Razer Turret | Unboxing, Overview and First Impressions

Jul 3, 2016

Hello Internet!  Today I give you an overview and unboxing of the Razer Turret, the couch gaming solution from Razer.  While I have a video to go along with this article, there are a few things that I wanted to point out that I did not in the video.

 

First thing’s first; the unboxing experience, as have all my Razer unboxing experiences, was great.  Razer has always done an excellent job at packaging, making the unboxing experience pleasant and enjoyable.  Razer does one of the better jobs in the industry of making their packaging show off their hardware so well.

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Additionally, I cannot stress how heavy the keyboard is compared to what I expected it to be.  I did not really have a perfect idea of what it would feel like, but the heft that this keyboard has brings a confidence when using it that I did not anticipate, making me feel like it won’t break, even under heavy use.  With the keyboard folding in half, this is a big deal, because I expected a bit of flex and an overall lack of structural sturdiness.

The package as a whole gives you everything you need to get up and running, and everything feels pretty well made, as all Razer products do.  They keyboard has a laptop style layout, and a small one at that, and doesn’t appear to be backlit, which goes against average consumer expectations, in my opinion.  They Mouse is a rebrand and redesign on their mobile mouse, the Razer Orochi, which I do own and have used for 2 years now.  The mouse is small and fits most any hand, but can make a larger hand cramp if used for long enough.  The Keyboard and Mouse both have two LED indicator lights, green for the standard 2.4 GHz Wireless connection and blue for the Bluetooth connection.  The provided wireless adapter fits inside the mouse the same way most Logitech wireless adapters fit inside their mice, with a slot for seating it underneath a panel on the mouse’s underbelly. This one, however, also comes with a nice, long, braided extension cable for the instances where the computer is out of sight or just not close enough. That way, you can insert the receiver in the extension cable port without having to go on a fishing expedition for one of your PC’s USB ports.

turret-gallery_06The base stand, which doubles as the charging stand, has a nice weight to it as well, presumably to make sure that once the keyboard and mouse areturret-gallery_10 docked and charging, they won’t fall over due to a light brush against the unit.  They keyboard folds up in half, revealing the connection points for the charging doc, and a keyed slot as well, to ensure that you can only put the keyboard on the dock one way, and one way only. The mouse sits in nicely; snug and secure.  Honestly, once the keyboard and mouse are sitting on the dock, they look good aesthetically.  It’s not an over-the-top gamer look, which allows me to keep it sitting in my living room when I’m not actually using it. The fact that it has a fairly small footprint helps, too.  It’s slim enough that it fits behind my TV with no issues, and I’m sure that for many others, it will fit similarly.  But I can’t stress how understated and clean it looks when just sitting there.  Over the course of me having this keyboard and mouse so far, we have had many guests in our apartment, and the Razer Turret has been on display, but escaped anyone’s notice.  No one has made a comment one way or the other about the Turret, leaving me to feel like Razer nailed the design aesthetic on this.

As I write this overview and first impressions article, I am tapping it out on the Turret, sitting on my couch in the living room.  I still have a bit to go before all of my opinions are fully formed. Right now, they’re mixed, at a minimum. We’ll see how it plays out.

For the full video and written review, check back next week, where I’ll go in depth on how it performs, what I like about it, and what I don’t.

Thank you for reading this article. If there is anything you would like me to focus on or if you have specific questions already, please leave a comment down below and I’ll do my best to incorporate it in the review.