The Razer Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz is my first magnetic gaming keyboard. When I first read the specs, it wasn’t clear how different this kind of keyboard would feel or sound. As part of Razer’s esports performance line, the Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz is designed to meet the high-sensitivity needs of esports players who have to optimize their peripherals for speed and precision.
But like most product reviews on the site, we’re taking a more holistic approach with these questions: Does it work in competitive environments? How easily does the Razer Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz switch over to daily work? And do the bells and whistles fit the price tag?
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
Visually, the keyboard isn’t very distinctive compared to other all-black keyboards. For controlling the RGB Chroma lighting or actuation preferences (like turning rapid trigger mode on and off), the Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz suffers from the same issue as all Razer products: It Needs Synapse.
Despite this year’s Synapse changes, the app itself and the computer resources it uses remain an issue for Razer peripherals; however, if you’re not looking to customize anything, you can get by without managing it in Synapse, which is usually how I use my Razer products.
The Razer Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz keyboard is made great by its sensitivity.
The Razer Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz shines with its extreme sensitivity. It was built for that, and it excels. That sensitivity is partly thanks to the 40 G Acuation Force that the keyboard is made with. This delivers faster response with a lighter actuation force, letting you play and react quicker while putting less force on the keys. This part was built for counter-strafing, aiming, dodging, and shooting, all with the promise of a split-second advantage.
And that promise is pretty much kept. For the twitchy gameplay you need in shooters, the responsiveness is perfect. It’s probably the smoothest experience that I’ve had playing Marvel Rivals, and that’s saying something. But if you tend to hesitate or panic in tight situations, the keycap height makes it easy to clip the side of one and set you up for a really bad time.
You can reduce input time and adjust sensitivity with 1.0 mm and 0.2 mm. I bring up the double-input issue because this esports-focused keyboard has Razer’s Snap Tap, which should let priority pass through the keys based on input. The goal here, specifically with Snap Tap on the A and D keys, is to let the player move faster with WASD, and it works extremely well. While Marvel Rivals is the example game for the keyboard, it’s also the only shooter I play consistently. And in Marvel Rivals, this keyboard worked far better than the others I have used for the title.
While the Razer Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz will be in my rotation for more competitive play, it won’t stay on my desk long-term like the other keyboards I’ve reviewed. The sensitivity makes long-form typing for long periods difficult. Additionally, for the everyday spreadsheet user, it’s not the most comfortable and will lead to more Ctrl+Z inputs.
Just typing on the keyboard and grazing a letter can easily result in double letters. However, a light touch can easily cause double inputs, while a hard one doesn’t. I’ve found that when typing a word like “add,” a firm press of the duplicate letter has a slightly delayed response that can interrupt your workflow. A lighter press, however, works easily.
While it may not be your everyday keyboard, it will be on your mind whenever you play a shooter.
That said, it’s hard to gauge how hard or soft you’re pressing the keycaps, with little audio feedback or the tactile feel of pressing and releasing that a standard mechanical keyboard provides. This makes switching between gaming and doing work on the Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz a slog.
The keyboard does come with a range of input settings, though, which may work for some; unfortunately, for me, it’s hard to balance performance sensitivity with actuation settings that make more sense for productivity-focused people.
A magnetic keyboard offers a softer sound than most of the others in Razer’s line-up (a credit to the Thick Foam Dampening), and that softness will either make you fall in love with it or make you yearn for the clicking clack of a mechanical. Beyond sound, one of my bigger concerns was whether other peripherals, my phone, or anything else with magnets would affect my keyboard switches. But there was no problem whatsoever.
All of this makes the Huntsman V3 HE Magnetic 8KHz a difficult keyboard to rate for someone who often leans toward a hybrid of performance and productivity. For the icy-veined FPS player, this is a hit. As an esports-first product, it’s a good investment for the touch response alone. That said, it’ll be up to each buyer to judge whether it fits their desk needs. Sensitivity is king here, and if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll be pressed to find something better.
