The Razer Huntsman Mini looks like a real keyboard had a little baby. Aww. I genuinely think the Huntsman Mini is one of the cutest gaming keyboards known to mankind, and I really seem to have a thing for tiny mechanical boards. The only problem, however, is that 60% of the keyboards aren't practical for full-time use.

The Huntsman Mini, as the name implies, is a much smaller full-scale version of the Razer Huntsman keyboard; at 60% size, the numeric keypad is gone, the arrow keys and various control keys are gone, as are the function keys. Many attractive mechanical switches were sacrificed to achieve this smaller size, but if you are a pure gamer, you will most likely not miss them.

Also, if you are purely gaming, a 60% keyboard makes a lot of sense from an ergonomic standpoint. Especially for right-handed gamers, it allows the mouse to be closer to the WSAD hand, which is comfortable for longer sessions.

The right side of a standard full-size board has no keypad or other controls. And if you only have a desktop of that size to set up at home, you will appreciate the space savings that a slim gaming keyboard brings.

You will also appreciate the speed of the Razer Opto-Mechanical switches. I am testing with purple clicky switches, but Razer also offers linear red optical switches. These are light-activated, unlike the Cherry MX and Cherry MX-a-like switches used by most gaming keyboards.

Optical switches have a beam of light inside, and when pressed, the light passes through a stem, telling the system that a key has been pressed. This switch requires less force and operates faster than a typical mechanical switch. With no debounce time and full N-key rollover, the Huntsman Mini's button mashing and face rolling are not only possible, but actively recommended.

In fact, it should not. Clicky switches are loud and spiky when you get down on the board.

I think Razer misses the trick a bit in that they use optical switches purely for actuation, when they could create analog keys on the board like the Wooting gaming keyboard. However, the Opto-Mechanical Razer switches are fast, responsive, and long-lasting.

Not to mention the RGB lighting available for each switch, I also wanted to get the Mercury/White version for testing.

But for me, the Razer Huntsman Mini is not practical as a full time board. While the typing experience is great, albeit a little tickly with the purple switches, the muscle memory is killer and I keep reaching for keys that aren't there. Unlike Jacob, I'm not an alt code expert, but I do need the arrow keys for occasional writing. Especially when the alternate functions can be set as defaults, as on the Logitech board, where they can be hidden under the F key. But with these 60 percent boards, if I need such digital gymnastics to access them, I just end up not using them.

But as a second board... Well, they might be just fine for me.

I love luxury, and having a $120 gaming keyboard as a secondary slab definitely does. $120 and fewer keys. No wrist rest. Yikes. But even so, realistically, one cannot run with a Huntsman Mini all the time.