Razer Unveils Optical Laptop Keyboard

Razer has introduced the industry’s first notebook keyboard based on optical switches. The low-profile keyboard promises tactile feedback of mechanical switches as well as near instant actuation required by gamers. The keyboard will first be used by Razer’s Blade 15 Advanced notebook with more models coming in 2020.

Razer’s new optical laptop switch uses an infrared light beam to detect when a key is pressed. According to the developer, the actuation point of its switch is one millimeter, which allows gamers to input more commands in less time. Meanwhile, the switch features mechanical tactile click to provide a more comfortable typing experience than membrane keyboards.

In addition to the new switches, Razer’s new noebook keyboard supports N-Key Rollover with anti-ghosting as well as Chroma RGB lighting in every keycap.

The first Razer laptop to use the company’s optical keyboard is the Blade 15 Advanced that costs $2,649. As the name suggests, the notebook is equipped with a 15.6-inch display featuring a Full-HD resolution and a 240 Hz refresh rate. The laptop is based on Intel’s six-core Core i7-9750H that is accompanied by NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 2070 with a Max-Q design, 16 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2667, and a 512 GB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD.

The mobile PC is equipped with Intel’s Wireless-AX200 Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5 adapter, one Thunderbolt 3 port, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 connector, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 port, two display outputs (a mini DisplayPort and an HDMI), and a 3.5-mm audio jack. Just like other modern laptops, the Razer Blade 15 also has a webcam, a microphone array, and stereo speakers.

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Source: Razer