$150 for the clicky purple version and $160 for the linear reds—it's not often the simpler switch design costs more. But then again, the linear reds are Gen-2 switches that have the integrated sound dampeners, which do reduce downstroke noise if you are sensitive to it. This combines synergistically with the sound dampening foam in the case, individual stabilizer bars, lubed keycap stabilizers, and thick PBT keycaps to make for a smooth typing experience that also sounds quite good. It's not "custom keyboard with individually lubed Frankenstein switches" good, but one of the best pre-built keyboards I have typed on in a while. Saying this of a mainstream Razer keyboard may sound weird, and I get it. Gaming keyboards have had a certain reputation, but this is a solid package for the money considering, especially in tandem with the increased layout and language support.

It's not as good a value in non-US regions, unfortunately—there is no excuse for the 1:1 conversion from US dollars to Great Britain pounds today. I can only imagine how much worse pricing is in other regions. The closest competition to the Huntsman V2 TKL would be the CORSAIR K70 RGB TKL Champion, which has an MSRP of $140, but can be found for $120 often for the equivalent Cherry MX Speed (Silver) version. That keyboard uses mechanical switches but has no hot-swap feature, so these two are realistically not that different when it comes to switch swapping post purchase. Software-wise, iCUE and Synapse 3 are on point for the user experience and layout, but Synapse has the edge on third-party support with a larger ecosystem, whereas iCUE has more PC DIY component support and skins to change the aesthetics of the drivers themselves. Both also go with doubleshot PBT keycaps and a standard bottom-row spacing as well as high aftermarket keycap compatibility. What does keep the Huntsman V2 TKL ahead in my opinion is the build quality and aforementioned typing experience, so the increase in cost is somewhat justified.

Razer Synapse is a beast in a lot of ways, and my time with it was mostly favorable. There are a few things I would like changed, including the color scheme first up, but it is one of the more mature platforms today as it feels complete and worth utilizing to make the most of the keyboard, at least with a guest account without registering. The Huntsman V2 TKL boasts a lot of memory for onboard programming and profiles, but comes without much pre-programmed. This does mean you can set it up more or less as you want without using Synapse again, but will need to have the drivers running for any complex programming of both function and form. For someone new to the Razer ecosystem, I came off quite impressed with the feature set. It's not the least expensive by any means, but there is a Razer tax on top of the mainstream retail channel tax, so if you like the features and find it in the layout you can't typically find enthusiast-recommended keyboards, you could do much worse than the Huntsman V2 TKL.