Thanks for the discount, Huey - and thanks @iaman for the heads-up! Quite glad my y u no sell tactile inks gateron? rant is now outdated.
Interesting to see them slap “Ink” on the end and include it in this series while keeping the Kangaroo name. Not that I mind - I’ll take all the animal switches I can get in my little shelf-zoo. I guess this was for some amount of international consistency for people talking about the switch, and the “Ink” part for those markets already accustomed to calling these slick 'Gaters “Inks”.
Reds and Yellows are still sold out, but I sure am looking forward to trying these 'roos.
Snappy and bouncy. There’s a short, crisp bump to break through up-top that gives way to a mild cushion and a lively return. I think I get the Kangaroo name now.
I’ll be back later with thoughts on how they are in a board and compared to some other switches. I’m interested to see what you think of these when you get to them, @pixelpusher.
Very tactile, shortened travel, smooth, some wobble but not excessive, decent sound profile stock.
Quick impression:
Tactility most similar to Zealios V2. Also similar toHoly Panda.
Travel distance feels most similar to Holy panda. Perhaps slightly less?
Bump slightly shorter than Holy Panda.
I’ll type on these for a few days to see, but I think they’re a bit too tactile for me. I’ll give it time.
okay, that’s kinda cool. I atually prefer these in a black ink housing. Ha. Thanks for the recommendation @skepp
They are slightly less tactile and sound even better to me when in a black ink housings. Weird. Don’t know that I’ll convert them all over, but it is a nice mod.
Normally when you put these stems (like the yellow ink) in a regular switch they actuate if you even sneeze on them. But this one has a bump to keep that from happening. The acutaion is exactly in line with the center of the bump. In the stock housing, the actuation comes just at the end of the bump.
It’s kinda like the stock housing is a v2 zealio and the black ink housing is a v1 zealio, at least in terms of tactility.
You should try the Kangaroo stems and spring in a Yok Panda or Drop Invyr housing. They feel really good. They are however very identical to any Holy Pandas but the color looks great! I do love the quick actuation force on these babies for sure.
I have some roos here, just haven’t had a chance to try them in a build or even open one up, but it’s good to hear that they produce interesting results with Panda housings. Just playing with the roos, it seemed like there might be great potential for frankenswitching…
I had issues when I tried in a mint YOK. The stem didn’t return. Same results with another spring as well. Got it to work in a black YOK housing, but it didn’t feel as nice as the stock kangaroo to me.
A quick note as I’m fiddling with these - I think the comparison to HP’s is apt, but they might be even more similar to (lighter & shorter) Holy Bobas, and I think that’s only a good thing.
I’m comparing them side-by-side with some SP SA caps on right now, and I have to say - the direction of change that I appreciated from HP’s to HB’s goes a step further with these - that is, less rattle, more smoothness, more thock-ness.
I’m definitely looking forward to experimenting with the housings, springs, and stems ad-nauseam, but I can tell already that these 'roos belong alongside their Inky brethren when it comes to being genuinely good quality stock switches.
Side thought: the aesthetics of these remind me more of green tea than marsupials.
The Kangaroo stems work well with the Drop Invyr Holy Panda housings especially if you spring swap them. If you only swap the stem, the Frankenstein Switch (Pandaroo) loses a bit of its tactility but if you swap the spring they maintain their tactility.
In this photo I only swapped the Kangaroo stems with the Drop Invyr HP stems. I also put the HP stem in the Kangaroo Ink Housing. If you have put a Halo True stem in a Gat Ink housing before this is nothing new and is identical to a Holy Panda.
Overall, they are definitely great stock switches but I am looking forward to lubing and filming these bad boys.
I’m confused here: is there a difference between the regular kangaroo’s and the ink kangaroo’s found on novelkeys or is it the exact same thing with just the naming redone to fit the gateron ink naming?
this is interesting