Summary
I’ll admit I’m pretty skeptical of when a company claims new technology in their hardware will make someone better at video games. There’s a pretty clear line in the sand on that idea -anything that too obviously provides an edge is likely to veer into the territory of cheating, garnering users an unfair advantage over people without access to that specific innovation. Anything too subtle, and it’s basically the same as when a caffeine-free energy drink says it’ll get you through an eight-hour work day.
So I went into my experience with theRazer Huntsman V3 Pro, equipped with the brand’s new Snap Tap technology, with a healthy dose of cynicism. I’ve been a part of the Razer ecosystem for a long time, only recently swapping over from a Viper V2 mouse to a V3 Pro, and having spent way too much of my summer job’s take-home on a BlackWidow keyboard when I was in university. While the company has made some outlandish claims about its tech before, it’s always been backed up by a solid offering, even if it doesn’t bridge that gap from great to generational.
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I’m just as surprised as you, then, to report that the Huntsman V3 Pro, in conjunction with the Viper V3 and the Razer Synapse software, may have actually made me better at video games. If nothing else, the amount of control the hardware allows for when you’ve committed to a full setup through Synapse is remarkable, and that level of customization serves not just aspiring superstars or pros - even a 30-something with reflexes best left undescribed can feel like there’s a palpable difference in how they’re engaging with their favorite pastime. I’m also not entirely sure if I’m cheating, but I think this is more of a gap in innovation between Razer and others, more than unfair technology.
What’s Available With The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro
Before I dive into what Snap Tap technology means for gaming as a whole, it’s important to break down everythingelseabout the Huntsman V3 Pro that makes it a premium gaming keyboard.Razer’s switches are extraordinarily responsive, with actuation range that can be adjusted between 0.1mm to 4.0mm. If you want a keystroke to be registered when you barely graze it, you can do that. If you want to pound your keyboard hard enough that you’re going to need a new one in a month just to type “hello” in an email, you can do that too, though I’m not sure why you’d want that. I found the switches to be a little obnoxious in terms of volume while typing, but I also think the Huntsman V3 Pro isn’t necessarily a daily driver keyboard - most, if not all, of its most appealing features are tied directly to gaming, so if you use your keyboard extensively while at work it might be worth having two different setups.
The Huntsman V3 Pro also has some decent quality-of-life features, like volume control and three programmable macro buttons right beside it that can also control other media. Aesthetically the keyboard is one of the company’s better offerings - I think it looks clean in an office setup, great in an at-home gaming setup, and has the usual Synapse controls over its backlighting to help it blend into whatever environment it’s calling home.
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While gaming, the responsiveness of its switches makes the Huntsman V3 Pro one of the best in the market. Having gone from a custom mechanical keyboard built more for my daily needs, it’s a night-and-day difference. I can tell that even just movement inputs in FPS games or while playingHades 2register a little bit faster, and while you might think those miliseconds don’t matter, I’m here to report that they do. At least, if you’re a perfectionist like me, who considers any observable positive change - even the most minute one - a selling point.
Key specs of the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro are:
Is Snap Tap Cheating? I Don’t Think So
While I’m sure having someone who just admitted that the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro has improved my gaming results defend the Snap Tap technology’s honor invites a healthy, and justified, level of skepticism, hear me out. Snap Tap mode is technology that makes the keyboard prioritize the most recent input between two selected keys without requiring the full release of the first key to register it. Essentially, it’s a counter-strafing buff in tacFPS games likeValorantandCS2. Counter-strafing is a skill, and one that benefits immensely from switch responsiveness. Mitigating that somewhat by allowing players to perfectly counter-strafe even when they haven’t fully swapped between key inputs has raised some genuine concern in the FPS community.
I also believe the Huntsman V3 Pro, combined with Snap Tap technology, gives gamers a significant edge when it comes to competitive esports and even online ranked play, regardless of your skill level.
To be honest, though, I don’t think Snap Tap is any different than having a more responsive keyboard when it comes to actuation and input lag.What the technology represents is a step forward in hardware innovation that other manufacturers need to keep up with - and Wooting already has with its SOCD implementation. We’ve literally had esports athletes say that rapid trigger was bordering on unfair because of how good it was, so I think this is just a continuation of that trend.
That said, I also believe the Huntsman V3 Pro, combined with Snap Tap technology, gives gamers a significant edge when it comes to competitive esports and even online ranked play, regardless of your skill level. That’s the hallmark of some great craftsmanship, and I’m incredibly impressed with the keyboard as a whole.
The Razer Ecosystem Is Where You Want To Be Right Now
If you take gaming seriously - whether that’s because you’re aspiring to something greater or it’s a hobby you simply want to be good at - I think youneedto be using the Razer family of products, unless you’re more than competent when it comes to being tech-savvy. The ease with which some of these software updates and performance tweaks roll out through Synapse is incredible. Beyond the keyboard configuration with actuation I’ve mentioned, there’s also support for the Viper V3 Pro that fully changed my own performance. The DPI tweaks available inside the software takes time to get used to - I experimented for a solid 3 days, with extremely poor results while attempting to find the perfect fit - but it’s a worthy pursuit for that perfect mouse setting.
Ultimately, I think Razer has done a lot with its most recent hardware releases to push what it offers users to a new high for the company - even beyond what you might normally expect. Something like theRazer Kishi Ultra is an excellent, niche product for a specific, underserved audience. A very introspective look at what makes the brand’s most beloved products popular has yielded a keyboard in the Huntsman V3 Pro that caters to an audience that it serves excellently, while the Viper V3 Pro and Synapse software help complement that for a bespoke gaming setup that’s hard to beat. Oh, and they both come in white, too - just in case you needed that extra little bit of personalization before diving in.
Screen Rant was provided with a Huntsman V3 Pro and Viper V3 Pro for the purpose of this review. Tests of the hardware were conducted inValorant,CS2,Hades 2, andWorld of Warcraft.
Those interested in purchasing a Huntsman V3 Pro, Viper V3 Pro, or other Razer products can do so on theofficial Razer webstore.
