Gaining a competitive edge in fast-paced games comes down to a mix of skill and the gear you’re playing on. We can’t wave a wand to improve your skills in-game. Practice is the answer. But picking the fastest gaming keyboard is one competitive edge you can achieve, and that’s where we can help. Our keyboard buying guide below includes top picks and essential education to help you confidently buy the right model the first time.
Keyboard brands pros use
One way pro gamers get a competitive edge, particularly in FPS shooters, is to use a fast keyboard paired with a fast FPS gaming mouse. Looking at what’s popular with pros can give you a good sense of where to focus when speed is paramount. That’s why we track on site the gear used by popular FPS gaming esports and athletes and streamers.
Valorant, Apex Legends, CS2, and Call of Duty Warzone pros consistently pick a select few gaming keyboard brands as part of their arsenal. SteelSeries, Logitech, Wooting, and Razer keyboards consistently sit atop the charts as the favorite keyboard brands for pros and streamers, as seen in the chart below.
Fastest gaming keyboards
The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL is so good that Valve banned players from using it in Counter-Strike 2. The keyboard’s “Snap Tap” feature that allows for instant tap-strafing will get you kicked from CS2 servers because of how drastically it can improve players’ movement.
The Huntsman V3 Pro can change direction like an elite point guard using its revolutionary Rapid Trigger Mode. Rapid Trigger Mode resets keys instantly with an upward motion as low as 0.1 mm, allowing for crazy-fast repeated keystrokes.
Razer offers the Huntsman V3 Pro in full-size, TKL (80%), and Mini (60%). Each version of the keyboard connects via a detachable USB-C cable, with a 1000 Hz polling rate that’s less than some other keyboards on this list but is still perfectly suitable for competitive gaming.
Customizability is another reason esports pros are flocking to the Huntsman V3 Pro. The keyboard offers customizable actuation from 4.0 mm to as little as 0.1 mm, and preferences can be adjusted and saved directly on the keyboard.
If you want to gain a real competitive advantage with your equipment, the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro is a solid choice. Although Snap Tap can get you kicked in CS2, Valve isn’t handing out account or hardware bans, but we’ll have to wait and see how other developers treat Razer’s game-changing features.
The SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL 2023 Edition continues the company’s lead as one of the most popular gaming keyboards among pro players. That’s due in part to the fast 0.54 ms response time.
On paper, 0.54 ms isn’t the lowest latency when talking about the fastest models. But measuring a gaming keyboard’s speed doesn’t always come down to latency. The actuation point matters too. The less distance your finger needs to travel to register a keypress, the lower the physical latency.
The SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL 2023 Edition’s actuation point can be customized to a hyper-sensitive 0.2 mm, or be adjusted as high as 3.8 mm. Importantly, your primary keys can be customized separately, giving you endless versatility.
With its OmniPoint 2.0 switches in the 2023 edition, SteelSeries shaved 0.2 mm off its previous generation OmniPoint switches, which were already among the shortest travel switches available.
While this gaming keyboard comes in a wireless version, we recommend going with the wired version if every millisecond counts, plus you’ll save some money.
While the on-paper response times of 2 ms wired and up to 13 ms wireless can be beaten, that doesn’t tell the whole story about how fast this gaming keyboard is.
Just like the SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL 2023 Edition, this keyboard offers per-key customizable actuation ranging from 0.2 mm to 3.8 mm. This way, you’ll be able to fire off keypresses on the lowest actuation point settings.
This gaming keyboard also offers a unique feature where you can program two different actions for a single key. For example, you could program a Walk action for a light key press and a Run action when pressing the key further.
The SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless also has versatility when it comes to connectivity. You can wirelessly run the keyboard via a dongle or Bluetooth or connect the USB-C cable. Of course, your latency will vary based on the chosen connectivity option, but this versatility isn’t offered with many models on the market.
On the downside, though, there is no USB passthrough for your peripherals. The 60% form factor means this gaming keyboard is only best used for gaming, so you’ll likely need another keyboard for productivity and everyday needs.
The Corsair K70 Pro Mini Wireless is gaining traction among enthusiasts for its customizability and versatility. Corsair offers the K70 in full-size, TKL, and Mini configurations, but the Pro Mini (60%) is the only version with wireless compatibility.
The K70 Pro Mini Wireless can be customized with hot-swappable switches and keycaps, as well as endless combinations of RGB through the Corsair iCUE app. Furthermore, the K70 Pro Mini Wireless can be fully personalized on the Corsair website, where players can choose their base, accent color, keycap color, and keyswitches.
Low latency connections make the K70 Pro Mini one of the faster options out there. The K70 Pro Mini boasts an impressive 2000 Hz wireless polling rate that soars to 8000 Hz if you connect the included USB-C charging cable.
The Corsair K70 Mini Wireless is a fantastic 60% alternative if the Wooting 60HE+ feels too expensive, or if the SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini doesn’t offer enough personalization for your taste.
