So I went ahead and picked this up off a friendly fellow here on GH as I've always liked the look and I've currently got a Filco TKL and I've always wanted a TE, but they were always out of stock when I came to buy one and what not.
Backstory:I've always been a 75% board user, I switched about 2 years ago back when I had a Razer Blackwidow Elite, it was the smartest decision that I've ever made, I think 75% boards are perfect, they are just the right size and the boards that I use? they have everything included (I use Keycool 84 and Noppoo boards).
The Switch:So as you may or may not know, I am an avid lover of the Red switch and I don't see that changing any time soon, I just find it to be the most comforting to my fingers and for that reason, I've tried to not deter from it.
I did in-fact buy a Keycool 84 which had Browns and although it was nice, I just couldn't use it over Reds. Although browns are a fantastic switch and a great middle ground for Reds and Blues, I just couldn't leave Reds behind as it just wasn't something I was prepared to do, maybe if I buy another Noppoo and get Browns in that board? then maybe!
But anyway, let's get down to the review.
Review:Build QualityThe build quality of the board is fantastic, it feels like it's got a bit of weight to it but because of the way that it has been designed I cannot physically tell if it has a metal backplate underneath it, but it feels like it does (because of the weight and the key clacking.)
The keyboard feels to be worth a lot more than keyboards that I've paid more for, e.g. the Noppoo, the noppoo build quality doesn't feel as great but where it lacks in build quality it makes up for everywhere else pretty much.
The Keycaps and printingI don't even know where to start concerning the keycaps on this keyboard. Simply they are horrible, they feel the exact same as the Filco keycaps which is like a smooth ABS or something and I don't like it, I liked it at first on the Filco but then after a while it just felt horrible and I had to switch keyboards.
Furthermore the font choice on the keys of the Razer TE is the worst I have ever witnessed, I know it is Razers default font for all of their products, but it just looks ugly and I don't have any keycaps to replace them with at the moment.
Typing ExperienceThe typing experience on the Razer TE is not the best in my opinion, but I think this is soley down to the switch. I think if I had picked up the Razer TE Stealth this would of been a much more enjoyable experience and this review would be singing it's praises.
One of my main problems was that when typing, it seemed to be more of a daunting process than when typing on Reds, maybe I am just to used to a lighter switch now but typing on Blues actually annoyed me this time around, maybe I need more time on blues but overall? I did not like it and another annoyance was that when I would press down on the Backspace key, it would feel as if it needed more pressure than the other keys (which I did not like) and coming from reds, I can hover my fingers over certain keys and then press them ever so lightly if I want to actuate those keys, but with Blues? I cannot do that and that was really annoying to me.
Typing situations I endured were the following:
Played 1 game of League of Legends while maintaining communication with my team,
Did 3 x typing tests on 10fastfingers.com,
Did 3 x typing tests on typeracer,
Sent out 2 E-mails also.
VerdictI would like to advise this keyboard, but I would only do so if you are going to get the Stealth version which has MX Browns, I would not advising getting this or any other keyboard that has Blues, I seriously think that Blue switches are an inferior switch and I would not place them that much better than Blacks and that's saying something.
Maybe it's the keyboard + the blue switches that I'm not enjoying because I've had the chance to type on a friends Poker II /w Blues and his keyboard felt a hell of a lot better than it did for me typing on the Razer TE.
Overall, I would rate this keyboard 6/10, this is down to the fact that the keycaps are not very nice to type on, the keyboard itself is too raised when using leg-stands so you're forced to use the keyboard as it is (with the TE using leg-stands it is taller than my Keycool, my Noppoo and my Filco - So yeah, use that as a guide), the key cap printing is horrible, the keyboard itself is bigger than any other TKL that I am famiiliar with.
I was tempted to buying the Brown version of this keyboard, but after doing this review and playing around with it? I'm not so sure anymore.
So to summarise, only buy this keyboard if you're going to get the version with Brown switches, have spare keycaps ready and you'll be fine.
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