard has a longer life between charges. (It takes about two hours to fully charge the keyboard when you plug the keyboard into the PC through the included 2-meter cable. The keyboard has a USB Type-C connector at one end and a Type-A connector at the other end.) The backlight is turned on and off , Last year’s model was rated for 84 hours or 78 hours of use, depending on whether you prefer Bluetooth or 2.4GHz wireless connection. Pro Type Ultra increases the running time of Razer ratings to 214 hours and 207 hours, respectively. Alas, turning the backlight all the way to the maximum will drain the internal battery. The speed is so fast that you can even hear the sucking sound-Razer estimates that it will take 13 hours in this bright state.
As I mentioned, Razer Pro Type Ultra follows its predecessor, offering Bluetooth or 2.4GHz radio frequency wireless options. The latter uses a small USB-A dongle hidden behind a small door at the bottom of the keyboard. The sliding switch on the edge of the back indicates your preference. You can configure the keyboard to control up to four devices, one 2.4GHz and three Bluetooth (select by pressing the Fn key and 1, 2, or 3). This feature may come in handy if you frequently switch between desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and/or mobile phones. A 2.4GHz dongle will work with the keyboard and one of Razer’s productivity mice, the same as Logitech’s Unifying technology.
When you connect the keyboard to the PC, it will provide you to download and install Razer's Synapse 3 control software, which allows you to set the backlight intensity (and choose a stable light or "breathing" effect) and power saving timeout. It also allows you to customize or reprogram the keys, from multimedia and mouse control to launching applications, cycling between paired devices, and (using another downloaded module) to manage macros.
Once during my test, when the keyboard was still about 80% charged, the battery fuel gauge of Synapse 3 turned to red 0%, but this failure never appeared again. However, there is a consistent sophistry: Synapse requires you to register for a Razer account and include slightly tacky links to the Razer Store, Razer Gold in-game purchases, and the Razer Silver loyalty reward program. Considering that Pro Type Ultra is a productivity tool, this is a driving force for many Razer styles. However, in addition to this, Synapse 3 is a powerful, easy-to-navigate utility.
It is undeniable that the Razer Pro Type Ultra is a high-quality device-we have never seen a wireless mechanical keyboard other than this. In addition, dust and debris (not what you've ever eaten on your desk, right?) falls between the keys and the top plate, so you need to carry a brush or compressed air tank for laptop keyboard users.
Otherwise, this fast, luxurious keyboard is hard to pick. It was wasted on typists, but Pro Type Ultra easily won the Editor's Choice Award as an elite input device.
In Pro Type Ultra, Razer has improved its excellent productivity keyboard with a maximum speed switch and longer wireless battery life, creating the best non-ergonomic keyboard on the market.
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Eric Grevstad was the editor-in-chief of Home Office Computing and a contributing editor of PCMag. He previously served as the chief laptop analyst. Since the era of TRS-80 and Apple II, Grevstad has been a technology reporter, specializing in lightweight laptops, mobile workstations, and productivity software. He works in a home office in Bradenton, Florida. Email him [email protected].
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