Lol. I think I’m going to put my Bobas in my HMKB 75 when it arrives to soften that steel plate. It’s o-ring mounted, but I doubt that will matter at all.
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Lol. This is pretty much me, except light tactiles in plastic plates. I dug out my Zealios V1s and have been enjoying them quite a bit.
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Going to bump this because I was trying to think about my list today. Of course, this is an ever-changing assessment that I’ll one day look back on and scoff. Also, I mostly prefer linear switches, so that section gets biased attention. Deal with it 
LINEAR
Epsilon (205g0 and films)
- Some of the smoothest and best sounding switches I’ve ever tried. The slightly longer stem against the nylon housing is perfection. Thud thud thud.
Durock POM - Piano black (205g0 and filmed)
- Very similar to the Epsilon. If epsilon gets a 10/10 these are a 9/10
TTC Wild (205g0)
- Uniquely stable stems. Very smooth even at off-center press. More clacky than others on the list, even when lubed.
Gateron KS-3 Nylon (205g0 and filmed)
- Capable of best in class sound, but more texture than other switches. These are keyboard dependent, in my opinion. They can sound thocky and smooth OR scratchy and dead, depending on the mount and accoustics of the board.
The Similar Gang
- Most JWKs with lube and films go here. Lavenders, Moss, Snow White, Alpacs, etc… I will lump in Tangerines and Gateron Inks as well. All of these switches are all very smooth and decent sounding with films added (especially the nylon variety). I tend to experiement with springs in these switches since otherwise I find them all very similar.
Honorable Mentions
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KTT Strawberry are very smooth, but damned if their housings aren’t a son of a bitch to open. I think they would sound good lubed, but I don’t have the will to open them. -
Gazzew LT. I wish they had a bit less wobble, but I like their extended stem and the housings don’t need films.
TACTILE
Boba U4T
- Definitively tactile without being harsh. Sound great, smooth stock, don’t need any modifications.
Orange Alps
- Intuitite tactility. What do I mean by that? Not overly strong, not just a grain of sand in the middle. It’s what you imagine tactile to be. Not as smooth as MX tactiles.
Taro Ball (lightly lubed with films)
- Medium tactile and fairly smooth. If someone could make this switch with tighter top housings and zero leaf noise, I’d buy 1000 or so.
Lilac Tactile (filmed)
- Similar in feel to Taro ball, with a slightly smaller bump. These are particularly terrific with thick caps like SA and ABS MT3.
Clicky
Pine White Alps
- Nice short tactile bump with a crisp click. Not heavy, not light. Perfect. I truly like these better than Blue Alps.
Kailh Box Pink
- Better sounding than their brother, the Box White. Slightly more tactile as well. I like these because of the medium-heavy spring weight and lower pitch.
Silent
Kailh Deep Sea
- Unique dampening method achieves a quiet switch that still has positive feedback on bottoming out. Does not feel mushy. No squeaks or rattles or stickyness.
MX Zilent (205g0 and filmed)
- Cherry silent stem in a PC Gateron housing. These take so much money and time to make, I don’t know if I can recommend. But if you have the time and parts, it’s a very nice silent switch. Much more wobble than the Deep Sea switch.
Other switches that I respect but didn't make the list
- Cherry Clear stock - A nice, heavy switch with a big bump. It’s rough and bumpy like driving down a dirt road.
- Cherry Black - With lube and films, these do everything at a 8/10. If you are working with a plate that has tight switch cutouts that other switches aren’t snapping into properly, these are a must-have.
- Novelkeys Cream - Especially fond of the newer, blue creams. Smooth and thocky.
- Gateron FEI switches - Something about this switch is different for other varieties. Maybe my sets were from fresh molds, but they are decidely smoother than other Gaterons of this style.
The ones I just can't use
- Zealio V2, Zykos, Box Jade, Box Navy, Gateron silent, Dragonfruit, Speed ANYTHING, Silent Sky, Tacit switches, Zilents V1. I can’t use these switches. I’ve tried time and time again, but I don’t understand how they get attention.
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Troof. Reminds me of an r/mk meme I saw years ago; the small-brain → enlightenment format:
- Smol brane: MX Blue good, crunch crunch satisfy
- Smort brane: MX brown good, best of bof worls
- Bigg brane: Holy Pandas good, clakk clakk maximum feels
- Enlightenment: [ lubed linear gang ]
I scoffed with a chuckle when I first saw it, thinking I understood and had already chosen my path.
lol nope there are many
Scroll up and you’ll see me simping for Holy Bobas - no love lost for that beautiful revolution - but damn if my whole keeb worldview didn’t change after I spent some time with a well-balanced set of linears.
