Razer Huntsman V3 TKL 8kHz gaming keyboard

Razer has announced a new entrant in its Huntsman line of mechanical keyboards: the Huntsman V3 TKL 8kHz. If that name sounds familiar, you may instead be remembering the V3 Pro TKL 8kHz that was released last October; while there are a host of similarities between the two keyboards, the non-Pro V3 is essentially a slightly stripped down version of its Pro cousin with, importantly, a lower price tag.

The V3 TKL 8kHz features the same switches as its Pro variant, those being Razer’s Analog Optical Switches Gen-2. You might be familiar with its features now that it’s been in the market for some time, but to run through the specs, they’re linear, contactless switches weighted at 40g of force for actuation. They’re also analog, allowing for an adjustable actuation range of 0.1 to 4.0mm (via Synapse). 

You’ll also find support for Snap Tap here, as well as Rapid Trigger, where the switch resets once an upstroke is detected, rather than having a fixed reset point. Razer states that the switches are also lubed out of the factory.

As its name suggests, the board features an 8,000Hz polling rate. It’s the fourth Huntsman V3 option to have this, and the company measures the board’s average latency to be around 0.58ms – the same as its Pro variant, though your mileage in this regard will vary depending on your setup, such as the USB standard you’re plugging the board through.

On that topic, connectivity is achieved via a detachable USB-C cable, so no wireless connection options to speak of.

Where the V3 TKL 8kHz pales in comparison to the Pro is in the dedicated macro and media keys, or lack thereof, with the omission of the multi-function dials and volume roller the Pro had. Still, the LED array indicator, which displays your analog switch settings like actuation height, is still present.

Pricing and Availability

Here is perhaps the most important difference between the V3 TKL 8kHz and its Pro cousin. While the latter costs S$350, you can get the former for S$259, a S$90 decrease in price for most of the same features (no leather wrist rest, though). 

It’s still not cheap, even for an analog keyboard with adjustable actuation – hall effect boards have gotten really affordable, though the company has laid out its reasons for opting out of hall effect technology as a whole. The lack of official hot-swap capability may also turn off potential users who want to customise their boards, as Razer does not mention it as a selling point in any of their marketing materials.

But, as a final note, it’s worth mentioning that this is the cheapest Huntsman V3 board in the entire lineup, even including the ones that don’t have an 8kHz polling rate. You can find the Razer Huntsman V3 TKL 8kHz on Razer’s website now, or at physical RazerStores and authorised retailers.