A Blazing-Fast Full-Size Gaming Keyboard
Razer Huntsman Elite is a wired, lightning-fast mechanical keyboard that brings an excellent gaming and good typing experience, as well as very good office use characteristics. This is a feature-rich device, with an excellent build quality, great customization options, and on top of that, amazing RGB lighting. In other words, everything expected from the best gaming keyboard is there.
Specifications:
Form factor: Full-size
Connectivity: Wired
Keyswitches: Razer Linear Optical switches (Red) or Razer Optical switches (Purple)
Number of keys: 104 programmable keys
USB Polling Rate: 1,000Hz
Software Type: Razer Synapse 3
Onboard storage: Hybrid (it can save up to five different profiles)
Media keys: Dedicated media controls
Cable length: 2 meters
Weight: 1215 grams
Dimensions: Width 444 mm, Depth 140 mm, Height 37 mm
RGB lighting: Razer Chroma
Features
As you have probably realized by now, Razer Huntsman Elite isn’t like any other keyboard. This one is special – it accepts no compromise and brings only excellence.
It is highly responsive thanks to its low actuation point (Actuation Force is 37 gf); it comes with Razer Linear Red Optical switches or Razor Purple Optical switches, and it also allows for great customization, due to the excellent Razer Synapse 3 software, 104 fully programmable keys, as well as full macros support. In addition, there is also the flashy Razer Chroma RGB lighting that can be reprogrammed with the same Razer software, a customizable volume dial, Razer Hypershift control, and many other functions that make the whole user experience great.
Razer Huntsman Elite also comes with a low 1.3ms click latency, high-quality, a two-meter-long braided cable, as well as a special Gaming Mode that prevents hitting the wrong key in crucial gaming moments. Also, the keyboard is fitted with a 10-key rollover that allows for up to 10 simultaneous key presses with anti-ghosting and is fully compatible with Windows, while it can also work with both Linux and Mac; however, without certain functions.
Usage
As previously mentioned, Razer Huntsman Elite is a perfect fit for die-hard gamers that want a fast and responsive keyboard and a ton of features along with it.
Gaming is where this device shows its best sides, allowing for easy, straightforward use, except for the customization, which cannot be done on the board itself. This action requires that you make the changes through the Razer Synapse 3 software, which may present a major issue if you use Mac or Linux that are incompatible with the Synapse 3.
Razer Huntsman Elite doesn’t shine so much in fields other than gaming, although it brings decent office use, and makes a good option for programming and typing in general; however, it causes more typos than usual, due to the low actuation force, and brings too much of a typing noise, which is especially noticeable in the case of the Purple switches.
In other words, a solid multitasking experience is guaranteed; however, if you need a keyboard-only for office work, some other models, as listed here, are probably a much better solution.
Design
Another field where Razer Huntsman Elite doesn’t show any true weaknesses is its design and build quality that is of the highest level. Its construction is sturdy and only allows for small flexes, and is consisted of a plastic frame and a jet black anodized aluminum plate that are bringing the necessary stability to the design.
Its keycaps are hovering over the aluminum deck and are made of good-quality ABS plastic, bringing a stable feeling, except for the space bar that actuates too easily and presents one of the rare downsides of this keyboard; however, it is an acceptable one.
Razer Huntsman Elite also comes with an appropriate magnetic wrist rest, made out of plush leather and very comfortable to use, as well as Razer Chroma lighting that provides a 4-side underglow, due to the LED lighting around the edges of the keyboard and wrist rest, and brings the staggering 38 lighting zones that allow you to make the lighting effect perfectly suit your preferences. Unfortunately, these amazing lighting effects require a double USB connection; however, that is a small price to pay if you want an amazing RGB experience.
Moreover, Razer Huntsman Elite design also includes the minimalistic media keys buttons, volume wheel with a mute button in the center, as well as the smallest dimensions among the Razor keyboards, no matter the premium aspirations of the keyboard itself.
Good
Razer Huntsman Elite is a special breed of keyboard, like no other, with great responsiveness, macro-programing support, and great ergonomics. In addition, this keyboard also comes with a Full RGB backlighting, dedicated media keys, and super-fast and responsive performance that is one of its key advantages and the main reasons it belongs to the sheer top of the offerings and presents one of the best keyboards available.
On top of that, Razer Huntsman Elite offers a great keyboard layout, tactile and clicky typing experience, and amazing build quality, as it should be with a top-class product as this one.
Bad
When talking about the Huntsman Elite’s downsides, it should be noted that there are only a few issues with this keyboard, such as the lack of the dedicated MMO macro keys, which is certainly the main disappointment, considering its price. Also, it’s ABS plastic keycaps get slippery after extensive use, RGB lighting requires two USB ports to function properly, while the Razer Synapse 3 is compatible only with Windows, which kinda limits the overall usability of this keyboard.
In other words, no matter how good the Razer Huntsman Elite is, there is still plenty of room for improvements that would make this keyboard the best of the best among the best wired mechanical keyboards.
Final Thoughts
Now, this keyboard is neck and neck with the models such as Razer BlackWidow Elite, or Corsair K95 RGB Platinum, which bring similar feelings and features. SteelSeries Apex Pro, on the other hand, offers a customizable OLED screen, better Omnipoint switches, while its software is compatible with macOS, which ultimately positions it above the Razer Huntsman Elite in the race.
Simply, Razer Huntsman Elite is more than a good product, with a lot of tricks up its sleeve; however, the competition also comes with tricks of its own, and no matter what keyboard you choose, there will always be the good and the bad, and in the case of the Razer Huntsman Elite, luckily, mostly good.
