Review Verdict: The Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro is a high-end, low-profile keyboard in the Philippines meant for pros, but its high price makes it hard to recommend to anyone without deep pockets.
Pros
- Per-key RGB lighting
- 40 hours of battery life
- Instantaneous response from optical switches
- Build quality that’ll probably survive the apocalypse
Cons
- Ridiculously expensive
- Doesn’t have macro keys
Razer has finally filled that low-profile shaped hole in its keyboard lineup with its new DeathStalker line of wireless keyboards. Today we’ll be looking at the top dog in its lineup, the DeathStalker V2 Pro. The DeathStalker V2 Pro has premium features, a solid build and a price tag that some may say is borderline prohibitive – is it worth what the company is asking for?
Design and build
The words low-profile and gaming rarely mesh well together, but Razer has somehow found a way to make a gaming keyboard look tame and relatively unoffensive.
The overall design of the Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro is very sleek and low-profile. There’s no giant Razer logo anywhere, nor are there weird design tangents in the chassis or deck. With the RGB turned off, the keyboard doesn’t really look like a gaming keyboard at all – which I like. I’m at an age where chintzy, flashy designs of typical gaming products no longer interest me, and I appreciate that Razer’s going with sleeker, more low-profile designs for their flagship products.
The keys are more tightly packed than your typical full-sized mechanical keyboard, which takes a little getting used to. A black satin finish adorns the aluminum chassis, and Razer has added a media key and a multi-function roller that sits right on top of the number keys. Aside from that though, there are no extra keys for macros or anything like that, which is a little surprising considering its price.
Before you start to worry, yes there are RGB lights here, in fact, there’s actually per-key RGB lighting via Razer’s Chroma lighting system. And leave it to Razer not to do anything half-assed – the RGB lighting on the DeathStalker V2 Pro is very bright, though if you want the keyboard to last unplugged you’ll want to tone it down a little bit.
One thing that really struck me was how well made the keycaps were. The laser etching on them was pretty sharp, and even with a lot of use, they still retain their matte finish. Keycaps usually start to get shiny with use because of all the sweat and oils that accumulate with use. Not with the Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro though – the keycaps are still looking pretty matte.
Going around the chassis of the keyboard you’ll see a USB Type-C connector, 3 buttons marked from 1 to 3, as well as a switch for 2.4GHz Razer “Hyperspeed” and Bluetooth. The 2.4GHz dongle is stored on the bottom. There are five LED lights right above the arrow keys that let you know what profile you’re using. Press FN and END together, and they’ll also show you the keyboard’s current battery life if you’re running on wireless mode.
Performance and battery life
As we mentioned, you can connect the Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro to your PC in three ways: wired mode using the USB Type-C cable, via Bluetooth 5.0, and Razer HyperSpeed 2.4GHz via the provided dongle at the bottom. If you’re hurting for room in your setup for free USB ports, you can piggyback off of the 2.4GHz dongle from other Razer products like the Viper V2 Pro to save space.
Remember those 3 buttons at the back? Well, those allow you to quickly connect to different devices via Bluetooth if you need to. This is a cool trick especially if you’re someone that works with both a desktop, laptop, and a tablet all at once and want to use a single keyboard with all three.
The DeathStalker V2 Pro uses low-profile optical switches that sport 1.2mm actuation and 2.8mm of travel. They require an actuation force of just 45g.
If you’re looking for speed, Razer’s optical switches are as fast as they come. Instead of a mechanical switch that gets tripped every time you press on a key, optical switches instead rely on beams of light to tell your PC that a key has been pressed, which reduces the response time to less than 0.2ms. Since there are no metal contacts inside the switches, they’re theoretically more durable, with Razer stating that the Linear Optical Switch inside the DeathStalker V2 Pro is rated for 100 million clicks, double of a typical mechanical switch.
The only thing I’ll knock the DeathStalker V2 Pro’s linear switches is that it feels soft and mushy to me, coming from a keyboard ASUS GK1100 mechanical keyboard that I’ve had for years. It’s not as tactile (or as noisy) as that one, but the upside is that it’s not going to annoy your wife (or significant other) or your co-workers if you’re banging on it full tilt when you’re typing – making it perfect for streamers.
The DeathStalker V2 Pro has a battery life of 40 hours on a single charge, but take note that’s with the brightness of the RGB lights set to 50%. I was getting around that number so Razer’s estimate is pretty accurate, though you’d probably want to tone down the brightness for more battery life since the keyboard’s lighting is pretty bright anyway.
Wrap-up and verdict
The Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro shines (both literally and figuratively) in our review of it in the Philippines, offering silent, near-instantaneous response time when you need it.
But like with other flagship Razer products, all of that performance comes at a price. And some may argue that the DeathStalker V2 Pro’s sticker isn’t really worth all the bells and whistles that come with it.
There are cheaper alternatives in Razer’s keyboard lineup though if you’re dead set on getting a Razer keyboard, again you’ll have to pay a premium to get the very best.
Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro Review Philippines Price
The DeathStalker V2 Pro has a price of Php 14,590 in the Philippines. The TKL version of the DeathStalker V2 Pro has a price of Php 12,200.
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