With so many people stuck at home, upgrading the good ‘ole’ home gaming battlestation has become something of a hobby. Razer’s new Huntsman V2 Analog, the company’s latest flagship keyboard, has three new features that might be worth the splurge.
The major new upgrade to the $ 250 Huntsman V2 Analog is support for adjustable operating heights, which can be adjusted from as little as 1.5mm to as much as 3.6mm per key. To make this possible, Razer took the second generation of linear optical switches it debuted last year and then improved them with a new laser sensor that allows users to decide how deep a keystroke should be, rather than having it set in stone at the factory. .
This is similar to what’s available on Steelseries’ Apex Pro (which is one reason it’s one of our top of the line gaming keyboards) and it provides a handy way to give the more responsive feel that people often prefer in faster games like CS: GO and other shooters, while still allowing you to lower the keystroke sensitivity in a slower game like Stellaris.
The second major upgrade has to do with the analog part of the Huntsman V2’s name. Razer has added the ability for the keyboard to record full analog input, so instead of simply registering a keystroke as on or off, the Huntsman V2 Analog can see how hard you press. It’s like the analog shoulder buttons you get on all major console controllers. It might be a bit of a hassle getting it to work exactly the way you want it to, but this means the Huntsman V2 Analog can more accurately simulate the accelerator and brake pedal in a racing game, or differentiate between a walk, run, or sprint based solely on how hard you press.
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The third major new feature is the two-stage operation, which lets you split a keystroke into two different actions, such as equipping a grenade into a shooter by pressing down and then throwing the grenade when you release the key. Granted, this is a bit more of a niche feature, and while it can save time in some games, the titles where this can be useful already offer their own take on this setting, such as the Smart Cast setting in League of Legends.
Aside from the three major additions, the Huntsman V2 Analog also comes with a handy magnetic wrist rest, built-in media controls, and a pass-through USB 3 port. And of course, like so many Razer gaming peripherals, the Huntsman V2 Analog comes with customizable RGB lighting per key, double-stroke PBT keycaps, the ability to save settings directly to the keyboard, full Chroma support and sync with a number of other RGB lit devices, such as Nanoleaf lamps.
Although I’ve only been using the Huntsman V2 Analog for a few days, there are some things that I already really like. The first is that support for adjustable control heights makes it much more forgiving to try out a keyboard with sensitive control points. For example, Corsair’s K100 keyboard comes with an activation height of 1mm, which is often seen as faster and more responsive from hardcore competitive gamers.
However, keys with control points that are superficial are also super nervous, meaning that simply resting your fingertips on a key is often recorded as a full keystroke. The big problem for many people is that they just don’t know if they like short actuation points, deep actuation points, or anything in between. And on the Huntsman V2 Analog, you now get the option to try out a shallow-control keyboard, without having to throw the keyboard away or give it back if you discover that’s not your problem. Additionally, if you find that superficial keystrokes work well in some situations, but not in others, you can also set trigger points individually per game or even per key. Think jittery WASD keys and then deeper keystrokes for spells or gear options.
Other than that, the Huntsman V2 Analog just feels like a well-constructed device. The base is solid and even comes with an LED light chip that wraps around the bottom of the keyboard. Additionally, Razer includes a USB-C to USB-A adapter, making it easier to connect the Huntsman V2 to a new laptop that may not come with larger USB-A ports. And as for the switches themselves, although they are a bit loud when your bottoming out, Razer’s linear optomechanical switches have a really smooth, even strike that feels very balanced even if you accidentally hit them from an angle.
The only obvious downside is the price of the Huntsman V2 as at $ 250 it costs $ 50 more than a Steelseries Apex Pro which is a significant leap forward, but not super surprising considering the Apex Pro doesn’t come with full analog switches or Razer’s two-step operation.
For many people, an extra chic gaming keyboard with all the bells and whistles can feel like overkill. But for more fussy gamers or those who are really into tweaking every aspect of their keyboards’ performance, Razer’s Huntsman V2 Analog has raised that bar just a little bit higher.