Bottom line: Razer has introduced an optical mechanical keyboard on the Blade 15 laptop. The tech uses light sensors instead of physical switches to instantly register key presses with a mechanical tactile click for a better typing and gaming experience. Currently, Razer's new keyboard can only be had in one configuration of its Blade 15 and is expected to appear on more models next year.
Razer has debuted an optical mechanical laptop keyboard in its Blade 15 gaming laptop, particularly the 'Advanced' configuration that costs $2,649 and comes with an Intel Core i7-9750H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070, a 240 Hz 1080p display, 16GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD.
With its lightning-fast actuation, the optical laptop keyboard has been built to give gamers "the unfair advantage," says Razer. The tech uses an infrared light beam under the keys that have 1.7mm of travel but actuate at 1mm with 55g of force. It also comes with the tactile feedback of a mechanical keyboard for a better typing experience than traditional membrane keyboards.
The company says that because the laptop uses light instead of physical switches for registering inputs, strokes are registered instantly without delay resulting in "zero debounce." They also feature N-Key Rollover with anti-ghosting for aiding hardcore gamers in their intense gaming sessions.
It wouldn't be gaming tech if it didn't come with RGB lighting, and Razer has taken care of that with its Chroma RGB software, which offers a myriad of colors for the individually backlit keys. These can also be configured with pre-programmed designs and custom patterns available in the Chroma Workshop.
"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 VP 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."
The Razer Blade 15 Advanced with the optical keyboard is available to buy directly from Razer.com and select retailers in the US, Canada and China.
Correction: The original story mentioned Razer being the world first to bring an optical mechanical keyboard to laptops. However, as brought to our notice, the feature had already appeared on the XMG NEO 15 back in April 2018, with the laptop becoming available in July that year.
XMG, a maker of highend gaming laptops and desktop PCs is currently active in Europe and has also included its optomechanical keyboard technology on another laptop model: the XMG Fusion 15.
Despite Razer's claims, the company isn't the first to offer this technology on laptops and the original story has since been updated to reflect this information.
https://www.techspot.com/news/82339-razer-fits-blade-15-optical-mechanical-keyboard.html
