Razer just revealed a new feature coming exclusively to its Hunstman optical gaming keyboards, and it’s set to change competitive first-person shooter gameplay forever. Snap Tap allows overlapping activation of the A and D keys, meaning you no longer need to depress and activate new inputs to achieve the perfect strafing movement.
As great as this new feature seems on paper, its implementation is limited, as Razer confirmed it’s only coming to the Huntsman V3 Pro keyboards via a firmware update. Granted, these are among the best gaming keyboards on the market right now, as I recently found in my Razer Huntsman V3 Pro review.
I also had the chance to try out Snap Tap ahead of time, and it’s every bit as useful as it sounds – it’s already changing how I play games like Counter-Strike 2. The idea that you can be holding either the A or D key to strafe, and then override your input simply by activating the other key is brilliant. I liken it to hammer-ons and pull-offs when playing a guitar, which is exactly how it feels in action.
As an example, I can hold A to strafe left in CS2, and rather than depressing this key, I can instead hit D, keeping A activated, and I will start strafing to the right in-game. When I lift my finger off the D key, I immediately begin strafing left again as the A input is resumed.
Training your hands and brain not to depress these keys takes time, but once I nailed the execution of Snap Tap, it felt very natural. This also isn’t a per-game feature, so it can be used in any game you want, such as PUBG, Valorant, or Warzone 2.
Counter-strafing is a huge movement mechanic in competitive shooters like CS2 and Valorant, so Snap Tap targets this movement and makes it smoother and easier for anyone with access to a Huntsman V3 keyboard. Razer acknowledges that the time saved with Snap Tap is limited to milliseconds, but in competitive esports, such timings can be the difference between a clutch-round win and taking the loss.
This is huge for gaming keyboards, but it will likely take a while for Snap Tap to catch on as a feature given its currently limited compatibility. Crucially, despite being live right now thanks to the latest firmware update for the Hunstman V3 keyboards, Snap Tap won’t currently work while Razer Synapse is running on your PC. You’ll need to close Synapse and enable Snap Tap using the keyboard shortcut FN + Left Shift. We have spoken to Razer about this issue, and the company expects it to be fixed in the coming days.
This is a huge step forward for gaming keyboards and we can’t wait to see what comes next. You can also check out the best gaming headsets and best gaming mice to see which products and features you need to stay ahead of the competition.