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Long-term Kailh Box Navy experiences?

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 10:16
by wilcoholic88
I was wondering if there were any users that have long-term experience with the box navy switches and if they were willing to share their persectives. Has the hype died down a bit or are they really legitimate like the tried-and-true alps and IBM switches?

I haven't really seen it crop up in endgame boards that much and it doesn't appear to be that promising anymore (chyrosran22 actually said in his review that they were too heavy for him).

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 10:23
by clickboyclick
idk man but they look cool. Do you own any?

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 13:08
by codemonkeymike
Ive been using Box Jades for about 2 weeks now, they are fine for long term typing but terrible for gaming. I wouldn't say they are the second coming of jesus but it's more like a slightly improved Matias Clicky

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 13:23
by Chyros
codemonkeymike wrote: Ive been using Box Jades for about 2 weeks now, they are fine for long term typing but terrible for gaming. I wouldn't say they are the second coming of jesus but it's more like a slightly improved Matias Clicky
I found that extreme tactility is not usually a good thing for gaming keyboards. I already had difficulty playing Mortal Kombat on a Model M Oo .

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 19:24
by Bass
I used a board with Box Navies as a daily driver for two weeks. Like many others, my conclusion was that the extreme tactility made for a fun and satisfying typing experience but they are too stiff to be really practical for me. I touch type so a common problem that I had was occasionally missing letters that I'd type with my pinky, in particular the 'a' key. And like others have said, the extreme tactility of both is not ideal for gaming, although I don't think anyone who is interested in these switches would ever consider them for a gaming keyboard anyway when there are now several good options for that out there.

For these reasons I am still patiently waiting for Novelkeys to make a medium-weighted, medium tactile Box switch.

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 22:37
by Dingster
Chyros wrote:
codemonkeymike wrote: Ive been using Box Jades for about 2 weeks now, they are fine for long term typing but terrible for gaming. I wouldn't say they are the second coming of jesus but it's more like a slightly improved Matias Clicky
I found that extreme tactility is not usually a good thing for gaming keyboards. I already had difficulty playing Mortal Kombat on a Model M Oo .
I dont really think a keyboard affects playing games that much, but the only game I play with my model m is dark souls so take that with a grain of salt :lol:

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 22:51
by Laser
Bass wrote: For these reasons I am still patiently waiting for Novelkeys to make a medium-weighted, medium tactile Box switch.
Unless you happened to like MX Browns in the past - then you have the "burnt orange box" switches which have also similar (i.e. reduced) tactility (but not similar behaviour/feeling). I'm in the process of building a Deltasplit75 with them (waiting only for the plates, ordered them today at the newly opened laserboost service).

Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 23:46
by Chyros
Laser wrote:
Bass wrote: For these reasons I am still patiently waiting for Novelkeys to make a medium-weighted, medium tactile Box switch.
Unless you happened to like MX Browns in the past - then you have the "burnt orange box" switches which have also similar (i.e. reduced) tactility (but not similar behaviour/feeling). I'm in the process of building a Deltasplit75 with them (waiting only for the plates, ordered them today at the newly opened laserboost service).
Ah man, those orange ones have virtually no tactility at all xD .

Posted: 18 Jun 2018, 00:09
by Bass
Dingster wrote:
Chyros wrote:
codemonkeymike wrote: Ive been using Box Jades for about 2 weeks now, they are fine for long term typing but terrible for gaming. I wouldn't say they are the second coming of jesus but it's more like a slightly improved Matias Clicky
I found that extreme tactility is not usually a good thing for gaming keyboards. I already had difficulty playing Mortal Kombat on a Model M Oo .
I dont really think a keyboard affects playing games that much, but the only game I play with my model m is dark souls so take that with a grain of salt :lol:
You play Dark Souls on a keyboard :shock: ? I'm not the type of guy who always prefers to play with a controller, but I remember that game being a particularly bad example of how to port to PC, especially in terms of the keyboard controls.
Chyros wrote:
Laser wrote:
Bass wrote: For these reasons I am still patiently waiting for Novelkeys to make a medium-weighted, medium tactile Box switch.
Unless you happened to like MX Browns in the past - then you have the "burnt orange box" switches which have also similar (i.e. reduced) tactility (but not similar behaviour/feeling). I'm in the process of building a Deltasplit75 with them (waiting only for the plates, ordered them today at the newly opened laserboost service).
Ah man, those orange ones have virtually no tactility at all xD .
Yep. And I am also much more interested in clicky switches over tactile switches in general. I also tried Box Whites and I thought the weighting on those was perfect, and the sound was fairly pleasant. If they were just a bit more tactile, I'd be super stoked to do a custom build with them.

