Seeing this reminds us of the world’s first keyboard with a linear optical axis – the BENQ Zowie CELERITAS II, using a switch from Flaretech™, a switch we covered in our previous Huntsman review, which allows the full range of 0° to 90°, depending on how deep you press the switch. It’s the same as the trigger button on a gamepad.

And this new ‘analog optical’ technology from Razer features a light intensity design with adjustable trigger depth: 1.5mm to 3.6mm any way you like.

This switch also allows you to employ WASD to simulate the joystick on the handle, truly ‘press as deep as you can and go as far as you can’

The ‘DUAL-STEP ACTUATION’ allows you to instantly multi-task each button, e.g. tap and press to the bottom for different actions, allowing for more consistent moves in FPS or MOBA games and eliminating the need for complex operations with multiple buttons, which can be very effective in improving a player’s EAPM (Effective Actions Per Minute).

The Synapse software allows you to customise the trigger feel to best suit your needs. Different profiles can be activated to enable different trigger depths to be used in different games.

So, let’s dig into the detail!

Package Appearance

Package Front

Package Back

Package Side

Upon opening the package, we find the manuals, stickers and keyboard main body

Product Analysis

Keyboard Main body looking. Topcase is made of aluminium

The Razer magnetic plush leatherette wrist rest – RGB included

6 non-slip foot pads under the hand rest

The new hand rest is more flexible and made of smoother material than the Razer Blackwidow Elite hand rest

The dual USB connectors are coloured green

The type-c header comes with a Type C-A adapter

Take off a keycap, we can find the actual Razer Analog optical switch

This keyboard has three different height adjustment levels:

Level 1 – Normal height

Level 2 – Higher height

Level 3 – Highest height

There is a USB Type-A port on the left side of the keyboard, making it easy for players to access their devices and use a USB stick or joystick is still relatively convenient. Unfortunately, this generation is not equipped with a cable management slot, the cable outlet is fixed on the upper left side because there are two cables so there is no way to manage the cable freely, both cables are made of braided material, resistant to pulling and soft enough, the length is around two meters, which is perfectly sufficient for players to use for cabling.

Keyboard status indicators

The media control keys and the volume knob

This time Razer has used double-shot PBT keycaps to prevent oiling, adding a thicker surface and a frosted feel to the keys to give them more texture and reduce wear and tear, but also increases the thickness of the keycaps, which slightly affects light transmission

The satellite keycap uses the contact clip type inside the top case

Backlight effects

Software Usability

We can find the Huntsman v2 analog keyboard under Razer Synapse 3

The main keyboard controller interface
We can switch the mode between ‘Standard’ and ‘Hypershift’
‘Gaming mode’ can be turned on and off to enable the no-disturb mode

The ‘Quick remapping’ function is to simulate the controller joystick by using ‘WASD’ keys

We can change the Chroma effect for this keyboard and setup the per-key RGB

The customised profile can be saved as a different name and transferred to the keyboard

Macro setting

Usage Experience

The switch feels strange on this keyboard, the pressure count doesn’t give us the impression that it’s only 40g. although we can change the trigger distance in the software, the first part of the trigger stroke is still heavy, very much in the style of a Cherry white shaft, but after the trigger and all the way to the bottom of the press, the feel is even heavier. The good thing is that this very flexible linear switch allows for very good control of the downward pressure, which is good for controlling the paddle press in SIM type games. In <Forza: Horizon 4>, the throttle control was very smooth and could be controlled more precisely by lowering the trigger and increasing the length of the linear control; in <Lock On: Flaming Cliffs 2>, the mapping of the Throttle Lever and rudder paddle was done well and tested to be very useful. It doesn’t have the feel and force feedback of a physical controller, but it still controls the force perfectly. It has to be said that this keyboard is instead amazing in drop-based music games. In <DJMAX: Respect V>, where you couldn’t Full combo some ‘Maximum’ or ‘Super Core’ difficulty songs with the Razer yellow switch before, after switching to this keyboard, BOOM! ALL FULL COMBO! The accuracy has also improved.