So - as of FEB RUE AIRY first 2022, my list looks a bit different than it did in the past:
Linear:
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TTC ACE: Smooth and stable as heck. The exceptional thing about this switch is that nothing about it sucks. Many of my favorites are “awesome, but…” - not this one. It’s just good to go.
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TTC Wild: Beautifully stable like the ACE, but trades a little slickness for a more resounding, sharp clack and a bit of texture.
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Durock Cobalt: The spring needs some love, but that’s about it. Smooth, crisp, and possessing a percussive element few other switches can match; deep clax.
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Boba LT: When I’m in the mood for some short-travel clacky business, it’s either these or Creamy Inks - and in [ current year ] where you can get the former more easily and for significantly less currency, well - the choice is clear.
Tactile:
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TTC Matrix Tactile: Can you see a theme emerging? TTC’s shrouded-stem switches are the tits and this one is no exception. The all-Nylon housing imparts plenty of texture to the feel, which I find quite pleasant in context of the exceptional stability and well-balanced tactile bump. Slap!
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Tecsee dk Saru: I didn’t expect to like these as much as I did, but I do. JWK medium-stronk long-pole tactile with some very snappy clack action. Switches like this make nearly-redundant many of my favorite tactile frankens, and that’s a good thing.
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Lilac Tactile: Might be my favorite T1 variant; needs tuning for full potential like most JWKs, but dang are they off to a good start right from the bag and that color…
Clicky:
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Speed Gravy: Kind of a joke, but also really not. Speed Navy click-bar paired with Speed Bronze spring (stems are the same). Has the tactile strength of something like a BOX Jade while adding a gradient to the otherwise sheer-cliff drop-off. Also - hey, click-bars sans sketchy stems.
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BOX White: For me, a fantastic balance of click-bar-to-spring ratio, and were it not for the slightly but inescapably flawed BOX stems, would easily be my favorite clicky switch so far. In my experience, all of the BOX switches suffer from some degree of inconsistent resting position, twist, and slightly-too-thicc stems. (Nevermind the now dwindling shadow of “stem-breaker” first-run BOX switches…) This means I’m not likely to ever mount these on anything but a utilitarian build, but in that context these switches facilitate fast and accurate typing for me like no other so far.
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SwitchMaster Blue: Decidedly sounds and feels like butt in context of my current sensibilities - but I have to show respect to my gateway into the world of keyboards that don’t suck. Everyone’s first is special, in its own way.
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Yeah, it’s best to go with light lubing on Durock Medium Tactile variants like the Taro Ball, in my experience. Even using 3203. Light-lubing (and sometimes films) are what they need.
Taro Ball is a good DMT variant, but I think the 65 G springs are overpowered for the 1U keys. 63.5 G Durock springs are a good weight for the lighter keys.
The Lilacs and other quasi-T1 switches like SP Star Purple are impressive stock. I also found them to be good with large keycaps such as MT3.
@Deadeye I vaguely remember there being a GB for TTC Matrix, but didn’t pay it much attention. Checking Youtube now, they sound great, even stock. Are they a heavy tactile or a medium? E.g. could you tell us how they compare to T1?
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In terms of what’s out there these days, I’d say they’re a medium. (In 2016 I’d have called them heavy.) The closest thing I have to a vanilla T1 readily accessible is a Kiwi, and it terms of tactility I’d put them adjacent on the shelf. They are similar indeed, but in direct comparison:
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The Kiwi: has a slightly more firm bump, a deeper sound, and more metallic character
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The Matrix Tactile: feels more stable, has a more flat spring-curve; stronger rebound, slightly shorter bump
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Haha, puts me in a hard position. There are Canadian extras available now. Tempting to pick up.
But while I find T1 fun to type on, I prefer lighter tactiles. So it might be the same with this Matrix Tactile. Sounds like a good design, though. Maybe one with a Brown-sized bump and spring would be more to my liking.
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If you have the patience, oiled Gold Brown V3s are quite lovely, despite how cheap they sound and feel stock.
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That is good to know. I had [maybe still do] 4 Gold Brown V3 samples, but I wasn’t impressed with them in stock form.
Maybe TTC needs to do more to bring out the potential in their switches!
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I’d say this is true of their “mainline” switches with [ color ] names, except maybe the Bluish White - I wouldn’t change that one aside from the additional full-silent version they’ll be releasing soon - and the Matrix Tactile is basically a non-silent Nylon version of the same. Their newer designs (at least new to me here in the US, comparative to the basic [ color ] ones) starting with the Bluish Whites and including the Matrices, Wilds, and Aces have all been pretty awesome stock as far as I’m concerned.
