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ranked #81,374 most helpful out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★☆
Despite loud keys, excellent gaming and typing experience; can replace keycaps
I really like the feel of this keyboard. Typing and gaming feels great, and the over all build of this keyboard is top-notch. Be warned though - like many mechanical keyboards, typing on this keyboard can be loud. So I wouldn't recommend this for office use. But for my home use, it's perfect. I even managed to replace the keycaps with that of another brand. Performance: During long gaming sessions, I found that the keys felt more comfortable than other keyboards I've used in the past. I think the reason for this is that I don't actually have to press as hard for the keys to register. Razer states that the keys on the Huntsman require slightly less force and register quicker than other keyboards. All I can say is that this keyboard feels "broken-in" for lack of a better term. It just feels good, and "fast." Additionally, the keyboard has 4 media buttons and a moveable dial (one of the 4 buttons is the dial itself - as it can be pushed in, in addition to being rotated) - all of which can be remapped to your liking. By default, they were set to control music playback - in my case, it controls Spotify. I never really planned on using these media controls, but now that I have them - I can never go back. It's great when I'm playing a game with my own music running, but also being able to pause that music should a cutscene in the game start to play - all by pressing a button. Lack of Macro keys and USB ports: Unfortunately, the Razer Huntsman does not have macro keys like other keyboards in its price range (Corsair's K95 does have them). Understandably, this would have been nice to have for some users. (Personally I never used macro keys much myself when I had keyboards that did have them.) Also present on other expensive keyboards is a USB passthrough port. Again, the Huntsman lacks this as well. Loud keys: As stated before, most mechanical keyboards are "loud" and can annoy people who maybe sitting relatively close to you. If you are in an office situation, I would recommend using a different keyboard that has "quiet" mechanical keys like Cherry Browns on a Corsair keyboard; or Razer Orange keys on the Razer Blackwidow. Unfortunately, Razer does not offer a more "quiet" version of the Huntsman Elite at this time. Lighting: The keys on the Huntsman are quite bright, even when compared to Razer's other offerings like the Ornata Chroma. The difference here is that while the letters on the keys of the Huntsman are significantly brighter; the Ornata Chroma's underlying membrane is also illuminated giving the keys the illusion that they are floating on a "bed of light." I wish that Razer somehow found a way to also duplicate that bed of light effect on the Huntsman, but I am definitely happy with the extra bright letters. As you can imagine, the lighting on the Huntsman can be customized to pretty much anything you can imagine. Key Replacement: I replaced the keycaps on my Huntsman with Doubleshot PBT Keycaps from HyperX, after seeing a popular Youtube personality replace his. (These Keycaps run about $25, and are meant for HyperX's own mechanical keboard.) And while not all the HyperX Keycaps were compatible (the larger keycaps for RETURN, SHIFT, SPACEBAR, etc did not fit the Hunstman's switches), I still managed to replace most of the keyscaps. The over all effect is that the keyboard is now even more illuminated. That's because the bottom of the HyperX Keycaps (which are made of white plastic) react with the lighting to give a more brilliant glow to the entire keyboard. Since replacing the keycaps on the Huntsman seemed to work; I would assume a fair number of other keycaps types would probably work for the Huntsman as well. But of course please do your own research before purchasing. Software: The Huntsman uses two USB connectors. Once connected, you must download the latest version of Razer Synapse. This is Razer's all-in-one software for all their PC keyboards, mice, etc. I actually own several Razer products, and after using Synapse for over a year, I've gotten used to using it. It's not hard to use, but it could definitely use some interface improvement. Still, most users can easily get to the most important things such as lighting customization, re-assigning keys, and making macros. Razer does require a login with your information for the software to work. The reasoning I suppose is that you can use the same settings if you use the same Razer products on several PCs. I would assume that most people don't use this feature - but I actually do. I use Razer products at my home and at my work - so this actually works well for me. Settings that I make at home can easily be assigned at my work and vice-versa. Conclusion: The Huntsman is a pretty pricey keyboard with exceptional build quality. The body is metal, and the keys are stabilized so that there is minimum "wobble." Add to this the "fast" actuation feel, and you have an excellent high-end keyboard. Gaming, and typing feel really great. If you can forgive the "loud" keys, this is an excellent option if you're looking for a high-end keyboard for gaming and work.
December 2018 · Video Games · verified purchase
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