Hardware

Published on October 16th, 2019 | by Andrew Bistak

Razer introduces the world’s first optical laptop keyboard

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the world’s first optical keyboard designed for laptops. Razer was the first to introduce a low-profile mechanical laptop keyboard in 2016 and has now brought next-generation optical switches to the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop. The low-profile keyboard has been designed for gaming enthusiasts who demand near instant actuation, satisfying tactile feedback, and rapid-fire inputs.

Harnessing the Speed of Light
The new optical laptop switch harnesses the power of light to instantly capture key actuations. Under every key, an infrared light beam is used to detect when a key is pressed (actuation), allowing for much greater precision and speed versus conventional laptop keyboards. The result is a groundbreaking keyboard with an actuation point of only 1mm at 55g of actuation force with 50% more travel, allowing players to input more commands in less time in the heat of battle.

On top of lightning-fast actuation, the new keyboard features a satisfying mechanical tactile click – a must for any keyboard connoisseur. The tactile feedback helps users know when an input has been registered and provides a superior typing experience compared to traditional membrane keyboards.

The Razer Blade 15 optical keyboard also features N-Key Rollover (NKRO) with anti-ghosting. As the optical keyboard utilizes light to register inputs instead of a traditional physical contact, the optical keyboard features zero debounce to ensure that only one stroke is registered instantly without any delay.

Each keycap is individually backlit with Razer Chroma RGB lighting, offering 16.8 million colors to play with. Ranging from unique pre-programmed designs to custom patterns available only in the Razer Chroma Workshop, users have countless lighting options to choose from.

“Razer is a company built on firsts, we focus on pushing the envelope to provide gamers with the best-in-class hardware,” says Brad Wildes, Senior Vice President of Razer’s Systems Division. “Our Razer Blade 15 laptop with the new optical laptop keyboard is the first of its kind, providing gamers with the most advanced switch technology on the market anywhere they go.”

Award-winning ingredients
The Razer Blade 15 remains the most awarded laptop in the Razer Blade family as its sleek and compact design paired with best-in-class hardware has proven to be a winning combination. The optical keyboard model features ultra-fast gaming performance packed into a thin design that includes an NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2070 GPU, an Intel® Core™ i7-9750H 6-Core CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB SSD storage.

Nestled front and centered is a beautiful 15.6” Full HD 240Hz display, flanked by ultra-slim bezels and custom calibrated for an immersive and rich experience straight from the box. Lining the sides is an abundance of I/O such as an HDMI port, a mini display port, one Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C port, one USB Type-C port, and two USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 2 ports.

PRICING & AVAILABILITY
The new optical laptop keyboard from Razer is currently available only in the Razer Blade 15 Advanced for $2,649 USD with more models to follow in 2020. The Razer Blade 15 with optical keyboard will be available today from Razer.com and select retailers in the United States, Canada, and China and will be coming soon to select countries in Asia-Pacific.

For more information, visit http://rzr.to/optical


About the Author

When he's not trying to save the world, Andrew enjoys travel (although loathes turbulence), going to the movies, reading and being a dad to his two dogs (and now twins) with his wife.



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