Razer Huntsman Elite Gaming Keyboard: Fastest Keyboard Switches Ever – Linear Optical Switches – Chroma RGB Lighting – Magnetic Plush Wrist Rest – Dedicated Media Keys & Dial – Classic Black

3.2 / 5First impression – This thing looks very sleek and clean. AND it’s solidly built.I plugged it in and I was blown away by how good it looks. This is coming from a guy who’s been using the same wireless keyboard for the past 10+ years (Logitech KB 315). So this is a serious UPGRADE.This thing works great, I have the linear optical switches and let me say – It’s a CHANGE from the old mechanicals I tell you. One single light tap of the keys will register it. I find that I’m spending way more time going back and correcting my type mistakes. That’s not fun.The other things I don’t like are not all the symbols on the keys light up. Like the ampersand, dollar sign, apostrophe marks or pretty much anything that lights up with the number keys / number row don’t light up. The numbers illuminate, but not the symbols. – VERY BAD.The next thing I don’t like. is there’s no passthrough port to plug a mouse or other peripheral in. For this price there should be at least one port.The next thing I don’t like is that the software Synapse 3 isn’t really easy to learn. I’ve had for a 48 hours and I had to watch a couple Youtube videos to get the gist of it.Next thing is it doesn’t connect to Google Home, it connects to Alexa, but not Google.Also, the keyboard is seriously lacking Macro / aux buttons like calculator. Not feeling that.The wristbar feels good buty it feels like I will cut it if I wear a watch. The material is so soft.Those are the negatives, the positives are pretty good.. Looks good, the wristbar illuminates, very programmable, works with Philips Hue.3.2 out of 5 is the rating. For this price there should be NO NEGATIVES.

Razer has still not fixed the driver issue with AMD based CPUs and this keyboard, your computer will take 10mins just to log on and start up and after that you cant click the start button or open firefox or use the FN key.This is a known issue with Razer Huntsman Mini and AMD based CPUs that Razer has not fixed for months now.To confirm this issue I tested on my intel based desktop and it worked without any issues then I plugged it into my AMD laptop and issues happened for 10mins.I also tested another AMD desktop in my house and the same issues.IF you don’t mind waiting 10mins every time you turn on your computer to use your keyboard then go ahead and purchase if you do mind then go by another keyboard without driver issues.

Razer, I feel very weird saying this – you should be extraordinarily proud of the products you’ve put out in the past few months. Between the Viper, Viper Ultimate, the Tartarus Pro (assuming we fix the stuck input bug), and now the capstone being your Huntsman TE, you’ve created an exceptional, premium and worthwhile suite of products that even the enthusiast community will appreciate. I got the Huntsman TE out of sheer curiosity to be completely honest. I had full intent of returning the keyboard once I had messed around with it but I am retiring my custom builds for this keyboard because Razer ticks so many important boxes with this keyboard that I feel like you’ve become an entirely different beast.We’ll start off the review by saying the inclusion of PBT key caps makes the biggest difference out of any changes and choices you’ve made. The PBT key caps feel so good, it’s insane. The texture, and muted lighting make this feel like RGB for adults. I love it. I had one issues with a cap showing some plastic flashing from the mold, which made the D key feel gritty and unstable. This is being fixed by a simple replacement, but I’m sure if I really wanted to I could just grab my file or an Exacto-knife and remove the flashing with no issue.The best place to go with this review is the switches themselves. My first experience with the opto-electric switch design was with your Tartarus Pro, and while my experience with the Tartarus has not been flawless, the switches themselves are very, very good. The era of Cherry MX and MX-style switches is over, or well should be over, by now. The hall effect and opto-electric switches are far superior and hold the promise of being able to offer features and reliability that cherry switches simply never could due to their design. The extremely fast actuation speed of 1mm is insane, ALMOST too sensitive, but you quickly adjust to their responsiveness, and the fact that no de-bouncing circuitry is required means that you will never run into the issue of key chatter. That means you are left with an incredibly reliable switch design that will far outlast ANY peripheral that uses a mechanical switch many lifetimes over. The switches also have been designed with a somewhat overkill, but greatly appreciated (no seriously I freaking love this feature), stabilizer system. Every. Single. Switch. is stabilized. It is AMAZING. There is very, very little key cap movement – creating a very solid monolithic feel as if every key was directly attached to the chassis. Each stabilizer has also been individually lubed from the factory using a very, very, good lubricant. The best part is that because the switches have an MX stem you are able to use custom key caps and the larger key stabilizers are removable from the OLD key caps so you can use custom key caps and transplant the special stabs over to your new key caps.Did I mention custom key caps? We have a STANDARD BOTTOM ROW! All custom key cap sets will work. If you ever wanted or needed to replace your caps with something else, you have the entire enthusiast community of key caps to pick from. More and more manufacturers are thankfully starting to do this, and hopefully now that Razer has followed suit, hopefully even more will now as well (COUGH LOGITECH COUGH).The form factor is extraordinarily attractive. Sleek lines, low profile, and attention to detail on every part of the chassis. No gaudy design here, and the only manufacturer logo here is an incredibly subtle Razer logo in a slightly polished aluminium relief right above the nav cluster. It reminds me, very much, like a Massdrop CTRL board with less light everywhere. The black matte design of the chassis keeps the lighting muted, which is personal taste, but I personally very much prefer it. The legends have mostly uniform lighting, but the Function row and some of the larger keys have a little dark spot near the center for most of them. Maybe this can be improved on later designs, but overall it is a huge step in the PBT+POM design for backlit capable PBT keycaps.The only real downsides, and there are two of them, are that the chassis itself is plastic. Yes, there is an aluminium plate on the top, but the vast majority of the chassis is plastic – sturdy well-made plastic, but still plastic. I think a more premium model could be sold with a full aluminium or steel chassis for a higher price that would appeal to many enthusiasts who normally would never look twice at a Razer board, myself included. This really is a matter of preference as the plastic body design does mean that the keyboard is lighter and makes this a really viable travel keyboard option. The only other downside is Synapse, but I am going to preface this by saying that Synapse 3 is MUCH, much improved. It is significantly ahead of both iCUE and G Hub offerings from Corsair and Logitech respectively. But it’s still bloat that really isn’t needed – and it’s not needed in fact. As far as I can tell, there is nothing that Synapse is required for, so you can safely set up your customizations and then uninstall.Speaking of software customization though, in a pleasant change, every single key is programmable and nothing is locked in. You can, for example, even change function keys to do other things – which also means opening up Hypershift as an option for a variety of macros and functions that you can program directly onto the keyboard itself.In conclusion, this is my new daily driver. Previously, I said I am retiring MY custom builds with Tealios switches that are lubed and dampened. I am surprised at the steps Razer have taken in making a keyboard that even an enthusiast will look twice at. PBT key caps, individually stabilized switches, opto-electric switch design that is far superior to other options out there and equally reliable as something like Hall Effect switches. These switches have the potential for far more interesting features later down the line like full analog key presses and multiple functions per keystroke depending on how far they are pressed. I hope this is a new normal for Razer, and if so – I will put down the soldering iron for a while and continue to support the Razer eco-system. I love the direction you’re going Razer, and can proudly say I’m happy to support Razer as a brand again after not having owned a Razer keyboard for over ten years.You guys got this in the bag, and Logitech and Corsair should be shaking in their boots. You’ve bit back, and bit back hard.