Posted: 18 Jun 2018, 00:11
by Laser
Chyros wrote:
Laser wrote:
Bass wrote: For these reasons I am still patiently waiting for Novelkeys to make a medium-weighted, medium tactile Box switch.
Unless you happened to like MX Browns in the past - then you have the "burnt orange box" switches which have also similar (i.e. reduced) tactility (but not similar behaviour/feeling). I'm in the process of building a Deltasplit75 with them (waiting only for the plates, ordered them today at the newly opened laserboost service).
Ah man, those orange ones have virtually no tactility at all xD .
Good, good :P

Posted: 18 Jun 2018, 05:38
by Darkshado
Bass wrote: Yep. And I am also much more interested in clicky switches over tactile switches in general. I also tried Box Whites and I thought the weighting on those was perfect, and the sound was fairly pleasant. If they were just a bit more tactile, I'd be super stoked to do a custom build with them.
Then you sir are looking for the Kailh BOX Jade! Same spring as the BOX White, with the same click bar as the BOX Navy.

Chyros' review of the BOX Navy also talks about the Jade towards the end

Posted: 18 Jun 2018, 10:17
by Bass
Darkshado wrote:
Bass wrote: Yep. And I am also much more interested in clicky switches over tactile switches in general. I also tried Box Whites and I thought the weighting on those was perfect, and the sound was fairly pleasant. If they were just a bit more tactile, I'd be super stoked to do a custom build with them.
Then you sir are looking for the Kailh BOX Jade! Same spring as the BOX White, with the same click bar as the BOX Navy.

Chyros' review of the BOX Navy also talks about the Jade towards the end
I have also tried Box Jades although admittedly not in a full board. I think I would prefer something with tactility between Jades and Whites.

Posted: 18 Jun 2018, 10:40
by Chyros
Bass wrote: I have also tried Box Jades although admittedly not in a full board. I think I would prefer something with tactility between Jades and Whites.
Yes, I would say that as well. The click bar thing is a really promising thing, but it's not quite there yet, I'd say. Ideally you'd have a light spring and a medium-stiff click bar, I'd say. The Navies are cool switches, but fuck me blind, they're quite stiff. Great for those who love to hammer their keyboards, but very tiring for those who don't.

Posted: 18 Jun 2018, 10:54
by andrewjoy
Dingster wrote: I dont really think a keyboard affects playing games that much, but the only game I play with my model m is dark souls so take that with a grain of salt :lol:
Someone hides behind a great shield :P

Its sure possible to play on keyboard at least for 2 and 3 , 1 would be hard.

But i play darksouls in light armour and with a longsword ( or dual blacksteels and 2 poison whips in 2 :P) and no shield so i think my play style would be harder on keyboard than the standard warrior / knight

Posted: 19 Jun 2018, 05:22
by Hak Foo
I used Box Navies for a week and decided I didn't care for them. Too stiff, the tactile bump felt strange, and the click, while somewhat not like MX was still a bit plasticky and high-pitched.

Posted: 19 Jun 2018, 14:13
by spongebob1981
I could not get pass through Manus with a model M, and boy did I try. Had to splurge to a proper controller.
Praise the sun!

Posted: 19 Jun 2018, 21:03
by Chopstix
I've been using Jades for around a month, and before I got them I was using a Unicomp Classic 104 so that's my main comparison point. The somewhat absurd tactility of the Jades was almost intimidating at first, but I've come to really, really like it for typing and even in games. I think I type a hair faster on the Jades but I still need to go back to the Model M for a bit to really compare. MX Blue/Clones definitely feel mushy to me now, which is a feeling I didn't get from them before. Don't get me wrong, the Jades are definitely kind of objectively bad for games but I think they feel nice. I've powered through all of Resident Evil 5 with a friend and like half of RE4 with them and mashing through QTEs feels really great.