4Key mode: THE ONE(SC)

6Key mode: ANIMA(Maximum)

6Key mode: BLACK MIND(Maximum)

6Key mode: AXION(SC)

6Key mode: AXION(Maximum)

Of course, the feel is a matter of opinion, because there is no such thing as “perfect compatibility” in the world. When it comes to the typing aspect, this keyboard is one of the two extremes. Some people who write very long texts daily prefer an extremely short trigger stroke and enjoy the feeling of their fingers “floating” across the keyboard, while some programmers who code 24 hours a day prefer a more flexible keyboard with a slightly longer stroke. The Razer Huntsman V2 Analog is closer to the latter, and the adjustable trigger length accommodates those who prefer shorter triggers, so it satisfies a lot of people’s pain points!

SUMMARY

In 2018, we did a review of Razer’s first Huntsman keyboard with an Optical switch, where we said ‘The Razer Opto-Mechanical™ switch did not meet our expectations’, and also did a comparison of several Optical switches, including of course the big name ‘Flaretech’. But today, we can say that Razer’s Analog switch has done a better job than the Flaretech switch, with a pleasing design of two-stage triggering and analogue joystick functionality that is refreshing to gamers, and many difficult gameplay techniques can be easily achieved with this keyboard. Overall, this sincere keyboard not only brings a lot of novelty to the user but also a hefty price tag? AU$380 is officially priced at a significant premium to even Corsair’s flagship keyboard, the K95 Platinum, but instead of dwelling on the price, the new features bring an experience that no other brand can bring anytime soon. At a time when money is hard to come by for a graphics card, how about a peripheral upgrade?

EPIC PC RATE SCORE : 95.5/100

EPIC REWARD: EPIC RECOMMENDED, DESIGN AWARD, EPIC EXTREME POWER

RAZER HUNTSMAN OFFICIAL WEBSITE: HERE

Package Appearance
The outside packaging
Razer has changed the packaging to reduce the size and weight of the outer box

The player on the package is Taco from the Counter-Strike e-sports team MIBR

The list of e-sports teams that are currently using Razer mouses

The inside packaging — The mouse and accessories

The instruction manual and Razer sticker

Product Analysis
Razer hasn’t used the integrated upper shell design like they have on their mid and high-level product line. Instead, Razer have adopted the Viper’s old design. The left, right and upper shells of the mouse were composed of three pieces of ABS plastic, with a symmetrical design.

The Razer Viper is frosted in all areas where it has direct hand contact, which has been done for slip resistance, and the non-slip rubber on both sides is different from the previous Razer mouse. Because of the need to keep weight under control, the rubber on both sides is relatively thin, but still providing a very good anti-slip ability. At the same time, Razer Viper may be the mouse with the lowest back curve in the past few years. After the low-back design of the Zowie FK series was welcomed by the FPS gaming market, it seems that Razer has also got the point and decide to lower the back curve of the mouse with a height of only 3.7cm

In FPS games that requires a right-clicking, the low-back design is more popular for gamers, and the new Viper with a short tail design, reduces the pressure on the palm when holding

Razer Speedflex cable
The Razer Viper uses a new braided wire called the “SpeedFlex Cable”, which is similar to an umbrella wire. The SpeedFlex cable is significantly lighter than the woven wire used on previous Razer mouses. It has a thicker wire diameter and soft filling material inside. Moreover, the SpeedFlex Cable does not have the deformation memory effect that is caused by excessive bending

In actual use, players will clearly feel the updated experience of the new SpeedFlex cable

There is a large area of adhesive tape on the bottom of the mouse to ensure smooth use

The default CPI switch button of this mouse is designed at the bottom. A total of 5 profiles can be set from 400, 800, 1800, 2400 and 3200

The weight of the mouse without the cable is only 68g

Software Analysis
New Razer products are now managed by Razer Synapse 3
Razer Synapse 3 Dashboard

Razer Viper buttons customise panel
Because the mouse has an asymmetrical design, it is easily mapped and fully customisable, the ‘Hypershift’ function also enables the ‘Shift’ function on the mouse to enable more combination keys

Razer Viper Performance control panel
The CPI of this mouse can be asynchronously customised for XY axes, up to 16000 cpi and Polling Rate up to 1000 Hz, CPI can be customised for 5 files with different triangle colour LED indicators

Razer Synapse Chroma RGB design panel

Performance Test
When a mouse has a lower weight, it’s easier to highlight player’s own skill when they are playing high-intensity e-sports games, because the lightweight design means more precise control under low CPI conditions, especially for snipers. And for pro e-sports players, a lighter mouse can reduce the strain on their wrist joints, the weight of 69g is a very big attraction.

