Razer Pro Type Ultra

The Razer Pro Type Ultra is a keyboard designed for office use that can still be used for gaming. Wireless, mechanical, backlit and comfortable, it boasts premium features.

 

Presentation

Of course, we know Razer for its gaming computers and peripherals, but for some time now the manufacturer has been attacking office automation. At the end of 2021, it intends to expand this section with the arrival of the Pro Type Ultra, a high-end wireless mechanical keyboard that looks very interesting on paper, especially since Razer insists on the silent dimension of this model. Intended primarily for workers, the keyboard has characteristics that make it a good candidate for video games, provided that you are satisfied with an assumed sobriety. Its price is higher than most of its office competitors, without reaching the price of the most expensive gaming models, which easily exceeds €200. The right compromise for great versatility?

 

Ergonomics

The Razer Pro Type Ultra is a keyboard with an attractive design and very neat finishes. Consisting of white matte plastic (ABS) keys and an anodized aluminum plate, the construction seems very solid in all aspects.

The keyboard comes with a leatherette palm rest that is rather soft and very comfortable. Unfortunately, it does not attach to the keyboard with clips or magnets, but is equipped with non-slip feet and therefore does not move away from the keyboard. This can be a bit annoying if you regularly move the keyboard on your desk.

The keyboard itself is of course also equipped with similar glides, as well as retractable feet that can be adjusted on two levels in order to choose a 6 or 9° angle of inclination. They offer a good freedom of adaptation and are particularly solid. There is also a small storage compartment under the keyboard for the wireless receiver.

In full size, the Pro Type Ultra has a numeric keypad and total dimensions of about 44 x 13.1 cm. Not as compact as the TKL models, it will nevertheless satisfy those who handle numbers regularly. The function keys are fairly standard, with a few shortcuts, especially for multimedia and backlighting.

Indeed, although the keyboard is wireless, it is indeed backlit, a feature still rare on the market and reserved for a few high-end models only. This one is not left out since it can be adjusted on nearly 20 levels, enough to satisfy any conditions of use. Note that it also illuminates the aluminum plate, an effect that some may deplore, but which did not bother us at all, even in night lighting conditions. Strangely enough, the secondary functions of the keys with several silk-screened characters are not illuminated. However, this should not be too annoying in everyday use, unless you really don't know where the keys are on a keyboard.

Here Razer remained sober, with a single customizable color, which fits well with the office, even if we would have appreciated being able to choose other colors to brighten up a little a desk or to match the keyboard to other RGB peripherals.

As for the connectivity, the keyboard is again very complete. First of all, it can be connected with up to three devices via Bluetooth, but also via a USB 2.4 GHz receiver equipped with Razer Hyperspeed technology which ensures minimal latency with a polling rate of 1000 Hz. If the interest is more limited in office, this low latency makes sense during gaming sessions. The presence of this receiver also allows the keyboard to be used in motherboard BIOSes, which Bluetooth connectivity does not allow. Finally, a switch on the back of the keyboard allows you to choose between the two types of connection or to turn off the keyboard to save battery power.

If the battery should run low, a red LED indicates that you should not delay in charging the keyboard using the USB-C cable provided. Of course, you can continue to write with a cable and the cable measures nearly 2 m, a comfortable length to reach the USB port of a computer or an external charger. Razer announces more than 200 hours of use in Bluetooth as with the receiver, even if the brightness of the backlight will impact more or less the autonomy. In any case, we were able to use the keyboard for more than a week without needing to recharge it. The battery, however, is not accessible, so it is impossible to replace it easily if it degrades over time.

The Razer Synapse software allows you to manage the keyboard's lighting and sleep settings in more detail, choosing, for example, after which period of inactivity the brightness is dimmed or turned off to save battery power. You can also change key assignments and customize shortcuts or macros as needed.

 

 

Typing

If office keyboards don't often benefit from mechanical switches, rather intended for gaming models, their velocity can nevertheless offer a certain writing comfort. The bounce of the keys is indeed much more lively, but this comes with a major drawback: this type of switch is much noisier than the membrane or scissor versions present on most office keyboards.

Here, Razer emphasizes the "quiet" aspect of its yellow home linear switches, but don't fall into the trap: if they are quieter than the green "clicky" models of the brand, they are still clearly audible in use. The sound produced is close to that of the red switches of the competition, the most common models that are not silent at all. On the other hand, no resonance is to be noted when writing, a good point. By the way, the keys are guaranteed for 80 million activations, a respectable longevity.

This does not detract from the quality of typing on the keyboard, which remains really pleasant and precise, but your office neighbors will hear you typing anyway. In gaming, the keyboard is worthy of a good gaming model and can be used for this purpose without batting an eyelid. It also has an N-Key Rollover, so up to 10 keys can be pressed simultaneously, which is more than enough for video games.

For this test, we were able to use the Pro Glide XXL pad (940 x 410 x 3 mm, sold separately) that can be seen in the photos. Its microtextured coating and non-slip base offer quality materials and a perfectly smooth mouse glide. Of course, the gray colors of the keyboard and the mat match very well.

 

 

Conclusion

The Razer Pro Type Ultra is an excellent office keyboard that can also be used for gaming. Its mechanical switches are indeed compatible for both uses, but the keyboard also offers advanced features. It has the advantage of being wireless, backlit, and has a comfortable palm rest in addition to a high quality construction. We will criticize it for not being as quiet as the manufacturer claims and we would have liked to be able to customize the backlighting a little more. Otherwise, it's almost flawless.