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 12:09
by DaOver
I've been using them for several months and they are my favorite switches, absolutely love them.

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 12:18
by Elrick
Chyros wrote:
codemonkeymike wrote: Ive been using Box Jades for about 2 weeks now, they are fine for long term typing but terrible for gaming. I wouldn't say they are the second coming of jesus but it's more like a slightly improved Matias Clicky
I found that extreme tactility is not usually a good thing for gaming keyboards. I already had difficulty playing Mortal Kombat on a Model M Oo .
If Gaming, always use Silent Cherry Blacks - which work perfectly.

Even Gateron Silent Blacks are up there for Gaming, which I should get soon.

The BOX Navy's are simply perfect for TYPING due to their unique feedback on any finger tips. Just love them to death despite their 'gaping' of all my GMK key-sets.

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 13:29
by andrea-i
I have some navies saved for a custom build and I'm so looking forward to putting them to use, also very curious about the stiff sensation, considering I use a model M every day and initially I did find that too stiff compared to my model F (but now I can't live without it).
Chyros you're probably the best person to answer this, how do the navy compare to a model M in terms of stiffness? Do you find your model M fine but the navies too stiff? In that case I might have a problem with those just as well : /

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 14:15
by Blaise170
You can do whatever you want with whatever switch type you have. I did a complete playthrough of Mount and Blade with an IBM Model M and it was fine.

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 16:53
by chuckdee
Blaise170 wrote: You can do whatever you want with whatever switch type you have. I did a complete playthrough of Mount and Blade with an IBM Model M and it was fine.
A lot of people look for 'performance gains' from their hardware in gaming. I personally don't worry, but know people that choose switches for that reason.

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 16:55
by Blaise170
Yes it is something I also was worried about when I first bought a new mechanical - that's why I ended up with Kailh Browns. Turns out, the common advice of "browns for gaming and typing, blues for typing, and reds for gaming" almost caused me to forget about mechs and just stick with rubber domes.

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 17:03
by Muirium
I’m picky about where I take my advice from. A lot of the MX hype that I first encountered, when the concept of mechanical keyboards caught my ear, sounded like bollocks. And so it was. But I was in for good when I got my hands on my very first decent keyboard: an IBM Model F XT. The sound! The feel! The sheer deadliness of the thing! It began…

MX can be nice, with significant qualifiers we all know by now. Similarly its clones, with their own caveats. But you’ve really got to try these things for yourself. And remain open to the stuff out there you do not know. I try, and fail, and try!

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 17:25
by Blaise170
Yes, I exchanged the brown Kailh board for blue Kailhs. I kind of liked it more but still wasn't sure. Ended up winning a 4 piece lot from Goodwill that came with a Chicony KB-5161 and blue Alps. If not for that Chicony, I'd probably be much less active today. So, my presence is kind of a product of circumstance.

Posted: 23 Aug 2018, 18:50
by chuckdee
Muirium wrote: But you’ve really got to try these things for yourself. And remain open to the stuff out there you do not know. I try, and fail, and try!
Really good statement of a perspective that people sometimes lose sight!

Posted: 26 Aug 2018, 09:42
by Elrick
chuckdee wrote:
Muirium wrote: But you’ve really got to try these things for yourself. And remain open to the stuff out there you do not know. I try, and fail, and try!
Really good statement of a perspective that people sometimes lose sight!
WORDS to live by and eventually meet your maker with :D .

Posted: 27 Aug 2018, 03:37
by abrahamstechnology
I like heavy switches, so BOX Navy is about perfect for me. However I'm using Vintage Blacks in a WY-60 right now.

Posted: 27 Aug 2018, 03:50
by Elrick
abrahamstechnology wrote: However I'm using Vintage Blacks in a WY-60 right now.
Are you using it for Gaming? Just curious.....

Posted: 27 Aug 2018, 20:23
by abrahamstechnology
Elrick wrote:
abrahamstechnology wrote: However I'm using Vintage Blacks in a WY-60 right now.
Are you using it for Gaming? Just curious.....
The only game I really only play an older version of Minecraft, but it handles well in that. For something like a FPS, I am not sure.