deskthority

Now I'm rather new to mechanical keyboard collecting and the overall keyboard community so I'm sorry if this is a question that is asked a lot but what are the best modern clicky/tactile switches? Most of the time when I try to look at lists of the best tactile or clicky switches I notice that most of them are rather old. And while I prefer vintage keyboards this did get me wondering about the modern alternatives. I've heard a lot of good things about the BOX switch line (And have actually bought a switch tester for some of them and am waiting for that to arrive) but are their any other switches like this?

bump

Matias's clicky switch holds up well, much better than almost every Cherry MX clones.
For MX compatibles, I'd say Box Navies.

But yes, I do find myself coming back to vintage stuffs

quaker wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 03:15

Matias's clicky switch holds up well, much better than almost every Cherry MX clones.
For MX compatibles, I'd say Box Navies.

But yes, I do find myself coming back to vintage stuffs

I've heard so much good stuff about Matias switches. I wish they were more well known among the larger mechanical keyboard community. From what I've heard about them they seem like they make the cherry switches look like one of those kiddie, learn to write keyboards

Kneeboard wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 03:25

they make the cherry switches look like one of those kiddie, learn to write keyboards

Well...most good switches tend to do that.

Weezer wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 03:54

Kneeboard wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 03:25

they make the cherry switches look like one of those kiddie, learn to write keyboards

Well...most good switches tend to do that.

Remove the good and its perfect

It really depends on what you're looking for. I found Zilents to be obnoxious, but I enjoy "vintage" browns even if they're less tactile.

Aristotle/Pheonix switches are great, box switches seem solid (I enjoyed box whites, not the insane ones everyone likes).

The only bad tactiles are the 'all bump no pre/post travel' like halo or zealios. Really annoying when doing anything other than slowly pressing the switch.

Hot take tactile Alps like dampened salmons kind of suck and improve significantly with the tactile leaves out. Are brown Alps totally different?

If we’re talking modern, box pinks are my fav. Nice medium weight. As far as tactile switches, modern or not I think nothing beats a lubed topre slider with BKE domes - smooth and snappy. If you’re hoping for something with an MX mount, there are some good ones you’ve probably heard of - zealios, holy pandas, zilents. These are all fine and enjoyable to type on but none of them really give me a hardon like those others. I do however really enjoy the feel of hako clears. They’re a tactile box switch with understated tactility. I donno, there’s not much going on there but for some reason they are really pleasant to me, kind of the opposite end of box royals and blueberries which feel like falling off a cliff with every keystroke.

quaker wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 03:15

Matias's clicky switch holds up well, much better than almost every Cherry MX clones.

Opinions are divided on this. In another current thread, people are discussing whether Matias could be one of the worst key switches. They have a tendency to start chattering.

I do not like the feel of any Alps-style switch that much. But that is just my personal opinion.
I use mostly Cherry MX Clear - with the stock stiff spring. But I would have liked it to be smoother and quieter.
I have tried the JWK/Durock-made Tacit (among other names) briefly and like that, but I would perhaps replace the springs with heavier ones.
The now long discontinued Zealio V1 and Zilents V1 are also similar, and nice IMHO, and used to come in multiple spring weights.
I don't like the current Zealio/Zilents (sometimes called V2) and the Holy Panda which have the bump earlier in the key travel, but a lot of people seem to like those.

I find the clicky Kailh Box switches to be fundamentally flawed in that they click loudly also on the up-stroke. I have yet to try the silenced tactile Kailh Box switches.

Some types of Cherry MX Blue, I actually do like as well — but I know others don't like them at all.
I use them with silencing O-rings to isolate the click from the bottom-out sound. Cherry's quality has varied throughout the years, so vintage are smoothest and 5-15 y/o are not very good.
Cherry is said to have improved their manufacturing in the recent couple years, but I find it impossible to tell which batch you would get if you'd ordered ...

Well, haha, I’m sure we’re helping him a lot. Sarcasm aside, Findecanor has identified one of the key tenants of this hobby - everything is subjective. The only opinion that matters is your own.

From my experience with Matias Quiet Click switches, they were completely unreliable and would fail within months of daily use. Apparently if you have the dexterity of surgeon you can clean them and fix them but I just replaced them, over and over until I gave up and swapped them all out for vintage ALPS Salmons. Never looking back...

ddrfraser1 wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 14:51

Well, haha, I’m sure we’re helping him a lot. Sarcasm aside, Findecanor has identified one of the key tenants of this hobby - everything is subjective. The only opinion that matters is your own.

Yup when it come to keyfeels it all very subjective indeed!
For instance, I prefer Matias clicks over Cherry blues for click/tactile event being more sharp but also because they happen at identical point. Same goes for buckling springs!

the kalih box switches, meaning navies, jades, whites, and pinks. if you think the navies/jades are too polarizing as a lot of people do, the whites and the pinks are much better options. smk second-gen clicky with the mx stems is plate and keycap compatible with cherry switches, the pcb would be the only problem, as pcb's that are compatible with smk 2nd gen switches are not impossible to find, just very difficult. just as a word of advice, alps skcm/skcl have the best clicky switches in my opinion, and also the best tactiles. if you can get clean alps and find an alps plate I personally believe that it is worth the extra struggle. it sucks that the only mx plate pcb and keycap compatible clicky switch that is at all comparable are super polarizing.

edit: I completely forgot about modern tactiles! anyway there really arent any good modern tactiles, I know a lot of people would disagree. It's all really samey and generally the same level of mediocre. I would say the only modern switch that switches it up a bit would be holy pandas, but even those have their better vintage alternatives. in my personal opinion, the only thing modern switches/the mx design are good for is linears. the only other alternative for tactiles that I could think of is topre and other high-end rubber domes, as those feel really good once broken in a bit. but even then, topre is once again beaten hands down by similar vintage switches. feel free to disagree, as I know that tactiles are the most popular switch in the custom mechanical keyboard community.