We have tested the mouse on the most popular mouse pads: Fine coated pad, aluminum, soft silicone pad, fine fabric cloths thin pad and coarse fabric cloths thin pad.

The tests are based on the mouse’s start, Smoothness, Brake, and Transparency.

Fine coated pad
Start: Medium feeling on both Static friction and dynamic friction
Smoothness: Extremely smooth
Brake: Easy to brake and good positioning accuracy
Transparency: Very good contact, no heightened sense of passage that results in misalignment on the Z-axis

Aluminum pad
Start: Very low felling on both Static friction and dynamic friction
Smoothness: It is very smooth, but the maintenance is relatively difficult. The Teflon feet skates will be frayed quickly by the aluminum surface
Brake: Easy to brake and good positioning accuracy
Transparency: Very good contact, no heightened sense of passage that results in misalignment on the Z-axis

Soft silicone pad
Start: This textured pad makes the higher static and dynamic friction feeling
Smoothness: Medium smooth
Brake: Easy to brake and relatively accurate positioning
Transparency: a relatively thin thickness of the cushion, the material is quite solid and the permeability is good

Fine fabric cloths thin pad
Start: Low static friction and very high dynamic friction
Smoothness: Very smooth
Brake: Easy to brake, positioning is accurate, the resistance is light. Muscle memory is easier to form and more friendly for novices
Transparency: A thin pad with soft material and good permeability

Coarse fabric cloths thin pad
Start: Medium static friction, low dynamic friction
Smoothness: Extremely smooth
Brake: Easy to brake and relatively accurate positioning
Transparency: A thin pad with soft material and good permeability

IIn general, this mouse has a very adaptable feeling that directly related to light-weighted design. Similarly, this type of mouse is not suitable for a thick mouse pad. The high sensitivity of the sensor will cause Z-axis shaking and lead to unnecessary displacement.

In terms of the button touch feeling, according to the Razer official propaganda, the Razer’s exclusive purple-dot microswitch focuses on clicking life and no rebound delay, but in actual use, we believe that this unique feeling is the important point. It has a different click sound and feedback compared with Omron’s 50M series micro switch that implemented in mid and high range gaming mice. The overall feedback is more compact and the button sound is correspondingly lower, it is not the kind of crisp sound that Omron often has. In addition, compared to other same level mouses, Viper’s new optical microswitch has a significantly lower feedback delay, this is because the optical technology uses a light speed trigger which allows users to feel the fastest response time of about 0.2 milliseconds when playing games and also 3 times faster than the traditional mechanical microswitch.

There are also some huge changes to the scroll wheel design. Viper uses a hollow-carved design to reduce the weight and the scrolling feedback is quite clear. The wheel button has also been carefully tuned for moderate triggering force.

The side button position is properly arranged to prevent accidental pressing. Razer decided to arrange the side keys on both sides subtly in a position where you can easily reach them with your thumb raised slightly, and the other side’s button is not easy mistakenly pressed by the ring finger. These four buttons all have a very low-profile design, it is almost on the same plane of mouse top case, which will further reduce the frequency of mis-pressing keys.

In the actual gaming experience, for FPS games, the accuracy improvement led by light-weighted design that cannot be expressed in words. The force we use on the relatively heavy-weighted mouse that moves 1mm is totally different compared with the light-weighted mouse. This can be perfectly reflected on a smooth mouse pad, and the light-weighted mouse does not suffer from an excessive displacement caused by the instantaneous high static friction that often occurs with the mouse.

Razer is experienced in the adjustment of the PAW3390 sensor. There is no problem with the sensor during actual use, and the optical sensor is fully sufficient in performance for normal usage. Generally, in FPS gaming, the commonly used CPI segment is around 600 – 1000, and it’s a bit lower for snipers.