Test out a number of gaming keyboards, and many begin to feel the same. But that’s not the case here. The Wooting 60HE+ instantly stands out once you get your hands on it.
The Wooting 60HE+ offers customizable per-key actuation in a range of 0.4 mm to 4.0 mm, just like select SteelSeries keyboards. You’ll achieve hyper-fast performance when reducing your key actuation on the keys that matter most for speed.
But Wooting’s Rapid Trigger technology shook up the industry and makes this one of the fastest 60% options with repeated keypress cycles. With Rapid Trigger, the actuation point dynamically resets after each keypress. This reduces the distance the key needs to travel for rapid key presses in succession.
Wooting also offers a great cloud-based software experience that works well across Windows and Mac operating systems, and the program doesn’t take up space on your hard drive.
As with any 60% keyboard though, this compact form factor means you’ll likely need a dual keyboard setup to handle both your gaming and productivity needs.
Note, Wooting produces this gaming keyboard in batches, which can lead to limited availability and longer wait times than when hopping online or driving to your nearest electronics retailer to buy a keyboard.
The Pro series of peripherals from Logitech, including the G Pro X 2 Superlight mouse and G Pro X 2 headset, has become synonymous with quality and excellence in esports. Tons of pros, sponsored and not, trust Logitech’s Pro line with the biggest moments of their careers.
Logitech offers the G Pro X TKL in three colors, pink, black, and white. Customers can also choose Clicky, Tactile, or Linear switches, depending on their preference.
The G Pro X TKL can connect via Bluetooth, LIGHTSPEED Wireless, or wired with the included USB-C charging cable. All of the G Pro X TKL’s connectivity options feature a 1000 Hz polling rate.
The G Pro X TKL is blazing-fast for a wireless keyboard, with 1ms response times and an actuation distance of only around 1.9 mm. However, the G Pro X TKL doesn’t offer customizable actuation distance, unlike some other competitors in the price range.
The Logitech G HUB companion app can be used to customize the G Pro X TKL’s keybinds, RGB lighting, and more. Logitech also includes a quality carrying case with the G Pro X TKL, something you won’t see offered by many other keyboards.
Essential buying tips
Wired vs. wireless
There can be a difference in response times depending on whether you play on a wired or wireless gaming keyboard. In almost all scenarios, a wired gaming keyboard will have a response time edge against the same wireless gaming keyboard.
For example, the Apex Pro Mini Wireless has a response time of 2.0 ms when wired, 3.4 ms when using the dongle receiver, and 13.0 ms over Bluetooth, according to Rting’s review. That said, we’re measuring in milliseconds here, and most gamers won’t notice the difference, particularly when internet latency is also a factor.
Size
You’ll want to determine if the keyboard you’re buying will be dedicated to just gaming or the single keyboard used for your day-to-day needs. Tenkeyless (TKL) and 60% (compact or mini) gaming keyboards are solid options if you are dedicating the keyboard to just gaming. A TKL keyboard doesn’t include a Numpad that a full-size keyboard includes.
TKL keyboards also retain the function row and separate arrow keys but typically don’t include much for media controls. 60% keyboards ditch the function row and arrow keys for a compact experience that only gamers will find useful. Full-size gaming keyboards offer much more versatility for setups where you’ll use the keyboard for more than gaming. This gaming keyboard size also tends to offer robust media controls.
Custom key actuation
The Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL, SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL, SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless, and Wooting 60HE all offer customizable actuation. This means that the user can define the actuation point where a keypress is triggered. Not only can the actuation point be adjusted, but you can also customize the actuation point for specific keys.
The lowest actuation point possible for all of these keyboards is hyper-sensitive and takes some getting used to. If you breathe too heavily or a slight wind passes by outside, it feels like a key press will be registered. But customizing your key actuation points to varying sensitivity levels is highly valuable, particularly in fast-paced FPS titles. More than anything, though, the lowest actuation levels offered are more of a marketing statement for gaming keyboard companies to say they were the first to offer bleeding-edge technologies.
USB passthrough and port options
Many gaming keyboards offer passthrough features, such as USB connectivity and audio ports. This allows you to connect additional peripherals to your gaming keyboard without taking up a slot on your gaming PC. While additional passthrough capabilities may not be make or break for many gamers, we think it’s good to have the option of more ports on your setup.
Polling rate
The polling rate determines the frequency that your gaming keyboard transmits information to your computer. A keyboard with a 1000 Hz polling rate looks for information to transmit (such as a keypress actuation) 1000 times per second. The fastest gaming keyboards will offer at least 1000 Hz polling rates.
Beyond that, most gamers aren’t going to notice a difference. Gaming keyboard brands will typically market their keyboards as being the fastest since they offer far higher polling rates. On paper, that may be true, but a number of factors determine how fast a gaming keyboard is, including your internet latency, key actuation points, and more.
