Razer Huntsman Keyboard Delivers Opto-Mechanical Key Switches
This week the folks at Razer delivered their first keyboard with opto-mechanical key switches. Those are keys of the sort which combine infrared technology to detect key-press and mechanical clicking, for all those people who love the clicking. If you love clicking, this keyboard is the clicking keyboard for you, because it's clicky – and also has the benefits of the other sort of gaming keyboard, which generally does not have clicking.
"The Razer Opto-Mechanical Switch offers faster performance without compromising tactility," said a Razer representative. "It has the same actuate and reset points for rapid fire keypresses as found in a linear switch, and provides a similar tactile feel found in the best-selling Razer Green switches with a lighter actuation force of 45 g."
This keyboard's keys are rated for 100-million keystrokes, so it'll last users quite a while. There are two models, one "Huntsman" the other "Huntsman Elite." The non-elite version includes the opto-mechanical switches and full Chroma lighting in backlit keys. The Elite has a whole extra set of buttons and features.
Above: Huntsman. Below: Huntsman Elite.
The Razer Huntsman Elite has on-board storage for key-binding profiles. Without connecting to the web or a specific computer, this keyboard can keep custom profiles in its own hardware memory. This keyboard also works with Razer's Cloud Storage to save personalized profile settings via the web, if you do so desire.
The Razer Huntsman Elite has the same magnetic letherette wrist rest as is included with the Razer Ornata Chrome and BlackWidow Chroma V2. This keyboard has dedicated media controls and three tactile media keys. There's a "multifunctional digital dial" onboard that's programmable through the software Razer Synapse 3.
The standard Huntsman features backlit Chroma keys, while the Elite has both keys and a full all-side underglow around the keyboard and the wrist rest. Both the Razer Huntsman and Razer Huntsman Elite will be available from the Razer store online immediately if not soon, for approximately $150 and $200, respectively.