Disassembling Analysis
The Backplate has 4 screws that hidden under the mouse feet’s

The inside of the mouse

The upper cover of the mouse has a very simple design due to the weight reduction, the side keypad and the RGB light guide are embedded inside

The mouse bottom side part

Microswitch
The two main buttons are using the Razer Optical Mouse Switch which has a superfast 0.2 milliseconds response. Since the electrical signal can be transmitted without mechanical contact, the Razer optical mouse micro switch is difficult to wear under heavy usage. As a result, this microswitch has a durability of up to 70 million clicks, which has a 40% better than the most durable microswitches in the market.

The side button board
The four red-dots microswitches used by the side buttons are from Changfeng, the model is ‘kw10-01WR’, 1 million button life and 70 ± 25 gf

The mouse wheel part and the top button board

The roller encoder comes from Kailh’s EN7236 series, 10 – 25 gf.cm, 100,000 lifespan

The mainboard for this mouse

The bottom side of the main board

The sensor is PAW3390 from PixArt, which has the same 16000 cpi, 450 IPS and 50 G acceleration of Mamba Elite. Compared to the TM3 engine from Steelseries, they are both high-end and have the same performance instability.

The controller chip is LPC51U68 from NXP

The optical sensor and cover

Usability Analysis
To test the line correction, frame loss, and the smoothness, we are using the mousetest from Areson

This mouse doesn’t have the line correction function

The Frame loss control and the smoothness control are also quite good

We also tested this mouse by using Enotus Mouse Test

Finally, we are using the powerful MouseTester v1.5
By using its powerful plot function, we are tested several mouse performances

xCounts vs Time
While the average line is smoother, which means it’s more liner on the mouse track movement; while the points of the counts are much closer to the line, which means the jitter of the engine is lower. As the graph shows, the result of this performance is quite good in different CPIs

1800 cpi is under a normal use level, jitter is not large and relatively stable

800 cpi, jitter is a bit low

1800 cpi, jitter starts to be unstable

2400 cpi, jitter is under a usable level

3200 cpi, jitter is still under a usable level

6400 cpi, jitter is significantly increased, but still can be used, top level of the range

12800 cpi, jitter becomes larger and unstable, and the usability begins to decrease

16000 cpi, jitter is basically kept the same level as the 12800 cpi, and the usability is not under a usable level

yCounts vs Time
If there is a straight-line correction/angle function, the y-axis offset will remain at 0 for a long time. As the graph shows, the result of this performance is very good

X vs Y
This function is to detect mouse frame loss, As the graph shows, the result of this performance is quite good

xyVelocity vs Time
The unit of velocity is m/s. This test is mainly to look at the acceleration of the mouse. As the graph shows, the point of Razer Viper is better for curve fitting, that means the jumped-like rapid acceleration rarely appears, The line of fit is coherent and also has a dense distribution

If there is a good device that allows the mouse to move at a constant speed, in this case, the speed line is a straight line, if the engine has acceleration, it will fluctuate, so this is the most ideal test method. The result of this performance is quite good

Summary
Razer highlighted a new concept ‘Absolute Control’ on this new Viper, whether the light-weighted design, the SpeedFlex cable, the re-customised microswitch or the deeper matte finishes, they all born from the concept of ‘Absolute Control’.

The professional player needs a weapon that responds quickly, sensitively and can fight for a long time. These elements are present as features in the Viper. It can be said that Razer Viper is a special super rifle tailored for professional-grade FPS players, which will perfectly restore the true skill for them.

The new Razer Viper is a signal that Razer is ready to enter the professional FPS field. There is not much redundant function, only for the ultimate ‘absolute control’. The light-weighted 68g plus the overall feel adjustment brings the mouse a completely new feel that is totally different from the previous Razer mouse. Like the old Viper 15 years ago, the new Viper is also the founder of a new era, this mouse is expected to appear in the hands of professional CSGO players in the future, in more event scenes, and on more players’ desktops.

In terms of price, it’s only AU$134.95. If you’re tired of the high pricing of other light-weighted mice or the homogenous design of holes, be sure to try the new Razer Viper, because it’s really a gaming mouse for e-sports.

