I recently bought a Cherry MX switch tester from WASD keyboards. It’s cute in a geeky sort of way and makes for a decent conversation piece:
I don’t actually leave it parked beside my mouse.
Its purpose is to let you try different types of mechanical keyboard switches without spending $1000 on six full-size mechanical keyboards. It also came with cute little o-rings that can be inserted to dampen the sound. The blue switch on the far right, for example, makes a very loud CLACK when you bottom out the key and I hit keys like someone trying to ring the bell on a strongman machine at the fairground, so this is important to me.
But after clicking and CLACKing I am still uncertain which one I like best. The blues actually feel nice to me and the noise isn’t really an issue since I’m just typing all by my lonesome here. The browns I find unsatisfying. They lack the satisfying CLACK of blues and feel like an inadequate compromise between the blues’ firmness and noise level.
The reds have very little CLACK and are fairly quiet as a result. The action is smoother than the browns, so they seem like a good choice if I decide noise is important after all. Possible drawback: accidental actuation if my fingers go rogue, since they require less force (especially compared to the blacks as noted below).
Blacks feel like firmer reds, with little difference in noise.
Clears feel firm but have less CLACK. Sort of a kinder, gentler blue, even if they require about the same force to actuate.
Finally, greens are, according to WASD’s mechanical keyboard guide, “almost identical to the Blue switches, but have a harder spring for a much higher actuation force.” This does not strike me as a good thing.
Reading over the above, I can rule out:
- brown switches (unsatisfying compromise)
- green switches (blues have the same CLACK but don’t require as much force)
- clear switches (very similar to the greens)
- black switches (no CLACK and requires a lot of force)
Of the remaining two:
- blues have great CLACK and moderate actuation force
- reds have no CLACK but require less force than blues
So it really comes down to CLACK or no CLACK. I am leaning toward CLACK.
I may bring out my DAS blue switch keyboard again to remind myself what blues are like. The eventual new keyboard will be an 87-key model, meaning it will not include the numeric keypad (which the Das and my current Logitech keyboards have). Smaller keyboards are more ergonomic and I don’t really use the numeric keypad that often (and can always get a separate one if I really missed it).
WASD lets you choose both the design and color of the keycaps. I’m still experimenting with the trillions of combinations but I’m liking this distinguished black and gray variation I came up with that uses a centered layout for the lettering:
I shall decide soon™.
