Ergonomics
The chassis of the Huntsman V2 is almost entirely plastic. An aluminum plate is attached to the top of the keyboard, to strengthen the whole. So the build is strong and relatively solid for a model play, black keyboard from foot to keys. With dimensions of 44.5 x 14 cm, this model is more attractive on a table, more than 9 cm wide leatherette palm rest.
An essential accessory to enhance the hands, as the Huntsman V2 is very tall (3.9 cm). It is also comfortable and magnetic to stay attached to the keyboard. A flawless for this accessory provided here in the box.
The keys are rough and the fingers hold well. They are made with double injection PBT, a molding technique that gives them a good longevity. The F1 to F8 keys have no standard shortcut, to leave the field free for the user to configure his or her preference in the Razer Synapse software. The “M” on the F9 key is used to assign fly macros-but it seems easier for us to navigate the software-and the F10 allows you to activate game mode to block Windows key in particular.
The F keys are configurable.
Above the numeric keypad are dedicated multimedia keys that are very straightforwardly convenient, but whose clicking is never damped and less pleasant to the touch, which remains a detail to be said. The small notched volume control wheel is also very practical on a daily basis; however, it has been criticized for poorly anchoring its location, which somewhat tarnishes the premium aspect of the keyboard.
Dedicated multimedia keys are very practical.
The backlighting of the keys was successful, as always with the Razer. It is an adjustable key by key and many light effects allow you to personalize it. Again, you need to go back to Razer Synapse in the Chroma Studio tab to control the whole thing.
The USB-A connection cable is made of paracord, a guarantee of quality and stability, but it cannot be removed. Too bad, especially since it’s in the TKL version. Underneath the keyboard, of course there are non-slip pads, and the Razer motto “For gamers. To gamers”As it is copied across the chassis and adjustable feet to tilt the Huntsman V2 to 6 ° or 9 °, depending on user preference.
struck
Unlike its Blackwidow keyboards, Razer chose opto-mechanical switches for its Huntsman series. So the activation is not done physically like a classic mechanical keyboard, but optically when the key passes in front of a light beam. This type of switch is a little more responsive and suffers less from the vagaries of the weather: they are guaranteed for 100 million clicks, or twice the number of classic mechanical versions. Not welded to the chassis, this type of switch is common hotwappables (removable), but this is not the case with Razer, which has not sold its switches separately.
Razer’s purple opto-mechanical switch.
As mentioned above, our model has a brand -specific clicky purple switch, so the keyboard makes a lot of noise. Some appreciate the tactile part of these models that offer physical and audible feedback when the key is activated, but if you want to play or work in a quieter environment, we can just direct you to the linears red – still noisy. . Purples have an activation stroke of 1.5mm and require a force of 45cN, while reds are somewhat more sensitive to a stroke of 1.2mm and a force of 40cN.
The polling rate (polling rate) on the keyboard is very large: it reaches 8000 Hz, which should ensure the lowest latency, even if in practice 1000 Hz is more than enough. The response to the keys in any case is very good and the rebound is very fast. We found the keystroke nice, but we regretted that the chassis resonance was too audible. In addition to clicking keys, you must deal with a loud and annoying metallic echo with each keystroke. However, Razer needs to put a layer of foam on the chassis to reduce this noise…