EPIC PC RATE SCORE: 92/100

EPIC REWARD: EPIC RECOMMENDED & DESIGN AWARD

RAZER VIPER GAMING MOUSE OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www2.razer.com/au-en/gaming-mice/razer-viper

According to Razer’s official website, the ‘Huntsman’ and ‘Huntsman Elite’ gaming keyboards are part of a series of keyboards featuring their new ‘Opto-Mechanical™’ Switches. These switches aim to bring instant actuation to gamers to provide speeds they have never experienced before.

Package Appearance

Package Front

Package Back

Package Side

The arrow tester keys

Razer Opto-Mechanical™ switch Logo – ‘Light and Clicky’

Upon opening the package, we find the manuals, stickers and keyboard main body

‘WELCOME TO THE CULT OF RAZER’

Inspecting all the things inside the package

Razer classic sticker

Product Analysis

Keyboard Main body looking. Topcase is made by aluminum

USB connector is coloured green

Take off a keycap, we can find the actual Razer Opto-Mechanical™ switch

Rear view of this switch

Pressing down on the switch

This keyboard has three different height adjustment levels:

Level 1 – Normal height

Level 2 – Higher height

Level 3 – Highest height

Keyboard status indicators

Razer logo located at the top right corner
This area is used for media control keys and the volume knob on ‘Elite’ version keyboard

Switch height with the keycap

The satellite keycap uses the contact clip type inside the top case

The look of all the switches without keycaps

Backlight level at a side angle

Backlight level at the front

The back panel of this keyboard – made with ABS plastic

Disassembling Analysis

Taking out the screws at the back, we noticed that there are 2 screws hidden under the rubber pads

There is only 1 USB cable connected to the motherboard
It uses a similar ABS back panel as the Corsair MK2 SE

Interestingly we found an Easter egg, written inside is ‘PROJECT JAMIE T2’ which contains a staff list

The producing date of this back panel

The Top panel

Razer Opto-Mechanical™ switch both side and press-down view

The Top panel circus side

The keyboard main controller uses the STM32L151, which is an ARM Cortex-M3 32bit LOW-TDP MCU

The Razer Chroma RGB controller chipset

Razer Huntsman Keyboard main board version number

The keys are pre-printed

Razer Huntsman indicator LEDs

These empty sockets are for Razer Huntsman Elite buttons, this means they share the same mainboard

We changed the customised keycap – chromed red

The backlight for EPIC PC

Per-key RGB profile setup

Software Usability
As we mentioned several times, Razer Synapse forces the user to register for an account before being able to adjust the keyboard. After we log-in to our Razer account, we could find the Huntsman keyboard is listed

The backlight brightness level also can be changed here

We can change the Chroma effect for this keyboard and setup the per-key RGB

The game-react RGB profile setup can be found under ‘Advanced Mode’

The customised profile can be saved as a different name and transferred to keyboard

Macro setting

TKL test – Passed. We test these keys using software and music game ‘DJMAX Trilogy’

APM test – Not as fast as using a Cherry Black switch G80-1800. Using the Cherry keyboard, our record is 562CPM, when moving to this Razer huntsman, the CPM dropped to 352. This may have been caused by an overly clicky feeling

SUMMARY
The Razer Opto-Mechanical™ switch did not meet our expectation. As a new experienced Light Strike Optical Switch(LSOS), it only transmits the 0/1 signal as the Light Block Optical Switch(LBOS) and all normal mechanical switches.

Compared with the Hi-end Analog Optical Switch(AOS) from Flaretech™ , the Razer switch cannot achieve the ‘staged press’ feature.

Despite this, as an optical switch, the response time has been greatly reduced from an average of 100ms to 50ms. We tested this using different keyboards and used ‘KeyResponse PK’ from ‘Bloody Keyboard’. The Razer Opto-Mechanical™ switch results are good and beat other mechanical-switches including the famous CHERRY™ MX SPEED. Unfortunately, the feel of Razer huntsman is below average because the switch has a clicky feel similar to the CHERRY™ MX BLUE and much harder press feel than CHERRY™ MX RED, which makes users spend more time getting familiar with the keyboard.

EPIC PC RATE SCORE : 69/100

RAZER HUNTSMAN OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www2.razer.com/au-en/gaming-keyboards-keypads/razer-huntsman