Razer have sent over their latest gaming 75% keyboard, the Razer Huntsman v3 Tenkeyless 8KHZ, their website states, “Built for competitive players in FPS and other fast-paced games. This is an analog optical keyboard for those who live in the clutch”. So let’s put it through its paces and see how it performs.

Opening the box, you are greeted with the keyboard, a USB-A to USB-C cable that is of good length, around 2 metres, an instruction booklet, a quick reference guide for the various modes you can change using a series of hot keys and also the standard sheet for stickers you get with Razer products.

Dimensions of the keyboard are 36.2cm x 14cm x 2.8cm, and it weighs around 700 grams. The keyboard has an interesting look as you don’t have any “framework” around it, just bare bones keys sitting on top of a 5052 aluminium grade plate.

The keys are very tactile and nice to the touch; they feel like they have sand on them, which provides a good grip and helps prevent them from slipping off during high movement. This feel comes from the doubleshot PBT keys, which are traditionally thicker and harder than normal ABS keycaps. There are adjustable feet on the back, with two different adjustment angles or a flat position on the desk, depending on your preference.

Is this the perfect keyboard for gaming? It might just be with Razer’s latest “Trigger Mode” technology. Traditionally, when keys are pressed, they need to move upward to a certain height to trigger a sensor and reset, but with Razer’s new technology, the key resets immediately after being pushed, even with as little as 0.1mm of upward movement, resulting in quicker repeated keystrokes and complete control.

This, coupled with the “Snap Tap” technology, which prioritises the latest input between two selected keys before you release the first one, ensures complete control for FPS games, especially when changing directions, giving you that unfair advantage when gaming.

Driving this technology is Razer’s Gen-2 analog optical switches, which have an adjustable actuation range of 0.01 to 4.0mm and, with the Razer Huntsman v3 Tenkeyless 8KHZ, can be adjusted via a series of hotkey shortcuts rather than third-party software, which is extremely handy.

There is a small LED indicator above the arrow keys with five lights. These indicate your current profile, snap-tap statues, actuation statues, and rapid trigger, all of which can be changed via a series of hot keys provided in a handy document with the keyboard.

The keyboard has a small onboard memory bank that can save up to six profile settings, so you spend less time setting up your keyboard and more time gaming and on-the-fly macro recording.

Finally, to top it all off, Razer Huntsman v3 Tenkeyless 8KHZ has the lowest latency on the market at a staggering 0.58ms, truly hyperpolling at 8000Hz. On top of this, you can game with confidence, knowing that N-key rollover and Razer’s anti-ghosting technology are also onboard.​

The LEDs are fully customizable via shortcut keys or Razor’s own Synapse software. There is also some colour leakage from underneath the keys, reflecting onto the base because it isn’t enclosed.

I did find quite a lot of noise when using the keys, to the point that I had to swap keyboards in the morning, as I wake up early for work and process emails before heading into the office.

Razer does state that the keys have thick foam damping for noise reduction, though. With this in mind, you need to put it in context, as this keyboard is geared towards esports and peak gaming, not office use. There is also no wrist rest provided, which would have come in quite handy as the keys do sit relatively high.

Razer Huntsman v3 Tenkeyless 8KHZ is a class-leading eSports keyboard; it gives users an unfair advantage with quick, rapid trigger, snap-tap, and actuation adjustments that can all be done on the fly, negating the need for 3rd-party software.

The design feels robust with the aluminium top plate and double-shot PBT keys, ensuring it can take the punishment of gaming and eSports alike. If you want to take the next step in your gaming career, this keyboard is for you, pure eSport genius!

Written by: Mike Bridge