Razer is refining its compact-keyboard game. In 2020, the Huntsman Mini was one of the first 60 percent keyboards from a major maker of gaming peripherals, predating the surge of compact designs launching in 2021. With its second compact design, the Razer Blackwidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed, Razer adds a wireless model to its lineup. Perhaps more crucially, the new Blackwidow V3 Mini adds a few keys—it’s technically a 65% keyboard—and the inclusion of arrows makes a huge amount of difference in everyday use. Those two additions are more than enough of an upgrade for it to qualify as Razer’s flagship compact keyboard. It's a strong choice if you’re looking for a wireless 65% model.
Spinning a Smaller Web
Versus the full-size Blackwidow, the Blackwidow V3 Mini is pretty teensy. Measuring 1.69 by 12.5 by 5.09 inches (HWD), this simple 68-key device has a substantially smaller desk footprint than its larger, more feature-rich counterpart. Among compact keyboards, it’s on the large side. (I blame the long slanted edge at the front of the keyboard.) It’s still a tight design, though: All of the keys are pushed into a single block without any gaps.
Compact-keyboard layout names (60%, 65%, and so on) are based on the number of keys they have relative to a standard full-size keyboard with 104 keys. Paring down to 68 keys like on the Blackwidow V3 Mini requires Razer to remove some essential ones, including the entire function row and many of the editing navigation keys. You can still access those inputs (along with media and lighting controls) using function-key shortcuts. The keycaps have sideprints with those shortcuts on them to help you find your way around.
Realistically, any change to the keyboard layout affects your ability to navigate it and type quickly, but the Blackwidow V3 Mini has a much easier learning curve than its predecessor, the Huntsman Mini, thanks to its seven additional keys. Most notably, the Blackwidow V3 Mini retains arrow keys, which I find are crucial when you’re writing something long or navigating certain menus, especially if you prefer keyboard shortcuts to using a mouse. Does keeping those arrows mean giving up on the absolute smallest possible keyboard? Yes. Is that tradeoff worth it? For most people, I think it is.
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Under the caps, the Razer Blackwidow V3 Mini features Razer’s clicky Green or linear Yellow switches. The Razer Yellows, which we used for this review, have been updated with sound dampeners to reduce the volume of their clacking. They aren't silent, but they're relatively quiet for mechanical keys. Razer Yellows have slightly less travel and a quicker actuation than their mainstream counterpart, Cherry MX Silent Red switches, though this revised design feels slightly firmer than other linear switches. Competitive gamers who want the quickest draw may not like the sound of that, but a linear switch with less of a hair trigger feels like an upgrade overall.
The other primary upgrade from the Huntsman Mini is that the Blackwidow V3 Mini is wireless. Though we’ve seen more wireless mechanical keyboards in the last year or so, they're still pretty rare. The Blackwidow V3 Mini supports both Bluetooth and its proprietary HyperSpeed 2.4GHz wireless connections, the latter of which requires a USB dongle. Both connections are strong and stable with minimal input lag. And yes, there’s a small compartment on the underside of the keyboard to store the dongle when you need to.
The HyperSpeed dongle can connect to multiple Razer devices. As of now, though, it only syncs with three recent Razer wireless mice: the DeathAdder V2 Pro, the Naga Pro, and the Orochi V2. If you have one of those mice, the multi-device support is handy, but the functionality is so limited that I’d hesitate to call it an upgrade until it works with more devices.
You'll get amazing battery life from the Blackwidow V3 Mini...but only sometimes. According to Razer, the keyboard should last up to 200 hours on a single charge with its RGBs turned off. With the RGB lighting at 30% brightness, it’s rated to last 48 hours; at 100%, just 17 hours. It’s normal for power efficiency to be halved by RGB use, but it truly plummets off a cliff here. If you're buying a keyboard made by Razer, which is so famously obsessed with RGB, you'll probably want to enjoy the colorful lighting, so be prepared to charge your keyboard every day or two.
The issue can be mitigated with power-saving features using the Razer Synapse configuration app. I found the battery lasted six days at 100% brightness as long as I set the keyboard to dim the lighting after a few minutes of inactivity. When you need to top off the battery, you can plug the keyboard into your PC and use it wired while it charges.
Synapse Makes Everything Better
Like all Razer gear, the Blackwidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed gets software support from Synapse, the company’s Windows-based peripheral configuration app. As I’ve mentioned in many, many reviews, Synapse is among the best customization tools out there for keyboards and mice. It has a clear, visual UI that allows you remap keys, create custom macros, change power-related settings, and customize the keyboard’s RGB lighting.
Interestingly, the Blackwidow V3 Mini has slightly fewer customization options than the average Razer keyboard. In order to ensure you have access to full keyboard functionality, you can't remap any of the sidecapped function key shortcuts. I don’t necessarily think that’s a problem—frankly, I’d get confused if I changed them—but it is noteworthy. You can store up to five keyboard profiles in onboard memory, plus as many additional profiles as you like locally.
A Rare Bird
The Razer Blackwidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed is a fine keyboard, and more approachable than the Huntsman Mini. It’s also one of only a handful of wireless mechanical keyboards, and unusual within that category for its compact design. That's a combination that's worth celebrating.
Razer tends to charge a premium for its products, and the Blackwidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed’s $179.99 price is very high for a compact keyboard, even a wireless mechanical one. The excellent Asus ROG Falchion costs slightly less and has more features. But Razer's track record and brand recognition engender a lot of trust and loyalty for a reason, and anyone who tries the Blackwidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed will find it rewarding to type on, as well as to pack for a trip or squeeze onto a crowded desk.
Razer’s refined compact keyboard gains a little girth to get way more comfortable, and Bluetooth and wireless support let you take it anywhere.
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