There are so many 60% mechanical keyboards to choose from in the market when you would like to have one to save desk space when gaming and working. In this article, we will compare the Royal Kludge RK61 with Razer Huntsman Mini. Is the Razer Huntsman Mini worth the money that you're spending or should you just go for a budget of RK61? Let's find out.
Design and Build Quality
The design of the Razer Huntsman Mini has an interesting low-profile case with these contours on the bottom. It is made with textured plastic so it is grippy when you hold onto it. You have a very subtle razer logo at the front and Razer's slogan all embossed at the bottom which is kind of cool.
We have 4 square rubber feet on the bottom and the dual angle kickstand feet. You can either have a 6-degree angle or a 9-degree angle with soft-touch plastic on the edges for traction. They're nice and snappy with little to no wobble which is good. On the back side, we have your recessed the usb-c port that can easily fit any of your cables.
As for the RK61, it has a basic high-profile case made of smooth matte plastic. It does have a nice glossy trim on the edge and the logo is only seen at the front of the case. On the bottom, you have your four large rubber feet and a power switch in the middle since it is a Bluetooth keyboard. And we have the recessed USB-c port on the back as well.
For the keycaps, both are double-shot PBT OEM profile keycaps with an led window. Razer's translucent mold has a more natural color while the RK61 has a yellowish color. Razer's keycaps have a cooler color temperature because it is a mercury white color tone while the rk61 has a more neutral white. Surprisingly, Razer uses thickened keycaps and they're more textured so that you can see and feel the difference. This means a more satisfying thought when bottoming out and an overall deeper typing tone.
For the interior, both keyboards have a painted aluminum plate as their base. The RK61 uses cherry-style stabilizers while Razer uses its own branded stabilizers that are just a tad more rattly than the RK61.
For the switches, the Huntsman uses Razer's optical switches, a laser-based switch with a stabilizing bar. The clicky switch needs 45 grams of actuation force at a distance of 1.5 millimeters while linear switches need 40 grams of actuation force at a 1-millimeter distance. So speed is clear. Their main priority they're also rated for 100 million keystrokes which is twice the amount of your average mechanical switch. The RK61, on the other hand, used to use Kailh switches but now uses its own RK switches.
The RK brown switches however do have an actuation force of 60 grams so I assume the switches are just a heavier version of Kailh switches.
Typing Experience
The typing experience on the Razer Huntsman Mini is just sad. As I mentioned before, Razer's proprietary laser switches all have a stabilizing bar so that means extra rattle with this keyboard. Not only that you're also getting a lot of ping after every single key press and it's just crazy. But this is coming from someone who lubes their switches and stabilizers the most optimal typing sound.
The RK61 on the other hand uses traditional mechanical switches and the only rattle that you will hear is coming from the space bar and the modifier keys. But even then, you can't really hear it that much.
The typing experience is also pretty similar to the Razer Huntsman Mini and there's also a little bit of ping but if the ping on the razer huntsman mini was at 100 this would be at like a level 10 or a level 20. I did also come across a very annoying space bar that didn't have a consistent sound all the way through. But regarding the overall typing experience, the RK61 definitely wins in my books and I don't care if Razer has twice the keystroke lifespan of your average mechanical switch. I am not typing with all that extra noise.
Lighting
Both these keyboards do have RGB lighting which is great but one is definitely better than the other. The Huntsman Mini has really bright PCB-mounted LEDs but it has a diffuser at the top of the switch for better light production.
The RK61 however, only has regular PCB-mounted LEDs and has to shine all the way to the top of the keycap and that's why Razer's keyboards always look so good and bright with their LEDs even under bright lights.
Both keyboards have onboard profiles for their effects. Razer gives you six effects that you can change immediately but the RK61 allows you to change everything through the board. It has 19 lighting effects eight colors with a rainbow variant for each and five speeds.
Extra Features
The Huntsman Mini requires you to download razer synapse 3.0 to further customize your lighting profiles because it's completely custom and they have way more lighting options available. The RK61 also has the software but it's completely redundant since you can do everything on the board for your extra features.
The Razer Huntsman allows for on-the-fly macro recording without the software and has a ton of extra secondary features that also light up when the function key is pressed. The RK-61 has fewer secondary features but it is a Bluetooth keyboard and can be paired up to three separate devices at once. By holding the function key and either of these three buttons you can pair to a device. Whenever you want to change to another device, you just have to press the function key and the corresponding number to your device and you're good to go. Connectivity is super fast and stable so if you're looking for a cheap reliable mechanical Bluetooth keyboard this is it.
For some reason, the Huntsman Mini comes out of the box as a 6 Keys rollover, and it only becomes the N-key when you connect it to synapse. As For the RK61, whether it's a Bluetooth connection or a wired connection, it's N-Key rollover which is awesome.
Major Differences
As with the Razer keyboard since the function key is right in the middle and the arrow keys have been placed over here, which is very awkward to use. The top arrow isn't directly above the bottom arrow. It's a little slanted to the left just because of how the keys are. It's just a poor implementation of where the arrow keys could have been. This would be an issue if you're gaming with an arrow key a lot.
Conclusion
On paper, the Razer Huntsman Mini seems like the clear winner with a faster switch longer key press lifetime, insane custom RGB effects better quality, keycaps, and comes with braided cable. However, the usability experience shows a different result. The RK61 has a better typing experience thanks to less ping and less rattle. You have better arrow key navigation and complete RGB control without software. You've got Bluetooth connectivity for up to three devices at once and it's 75 dollars cheaper than the Razer Huntsman Mini.