Monday at Gamescom 2019, Razer unveiled the new Huntsman Tournament Edition (TE), which joins the company’s ever-growing lineup of esports-focused peripherals. The Huntsman TE follows in the footsteps of its siblings, the Huntsman Elite and Huntsman, but with a leg up. The Huntsman TE features Razer’s new Linear Optical Switches — an upgrade to last years Opto-Mechanical switches.
The new Linear Optical Switches work similarly to the Opto-Mechanical ones by harnessing an infrared light beam to detect when the key is pressed. Unlike its predecessor, however, the Linear Optical Switches actuate faster thanks to a shorter 1mm actuation, compared to the previous 1.5mm. In theory, this means the Huntsman TE is faster than even the pricier Huntsman Elite.
Razer has designed the Huntsman TE for the often brutal and sweaty rigors of competitive esports. It’s a tenkeyless form factor built with a sturdy Aluminium matte top plate in a compact form. A handy cubbyhole to stow away the detachable USB-C braided fiber cable, making it easy to pack up and go. Onboard memory gives players up to five profile settings which can be accessed at any time.
Razer also says they developed a new proprietary tooling that allows them to produce “sturdy bespoke doubleshot PBT” keycaps. These keycaps are designed to resist wear and tear of extended use while still retaining their texture. The keys are rated to 100 million clicks and feature the thinnest font available in a PBT cap.
Razer has put the Huntsman TE through strenuous real-world testing with its own Team Razer esports athletes such as Team EG’s Arteezy, MIBR’s TACO, Seoul Dynasty’s Ryujehong and Fleta and more.
“Every second matters, and just a split second can ultimately determine the victory or loss of a match,” says TACO, professional CS:GO player for MIBR. “That’s why I prefer using a super responsive keyboard like the Huntsman Tournament Edition for competitive gaming.”
Razer claims that professional esports athletes prefer the linear optical switches because they experience less fatigue resulting from less force required to actuate the keys.
The Huntsman TE also features Razer Chroma RGB lighting, with which players can customize their keyboard lighting effects using a selection of 16.8 million color options. The keyboard can sync lighting effects with other devices that support Razer Chroma — over 500 of them, according to Razer.
The Huntsman TE has fully programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording and 10-key roll-over with anti-ghosting. The bottom row of keys on the Huntsman TE have been standardized to allow easy keycap customization. Players can replace any of these keys with third-party keycaps extending players customizations even further.
The new Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition is available for purchase on Razer’s online store for $130.
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