Performance

So with the Orbweaver all setup and the software installed I set out to put it to use in a few games. Specifically I wanted to try it in a few FPS games as well as League of Legends. To do that I had to decide if I was going to just use the default layout or configure one of my own. I went with configuring it myself to get the full experience and I went ahead and jumped into a couple games of Black Ops 2 and TF2 as well.  Rather than use the software to configure everything I just re bound my keys in game. Being FPS’s this was fairly simple because the default key layout is already designed for FPS’s so I just needed to tweak a few things. For those wondering, this is the default key layout for the top keys. As you can see it is all of the keys on the left side of the keyboard, the thumb button that isn’t included here is shift just like your thumb normally would be. Having a normal key layout makes it easy to jump into once you figure out where WASD is and to help Razer included direction arrows.

Depending on how your hand sits on the Orbweaver you shouldn’t need to change much to play LoL as well. You do have QWER, you just need to rebind things like B CTRL and binds for your item slots. You can also use the direction pad near your thumb to move your view around while in game without having to move your mouse to the edge of the screen or to the mini map.

Compared to the other game pads that I have tested, I really did love the adjustability that Razer built into the Orbweaver. Everyone’s hands are different and Razer has finally recognized that. I was able to adjust the Orbweaver to fit me very well. I will say that overall the G13 was still a little more comfortable, but considering the adjustability in the Orbweaver it’s possible that a lot of people will find this a better option.

As a mechanical keyboard enthusiast it took me no time at all to adjust to the noise and “feel” of the mechanical switches. I love how a mechanical switch activates rather than having to jam down membrane keys. Having said that, to some people the Orbweaver is going to be a little loud and obnoxious. For those people Razer does have the Stealth model that has brown keyswitches that still give you the tactile feel while cutting out some of the noise.

My last observations about the Orbweaver were with its lighting. I found the backlighting to be just amazing. Razer made sure you aren’t going to have any trouble seeing the key numbers by giving them so much light that the light glows out around the keys. I actually had to go in and turn the lighting down, if that says something. As I mentioned before I would prefer this to be a color other than green, but that is just a preference.