The Blade Pro only came with two programs installed that aren’t considered necessary to basic Windows functions: Razer Comms and Razer Synapse. Razer Comms is an in-game messenger platform that provides free VoIP and text-based chat. The PC version was built as a lightweight installation as to save those previous cycles for what really matters: games. There’s no shortage of chat apps for gamers but if you haven’t yet found one you really like, it may be worth giving Comms a try.
Synapse, meanwhile, is Razer’s unified configuration software where users can create macros and remap the controls of nearly every product in Razer’s catalog. Everything is saved automatically to the cloud so they’ll be there when you need them regardless of where you are (assuming you have an Internet connection handy, of course). Synapse does way more than just calibrate your hardware. It also has the ability to track all of your in-game clicks and movements, creating a useful set of statistics and even heat maps from the data. The stats and maps can be overlaid over default or in-game screenshots to provide a detailed analysis of exactly how a session played out.
I suspect that the stats & heat maps may only be utilized on a consistent basis by hardcore gamers but regardless, it’s there if you want to play around with it. You’ll also find the Switchblade UI App Manager within Synapse. Razer has pre-loaded 14 apps which are bound to the dynamic tactile keys above the LCD trackpad. The system can store up to 100 apps at any given time; a three-finger swipe to the left or right on the trackpad is used to flip through each set of 10 key bindings.
As of this review, there were 28 additional apps available for download. Some of the more popular offerings include apps for Photoshop, Twitch TV, Steam Chat and Spotify. There are also a handful of apps that transform the trackpad into a hub of useful data when playing games like Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Counterstrike and Team Fortress 2. The 10 programmable keys aren’t limited to apps. It’s also possible to bind macros to these keys and even assign custom-created icons to them.