At this point I think they know how to make a great switch, and I’m interested to see what they do with that knowledge moving forward. Designs like the Gold Brown V3 have potential - if they can make a version of those with factory lube as competent as the Aces, I think they’d have a killer light tactile on their hands.
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You know, I was going to ask about the Matrix-01 vs the Bluish White, and now you’ve confirmed it.
Not sure I’m ready for a full board of Bluish-White style switches, but yes, it is an interesting and satisfying switch. A nylon Bluish White was a great idea.
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In general I like non Cherry-like switches (Topre, Alps and buckling spring) for typing and work. I like cherry- like switches for gaming.
Still at that point where I’ll like anything and everything unless it’s cherry brown… My topres are nice though.
The TTC Matrix tactile isn’t lighter than a T1 for sure, but it has such a unique feel. It’s so snappy, and it feels like popping bubble wrap. It somehow avoids feeling sharp however. The bump it still nice and round.
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Good description. I went back to testing my TTC Bluish White, and they do fit these characteristics.
It’s a poppy switch, very authoritative, but not excessively tactile or heavy. Very poppy or snappy, as you say. Yet it’s a gentle bump, so it’s more rounded than you’d expect.
I don’t think I’d want to type sustained on these, they’re not very easygoing compared to Browns, but again, a lighter + less-tactile version of this design could still be fun.
Interestingly, the Huano Banana switches still remind me of TTC Bluish White. Banana are like a mini-Panda, but what really characterizes them are their snappiness, and still being rounder/more Cherry-like bump than you’d expect. A very snappy Ergo Clear.
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I used MX Browns for a few years (my first MX based mechanical switch), but after buying a board with MX Blacks, the Brows just felt like gritty linears to me and I couldn’t use them anymore. I’m sure this has to do with my typing style where I typically bottom out – at full speed, I just blow past the Brown’s bump.
I tried some Zealios in a build in 2017 trying to hop on the ergo clear train, but at full speed they felt crunchy to me (I don’t like the bump in the middle of the press apparently).
It wasn’t until the HP clone-like switches came in did I start to enjoy tactiles though I do prefer a medium level of tactility. Right now I’m enjoying the T1 variants (Lilac, Kiwi, Shrimp/Silent), TTC Matrix-01, and the SP Star Magic Girl switches.
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Have you ever had an issue with RSI in your fingertips bottoming out so hard? In college on a thinkpad, I remember sometimes being unable to type normally just because they hurt so bad, but it was only ever on that laptop and not my MX Clears.
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I agree - if you are used to a punchy typing style, then MX Browns / Clears will just feel like gritty linears.
TTC Bluish White then becomes a preferable alternative - a snappy and responsive switch that actually has a distinct, clear tactility.
Those medium-tactiles you mentioned are all good switches. If I were transitioning directly from 60 G rubber-domes, those T1, Matrix-01, SP Star Purple would be great.
Browns are their own thing. You have to get used to them, and then you realize you can do with minimal tactile bump. Problem is Browns aren’t implemented great today - they’re gritty. Hence the search for smoother yet crisp or distinctive Browns, like Pewter/Cotton Candy, Meteor Orange, KTT Mallo. They’re getting there. Someone just has to mfg. an MX Brown or lighter, properly.
MX Clears [and later Browns] were meant to be ergonomic in exactly the way @cam.machi is describing. Minimal strain on joints, low force requirement. MX Clears were still a little too heavy for some, so MX Brown was developed as a lighter version. The placement of the Cherry tactile bump and long stroke can lead to a very low-impact typing style. But it’s not punchy and authoritative like some might prefer, and not implemented smoothly enough in Cherry manufacturing.
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I don’t know about people getting RSI from trying to finger punch the keys, but I know that if you type that way all day it can lead to some pretty sore finger tips. I don’t really bottom out, but if I continuously try to bottom out my finger tips will get really sore.
It’s interesting that many people describe a switch as being “mushy” as a negative characteristic but if you are a typist that slams your fingers all the down to the bottom of the switch, it could take time to get used to it to where it doesn’t hurt if it leaves your fingertips sore. One of the reasons why bluish white is one of my favorite switch is because on rare occasion when I do bottom out it doesn’t feel harsh on my fingertips since it has a silicon dampener at the bottom. In addition to that, the bump is prominent enough that you know it’s there but not so small that it just feels like a gritty linear.
So far my favorite has been TTC Gold Brown V3s, but only after pretty generous hand-lubing. I used 106 on everything, including the rails IIRC. Stock, they’re rattly, clinky, pingy, and generally underwhelming - but after a good coat of oil, they are really pleasant.
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