Known for its gaming peripherals and accessories, Razer has made a substantial name in its PC market for its innovative designs and unique products that cater to a specific sub-niche of gamers.
However, the durability of their products has often been questioned over the years. This begs, the question, do Razer products break easily?
The Razer Premium
When looking at brands like Corsair and Logitech, you’ll notice that Razer products are usually priced at a premium compared to the others. While that’s all fine and dandy, it gets a bit odd when you realize that most Razer products in the past did not have the same quality as the other cheaper brands.
So, what you ended up paying for was an inferiorly produced, but well-designed product that catered to a certain gamer demographic. When you are trying to sell a product that is priced higher than your competition while also not keeping up with RMAs and warranties, you are bound to end up with a recipe for disaster.
However, the brand has definitely taken customer feedback into accord and has now improved most of its processes. In fact, while I’ve bought about 6 Razer products only for them to break within 6 months, the ones that I purchased after late 2018 have been surprisingly robust and are serving me well to this day.
So, it is clear to see that Razer did have some issues, but they are improving over time, explaining the negative biases people still have against them.
Razer and Quality Control
The primary issue with Razer products is their lack of quality control. Almost every product has a fabled manufacturing default that seems to creep up over time. For example, the Viper Ultimate had non-working side buttons, the Blackwidow suffered from key chatter and the Razer Kitty had a USB wiring issue.
In most cases, purchasing a product will feel like a hit or miss. Sometimes, you won’t have any of these issues and will have a long and happy life with your Razer product. Sometimes, you’ll have to deal with the consequences of owning a Razer product.
Annoyingly, most of these issues happen after you can send out the products for a Warranty or RMA. So, you end up stuck with a known fault that the company won’t be fixing for you.
Has Razer Improved Over Time?
Yes, Razer’s quality control has improved over time. In fact, feel free to purchase most of their newer units as they come with better warranties and tend to not break as easily. But, compare them to Logitech products and you’ll see a stark difference in longevity.
Yes, Logitech mice, keyboards, and headsets aren’t all that perfect. But, they’re known for lasting much longer than Razer. Primarily, this is because Logitech tends to use higher quality materials for its mid-range peripheral lineup compared to Razer, which opts for cheaper plastics and proprietary switches.
So, more often than not, you’ll be met with faulty switches and wobbly stabilizers from Razer. Since the company does almost all of its manufacturing and uses its own sensors and switches, it’s more likely that some part of its production line may go through some hiccups when your product is assembled.
Compared to other products in the same price range, Razer tends to feel a bit overpriced especially considering its quality. For instance, Keychrons tend to be at the same price as a Razer product but offer a greater degree of flexibility and customization alongside better build quality.
Is Razer Worth It?
Yes, buying a Razer product is absolutely worth it. Hear me out here, while they do suffer from some QC issues, there are four reasons that set them apart from the competition and lead them to be a viable brand to purchase gaming peripherals from.
1. Excellent Customer Support
If your product does break, expect great customer support from Razer. They’ve been known to replace products even if they are out of warranty and process RMAs extremely quickly. They also have dedicated customer support agents on Reddit and their own forums that cater to individual issues as well.
2. Innovative Hardware
Let’s face it, there’s no other gaming hardware manufacturer in the world that has such a large variety of HID and audio devices. While not all of them are great, they are created with specific gamers in mind.
Because of this, you’ll often find yourself falling in love with a mouse like the Razer Naga or Deathadder thanks to its unique grip or functions that have you purchasing it over and over again.
3. Industry Leading Software
Razer Synapse has been by far the best driver software I have ever used. While it’s a bit heavy on CPU and RAM usage, it absolutely makes up for it by being the most versatile, customizable, and user-friendly. If you have a compatible product, you’ll be getting different Chroma profiles, great customization options, and OTA updates that actually improve your device over time.
The Verdict
Yes, Razer products are prone to breaking more easily than products from competitive brands like Logitech. However, if you do end up with a faulty product, you can very easily have it replaced by their customer support team.
In terms of longevity, Razer is still playing catchup when it comes to ensuring that its peripherals last for a long time. However, if there’s a mouse or keyboard that you really fancy and are thinking of picking it up, we’d say go for it!
While complaints do exist, Razer also has one of the largest market shares in the gaming peripheral market which obviously explains the higher number of complaints compared to other brands. So, while the brand is notorious for its cheap products, the reality is far different.
