Razer DeathStalker V2 Goes Low-Profile With Optical Switches
Razer's original DeathStalker keyboard series was launched nearly 10 years ago and was an accidental submission into the company's gaming keyboard lineup. Named after one of the deadliest scorpions in the world, the DeathStalker was a chiclet-style membrane keyboard that felt misplaced in a market for gamers despite its peculiar set of features. Several years later, Razer is remedying that by reviving the series under the DeathStalker V2 portfolio of low-profile optical keyboards. This includes the DeathStalker V2, DeathStalker V2 Pro, and the DeathStalker V2 Pro Tenkeyless.
The new DeathStalker V2 keyboards feature Razer's optical switches in a low-profile configuration. Keyboards with optical switches, much similar to traditional mechanical keyboards, use individual switches for each key. However, while mechanical switches use physical contacts to register key presses, optical keyboards utilize infrared lights to know when a key is pressed. The lack of physical contacts in optical switches translates to smoother and more linear key travel than mechanical switches. These characteristics make optical switches ideal for gaming.
Low-profile and high-performance keyboard
Talking about the Razer DeathStalker V2 specifically, the company offers two switch options: linear (most likely red) and clicky (blue). The switches have a key travel of 2.8mm and actuation point values of just 1.2mm for the linear and 1.5mm for the clicky switches. These distances are roughly two-thirds compared to those on a full-sized keyboard switch. As typical of optical keyboard switches, these low-profile switches from Razer also have a very long lifespan of nearly 70 million key presses.
The DeathStalker V2 Pro keyboards are available in wireless configuration and use Razer's proprietary HyperSpeed Wireless protocol for superfast connections. That still requires you to attach a USB dongle to your computer. But if you do not wish to do that, the DeathStalker V2 Pro and the V2 Pro Tenkeyless also support Bluetooth 5.0 for universal and truly wireless connectivity. Both the models can attach to up to three devices simultaneously and switch between them seamlessly by pressing a single button.
On a wireless connection, the Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro has a battery life of up to 40 hours, while the DeathStalker V2 Pro Tenkeyless runs 10 hours longer, clocking a total battery backup of 50 hours. For games where every millisecond is crucial, you can rely on the included braided USB Type-C cable to charge and use the DeathStalker V2 Pro variants directly.
Equal treatment for wired and wireless variants
Meanwhile, the vanilla variant of the Razer DeathStalker V2 skips on wireless connectivity but offers similar features in all other regards. The model gets a detachable USB Type-C cable just like its siblings. Standard features on all the Razer DeathStalker V2 keyboards include an aluminum alloy top case, laser-etched ABS keycaps, n-key rollover, and customizable RGB lighting. All models also feature on-board key configuration memory with storage for up to five profiles, which can also be synced with the cloud using Razer's Synapse tool.
As for the pricing of the keyboards, the wireless Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro is priced at $249.99/€249.99, whereas the Tenkeyless model will be available for $249.99/€249.99. Lastly, the wired DeathStalker V2 will be sold for $199.99/€199.99. The DeathStalker V2 Pro will be available for purchase starting on July 26, 2022, while the availability of the V2 Pro Tenkeyless and the V2 will be announced in the coming months.