Would you be able to check out some offerings from Cherry? https://www.cherry-world.com/mx-3-0s-wireless https://www.cherry-world.com/mx-8-2-tkl-wireless https://cherryxtrfy.com/keyboards

Maybe they have a larger presence elsewhere, but reviews and availability aren’t the greatest for Canada, though CC and ME are both listed as vendors, they just don’t have many options outside of a factory order.

As someone who currently owns a wireless Razer keyboard (blackwidow v3 pro) and mouse (basilisk ultimate). I would never recommend a Razer product that depends on their Synapse software to anyone. It requires Synapse to always be running and online if you want your profiles with custom binds, macros and RGB to work. It uses about 2-3% ram on avg on a 32gb system. I don’t have much negative to say about quality of the hardware because its great but the software for the time being has assured I’ll never purchase anything Razer again. So I would love to see some better alternatives from RTINGS as I have used you all for quite a bit of recommendations and I can’t see anyone with experience with Razer recommending it.

Simply put 100-200$+ hardware should not require always online poorly desinged software to function. Onboard Memory is a scam in this case.

Apr 17, 2024 11:32 PM By Hodwie_Dewitt

1

As someone who currently owns a wireless Razer keyboard (blackwidow v3 pro) and mouse (basilisk ultimate). I would never recommend a Razer product that depends on their Synapse software to anyone. It requires Synapse to always be running and online if you want your profiles with custom binds, macros and RGB to work. It uses about 2-3% ram on avg on a 32gb system. I don’t have much negative to say about quality of the hardware because its great but the software for the time being has assured I’ll never purchase anything Razer again. So I would love to see some better alternatives from RTINGS as I have used you all for quite a bit of recommendations and I can’t see anyone with experience with Razer recommending it. Simply put 100-200$+ hardware should not require always online poorly desinged software to function. Onboard Memory is a scam in this case.

Hey Howie_Dewitt, Thanks for reaching out.

You raise a good point, and I agree! Razer’s Synapse can be intrusive and tends to hog resources it shouldn’t need. In fact, we added a disclaimer in the Software test section for all Razer mice and keyboards we’ve recently reviewed regarding the software experience and the many complaints people have about it within the community.

That said, we still recommend their products in several articles for a range of reasons. The standout rationale is that the degree to which this issue is a problem really depends on the user in question and what they’re using their keyboard for. It’s also worth noting that Razer isn’t an outlier here, as many other companies have intrusive software, and we typically add disclaimers for those products as well. Other pieces of software that are frequently criticized include SteelSeries GG, Logitech G HUB, and ASUS’s ARMOURY CRATE, just to name a few.

Personally, I use a Razer Basilisk V3 at home, and I don’t have Synapse installed. I use third-party programs that don’t need to run in the background to shut off the RGB lighting and remap buttons. This approach is one way to avoid using Synapse.

Otherwise, for anyone looking to avoid intrusive bloatware options, we’d also encourage checking out options like the Keychron V5 Max, which we recently added to our list of recommendations here. This option uses VIA for customization, which is much more streamlined and less intrusive.

Thanks again for reaching out, Best wishes.

I would appreciate it if you could include information about whether 2.4 GHz wireless connections are encrypted or not. This is a major security/privacy concern, and yet the information seems so hard to come by. If a keyboard does not have an encrypted connection, that’s a complete deal-breaker for me. No matter how good a keyboard might otherwise be, it’s not fit for purpose if it broadcasts the keystrokes in plain text, or allows others to send keystrokes to the receiver.

I’ve contacted some different manufacturers about this. I can confirm that Logitech and SteelSeries both say their 2.4 GHz connections are encrypted, and thus safe to use. Unfortunately, Keychron, Akko, and Epomaker have all told me that they do NOT use encryption and disappointingly send keystrokes as plain text for all to see.

Jun 14, 2024 02:57 AM By GreenRabbit

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I would appreciate it if you could include information about whether 2.4 GHz wireless connections are encrypted or not. This is a major security/privacy concern, and yet the information seems so hard to come by. If a keyboard does not have an encrypted connection, that’s a complete deal-breaker for me. No matter how good a keyboard might otherwise be, it’s not fit for purpose if it broadcasts the keystrokes in plain text, or allows others to send keystrokes to the receiver. I’ve contacted some different manufacturers about this. I can confirm that Logitech and SteelSeries both say their 2.4 GHz connections are encrypted, and thus safe to use. Unfortunately, Keychron, Akko, and Epomaker have all told me that they do NOT use encryption and disappointingly send keystrokes as plain text for all to see.

Hi GreenRabbit,

It’s definitely an interesting test and shouldn’t be too hard to test. We’ll look to identify how many users, like yourself, care about this and consider adding it in a future keyboard methodology update. Thank you for the suggestion and associated examples, it helps a lot.

If you still have the Razer Pro Type Ultra/Blackwidow V3 Pro, could you test a few things? Could you link it up using the wireless dongle to a PC AND a Mac using a KVM to see if the keyboard still works satisfactorily for both devices? I just want to check because I know some wireless peripheral dongles act up with connected to a KVM.

I am currently using a regular wired Blackwidow that is connected to both PC and Mac via that KVM, and while both works great via KVM, the wire is making it difficult for me as I often have the Macbook in front of me while the monitor is on a higher stand behind it, so it’s hard to place the Blackwidow in front of it without scratching the Macbook. I really enjoy the Blackwidow clicky keys experience so I was thinking it might be good to stick to it.

I need a full-sized keyboard for work (as well as the person using the PC), so I can’t default to the Keychron V5 as well.

Mar 16, 2025 10:09 AM By lightbringer88

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If you still have the Razer Pro Type Ultra/Blackwidow V3 Pro, could you test a few things? Could you link it up using the wireless dongle to a PC AND a Mac using a KVM to see if the keyboard still works satisfactorily for both devices? I just want to check because I know some wireless peripheral dongles act up with connected to a KVM. I am currently using a regular wired Blackwidow that is connected to both PC and Mac via that KVM, and while both works great via KVM, the wire is making it difficult for me as I often have the Macbook in front of me while the monitor is on a higher stand behind it, so it’s hard to place the Blackwidow in front of it without scratching the Macbook. I really enjoy the Blackwidow clicky keys experience so I was thinking it might be good to stick to it. I need a full-sized keyboard for work (as well as the person using the PC), so I can’t default to the Keychron V5 as well.

Hi lightbringer88! Thank you for the question 😄 We sadly don’t have the Razer Pro Type Ultra/Blackwidow V3 Pro to test it out. On the other hand I went ahead and tried with another Razer we have in the office. The DeathStalker V2 Pro that also offers wireless connectivity does indeed work without any issues. Only thing I would add is to make sure that you have a good KVM to reduce the possibility of issues.