So far after using it for a few hours in Black Ops 4, I’m really enjoying this keyboard. It’s responsive the way a keyboard should be. I went with the linear switches and I was quite impressed with how quiet they are. My Space bar has noticeable rattle but everything else feels and sounds great. Yes, it’s a plastic keyboard and if you’re use to aluminum bodied keyboards at first glance you might feel a bit turned off especially considering how light it is. Don’t let this deter you from making this purchase. I came from a Durgod Venus, another 60% keyboard. I won’t go into depth on my experience with it but if you can find my review, it’s worth reading. Overall, I’m more than satisfied with my purchase. I was a little put off by some of these reviews on YouTube but at the end of the day, a lot of that doesn’t even matter.Pros• lightweight (great for portability)• linear switches are in comparison to Cherry Silent Reds but feel and sound better• fastest switches on the market• Synapse offers great customizationCons• plastic build• Space bar has noticeable rattle• no dust coverSeriously, if that’s all I can think of for reasons why you shouldn’t buy this keyboard then that’s telling you something. I’ll come back and update after 3 months for a final verdict but so far it’s getting a recommendation from me.

First off, this is a great product overall and is a stark difference from a traditional, non-mechanical, wireless keyboard. Very happy with the purchase and the product as a whole. It is very responsive and I have noticed a big improvement while gaming – even typing this review is more enjoyable with the Razer red linear optical switches!That said, I did have a couple of defects with mine and had to request an exchange – I would expect this case was an exception as I have been very happy with my Razer Mamba Wireless mouse and have heard generally favorable things about Razer products. If you came here wondering if you should get it, I would say to go for it if it checks all the boxes for your needs in a mechanical and/or 60% keyboard.For those curious about my issue/experience, read on…after the first time using the keyboard, I noticed the “U” key was lit up white instead of the RGB lighting I customized in Synapse (cycled through a few light settings to check). I was not able to fully isolate the issue, but mainly noticed it while playing Apex Legends. I have all in game lighting affects turned off so it doesn’t sync with games so I am not sure what the issue was. After booting/waking up my PC, the keyboard is fine, or when waking the keyboard after it times out (setup for timeout after 5 minutes). I also noticed it while playing Warzone the next day. My other issue was a bit more concerning, but less “severe”: 3 keycaps were partially not shining through with the back lighting – a very blatant QA issue that should not happen with a product at this price point. The “e” on the “esc” key, the “b” on the “tab” key and the “p” on the “caps” key all had black spots that were blocking light from shining through. I took off the “esc” keycap and saw some black plastic in the corner stuck beneath the white/clear coating (below the thin, black top of the key is a clear/white layer for the shine through on the letters/numbers/symbols whereas the edges are the thicker black plastic). I have included a picture of the underside of the problem keycaps. I gently tried to nudge the black plastic off as not to break the keycap, but it wouldn’t budge. The “tab” and “caps” keys have a square of the clear/white coating completely chipped away. Not sure how that is resulting in the blocked light unless the clear/white coating diffuses the light, but it does look slightly different than the “esc” keycap defect. I ended up chatting with Razer support and was told I needed to open an exchange with the reseller. Not the answer I was hoping for, but I guess I wasn’t really sure what to expect in the first place (sending me 3 new keycaps seems cost prohibitive and does not seem as effective of a solution – especially if the lighting on the “U” key persists). Already have the exchange confirmed with Amazon and will send the defective one back ASAP. Overall seemingly minor issues, but disappointing given the price point and overall reputation of this brand.