Razer Unveils Keyboard With Optical-Mechanical Switches Without Numeric Pad

Razer has introduced a new keyboard to the Huntsman line. The most important innovations compared to the existing Huntsman keyboards are that this Tournament Edition has modified optical-mechanical switches and no numerical part.

With the Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition, Razer no longer talks about optical-mechanical switches as was the case with the Huntsman and Huntsman Elite released last year. Instead, the Tournement Edition features “linear optical switches,” according to Razer.

Basically, it is still the same type of mechanical switch in combination with an optical sensor, in which an infrared beam is used when a key is pressed to determine whether the key has been pressed. According to Razer, the keys lack the tactile bump and the switches have an actuation point of 1mm, while last year’s Huntsman keyboard had travel to actuation at 1.5mm. It takes a force of 40 centinewtons to reach the actuation point; the earlier Huntsman keyboards required 5cN more.

This tkl keyboard has an aluminum top panel and was developed together with a number of e-athletes, according to Razer. According to the manufacturer, the lifespan is 100 million keystrokes. Furthermore, Chroma lighting is present under the keys, the keys are fully programmable and on-the-fly recording of macros is supported. There is onboard memory for up to five profiles and the braided USB-C cable can be removed.

The Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition is available via the manufacturer’s website and costs 150 euros.