Rayndalf wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 07:06

It really depends on what you're looking for. I found Zilents to be obnoxious, but I enjoy "vintage" browns even if they're less tactile.

Aristotle/Pheonix switches are great, box switches seem solid (I enjoyed box whites, not the insane ones everyone likes).

The only bad tactiles are the 'all bump no pre/post travel' like halo or zealios. Really annoying when doing anything other than slowly pressing the switch.

Hot take tactile Alps like dampened salmons kind of suck and improve significantly with the tactile leaves out. Are brown Alps totally different?

a lot of skcm black switches are absolutely choice, but it is really hard to get good ones. tactile alps are really good linearized tho so they can be really good switches. it's kind of ironic that a lot of alps tactiles are best when they aren't tactile lol

phwog_ wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 18:59

tactile alps are really good

FTFY.

I'll also jump on the Box Thick Click train. I've tried pink, jade, and navy. I like jade a lot, but it's still a bit too stiff for me. Navy feels good if you want a heavy switch -- and it's what I have as my spacebar in my otherwise jade keyboard. Pinks are too light for me, but they're a lot better than Cherry MX blue. I haven't tried the whites.

Regarding subjective, it mostly is. Hey, I'm the one who prefers the Model M to the Model F XT. I do think that other folks can help guide you to the right board, especially if it's your first.

From the other thread: pay the shipping for that Model M, dude!

1. If you haven't tried Kailh Box Royals, really do give them a shot. They are the end-all when it comes to sharp tactility (alas only cherished by a few true believers). The will become clicky as factory lube wears off, but who cares - and you're also asking about clickies anyway. You can get the ones with stem version 1.0 very, very cheap (it is supposed to do some little damage to keycaps but honestly only nincompoops spend $$$ on custom keycaps anyway and if you don't intend to swap keycaps around on them all the time, you should be fine; I mostly use cheaply gotten vintage Cherry caps with some cheap Chinese PBT modifiers and could care less about some insubstantial damage to them). If you're into modding, you can take the top housing and round stem from those new silent Kailh box brown switches and put them on top of a Kailh box royal bottom housing + tactile / click leaf. The result is ultra-tactile, almost noiseless and bouncier at bottom than the non-silenced original.

2. I've put MX clear springs into V2 Zilents. The result is amazing! Next to Box Royals, it's the combination (out of 50++ switches and mods I've done lots of typing runs with) that I reliably type fastest on.

Keybug wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 22:40

1. If you haven't tried Kailh Box Royals, really do give them a shot. They are the end-all when it comes to sharp tactility (alas only cherished by a few true believers). The will become clicky as factory lube wears off, but who cares - and you're also asking about clickies anyway. You can get the ones with stem version 1.0 very, very cheap (it is supposed to do some little damage to keycaps but honestly only nincompoops spend $$$ on custom keycaps anyway and if you don't intend to swap keycaps around on them all the time, you should be fine; I mostly use cheaply gotten vintage Cherry caps with some cheap Chinese PBT modifiers and could care less about some insubstantial damage to them). If you're into modding, you can take the top housing and round stem from those new silent Kailh box brown switches and put them on top of a Kailh box royal bottom housing + tactile / click leaf. The result is ultra-tactile, almost noiseless and bouncier at bottom than the non-silenced original.

2. I've put MX clear springs into V2 Zilents. The result is amazing! Next to Box Royals, it's the combination (out of 50++ switches and mods I've done lots of typing runs with) that I reliably type fastest on.

I've heard so much good things about the BOX switches that I've actually gone and bought a switch tester for them! The MX clear Zilent hybrid sounds like a great idea although due to the price of most zeal pc switches I'm gonna have to wait for a while to do it

hellothere wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 20:28

phwog_ wrote: ↑

01 Dec 2020, 18:59

tactile alps are really good

FTFY.

I'll also jump on the Box Thick Click train. I've tried pink, jade, and navy. I like jade a lot, but it's still a bit too stiff for me. Navy feels good if you want a heavy switch -- and it's what I have as my spacebar in my otherwise jade keyboard. Pinks are too light for me, but they're a lot better than Cherry MX blue. I haven't tried the whites.

Regarding subjective, it mostly is. Hey, I'm the one who prefers the Model M to the Model F XT. I do think that other folks can help guide you to the right board, especially if it's your first.

From the other thread: pay the shipping for that Model M, dude!

From what I've tried I seem to like the more medium weight switches so I think the jades and pinks seem like they would also be very good. Also on the topic of the Model M hopefully I can get it sometime this week. Worst case I'd have to wait another week longer but hopefully that doesn't happen.