With so many people stuck at home, upgrading the good home gaming battle station has become something of a hobby. Razer’s new Huntsman V2 Analog, the company’s latest flagship keyboard, has three new features that may be worth the fanfare.
The most important new update on the $ 250 Huntsman V2 Analog is support for adjustable trigger heights, which can be customized on a key base from as shallow as 1.5 mm to as deep as 3.6 mm. To make this happen, Razer took the second generation linear optical switches that debuted last year and updated them with a new laser sensor that allows users to decide the depth of a keystroke, instead of being set at the factory.
This is similar to what is available on the Steelseries Apex Pro (which is why it is one of our first-rate gaming keyboards) and provides a practical way to provide a more responsive feel that people generally prefer in faster paced games, such as CS: GO and other snipers, while still allowing you to decrease sensitivity at the touch of a key in a slower game like Stellaris.
The second major update has to do with the analog part of the Huntsman V2 name. Razer has added the keyboard’s ability to register fully analog input, so instead of simply pressing a key and registering as on or off, the Huntsman V2 Analog can tell you how hard you are pressing. It’s like the analog shoulder buttons you get on all major console controllers. It may take a while to get it to work the way you want, but that means the Huntsman V2 Analog can more accurately simulate the accelerator and brake pedals in a racing game or distinguish between walking, running or running with based only on how hard you press.
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The third big news is the two-stage action, which allows you to divide the press of a key into two different actions, such as equipping a grenade on a sniper by pressing and then throwing the grenade when you release the key. It is true that this is a slightly more specific feature and, although it can save time in some games, the titles in which it can be useful already offer their own view on this configuration, such as the Smart Cast configuration in League of Legends.
In addition to its three major additions, the Huntsman V2 Analog also comes with a practical magnetic wrist rest, integrated media controls and a USB 3-port. And, of course, like many of Razer’s gaming peripherals, the Huntsman V2 Analog comes with customizable RGB key illumination, PBT double-trigger keys, the ability to save settings directly on the keyboard, full Chroma support and synchronization with several other Devices illuminated by RGB, like Nanoleaf lights.
Although I’ve been using Huntsman V2 Analog for just a few days, there are a few things that I already like a lot. The first is that support for adjustable trigger heights makes it much more tolerant to experiment with a keyboard with sensitive trigger points. For example, the Corsair K100 keyboard comes with a hair trigger with an actuation height of 1 mm, which is often seen as being faster and more responsive by competitive hardcore players.
However, keys with superficial actuation points are also super-precious, which means that simply placing your fingertips on a key can often be registered as a full keystroke. The big problem for many people is that they just don’t know if they like short acting points, deep acting points or something in between. And in Huntsman V2 Analog, you now have the ability to experience a smoothly acting keyboard, without the need to throw it away or return the keyboard if it turns out it’s not your jam. In addition, if you find that superficial keystrokes work well in some situations, but not in others, you can also define performance points individually per game or even per key. Think of spasmodic WASD keys and then deeper keystrokes for spells or loading options.
Furthermore, the Huntsman V2 Analog simply looks like a well-built device. Its base is solid and still comes with an LED light ship that surrounds the base of the keyboard. In addition, Razer includes a USB-C to USB-A adapter, so you can more easily connect 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 noisy when you hit rock bottom, Razer’s linear optomechanical switches have a really smooth and even stroke that looks very balanced, even if you hit them from an angle by accident.
The only obvious downside is the price of the Huntsman V2, because at $ 250, it costs $ 50 more than a Steelseries Apex Pro, which is a significant, but not too surprising, jump because Apex Pro does not come with fully analog switches or Razer’s two-step actuation.
For many people, an extra sophisticated gaming keyboard with all the bells and whistles may seem overkill. But for the most demanding players or those who are really dedicated to customizing every aspect of their keyboards’ performance, Razer’s Huntsman V2 Analog has just pushed that bar a little higher.