Software & Lights
When you first plug the Razer BlackWidow into your PC an installer will open up and download Razer’s software. You have the ability to select what gets installed. You should at the very least install Razer Synapse if you want to customize the keyboard.
Opening up Synapse it will show you all of the different Razer devices you have connected to your PC and the different Razer modules you have installed.
Clicking on the Razer BlackWidow icon you will be brought to an overview of the keyboard where you can set different profiles and customize each key on the keyboard. Below there is a button that says “Standard”. If you click on it, it switches to Hypershift where you can set alternate functions to each key as well.
If you click on a key a menu comes up where you can change that key to a keyboard function, mouse function, macro, an inter-device command, profile switch, lighting switch, Razer Hypershift, launch a program, a multimedia control, a Windows shortcut, a text function, or fully disable the button all together. I think that Razer has all of the options covered when it comes to alternate functions.
Macros are actually a module within the Synapse software. This way you can have macros created and saved and use them on any Razer device you plug into your system.
Back into the keyboard settings there is a Lighting tab at the top. Here you can select the lighting effect, set the brightness, and set when the lighting turns off. There are a handful of great effects under the Quick Effects drop-down, but if you go into Advanced Effects you can enter Razer Chroma Studio to really customize the lighting if you want to.
When it comes to lighting the keys are quite vibrant and bright. The white top-plate that the switches sit on really helps bring out the light even more.
You might also want to check out the “Connect” tab at the top of Synapse. Here you can connect specific games which have Razer profiles. Then your device will react to what is going on in the game. It is quite cool, we tested it with Apex Legends and it worked perfectly!
