[New Product] Kailh Silent Box Switch

[kailh01]

[New Product] Kailh Silent Box Switch

Feature:
Linear and tactile options
Circle Stem
Buffering rubber mat


Noise Define Standard:
Red is under the 40db,
Brown is under the 45db

[Findecanor]

The values in the datasheets are interesting...

The Silent Red (pink) switch has only 35gf listed actuation force, which would make it similar to the super-light linear Gateron Clear.

The Brown switch has 45gf listed actuation force and 65gf listed tactile force at around 0.6 mm key travel... which would be closer to a Zilent V2 or ... silenced Hako!

[HungerMechanic]

I'm really glad to hear about this switch. I like to type on BOX Browns sometimes.

However, it looks as if it may have a Zilent-like tactility. I hope that is not the case, as that need is already fulfilled by Zilents. A silent switch closer to a BOX Brown would be just fine.

[abrahamstechnology]

The stem reminds me of SMK switches.

[AdrianMan]

Great to see these !

Hyped about the Box Browns, I hope they will be available on aliexpress too

[TuxKey]

both look really good.. hope the price is good to.
was looking at getting "OUTEMU Silent Forest switch no slot tops Silent tactile 62g 68g 5pin" on aliexpress..
here's the link:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000229 ... 2e0eekoW9a

any one familiar with them ??

[Findecanor]

BTW, Kailh Silent Box are also available on Aliexpress ...

[TuxKey]

BTW, Kailh Silent Box are also available on Aliexpress ...

Looks like kailh sells them on aliexpress but as always their store is more expensive then other resellers.
around $0,85 per switch..while the Outemu silents are $0,64...i see the Outemu are pcb switches good for my hotswap boards
Never tried box switches.. anything to keep in mind ??? i see it's only 3pin are there 5pin box switches ??

[zrrion]

box crystal is PBC mount, i haven't tried them myself

[HungerMechanic]

both look really good.. hope the price is good to.
was looking at getting "OUTEMU Silent Forest switch no slot tops Silent tactile 62g 68g 5pin" on aliexpress..
here's the link:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000229 ... 2e0eekoW9a

any one familiar with them ??

OUTEMU Silent Forest is a successor to OUTEMU Sky. OUTEMU Sky is that company's attempt to replicate an Ergo Clear.

The Skies have a Clear-like stem, and are weighted at 62 or 68 grams. They have a nice tactility to them. However, the housings are a little scratchy, and the springs are noisy. The ones without the 'no-slot' tops are also wobbly.

However, it is understood that you are meant to mod the OUTEMU Skies. You can buy them in pieces, so that they are easier to lube and replace springs or mix-and-match parts. If you lube them, the scratchiness and noises supposedly decrease. Additionally, if you use the no-slot tops, the wobble decreases. So you can supposedly make a decent Ergo Clear from the Skies. And they are cheap.

The Silent Skies / Silent Forest (same thing) are an attempt to improve upon the stock OUTEMU Sky. They have silencing built-in, and can still be ordered in pieces. So what you are supposed to do is order them in pieces, lube them, maybe replace the spring, and you have Silent Ergo Clears.

I have tried some (unlubed) standard OUTEMU Skies, and they are interesting. I preferred the 62 gr weight, as I like light tactiles. They are pretty bouncy, and the stem is fairly tactile, probably at least as much as an MX Clear. I did not enjoy the 68 gr, as I found that the weight suppressed some of the inherent tactility.

I hope to find out soon what lubed Silent Skies are like, and also Silent Skies using aftermarket 63.5 gr springs.

[HungerMechanic]

BTW, Kailh Silent Box are also available on Aliexpress ...

Looks like kailh sells them on aliexpress but as always their store is more expensive then other resellers.
around $0,85 per switch..while the Outemu silents are $0,64...i see the Outemu are pcb switches good for my hotswap boards
Never tried box switches.. anything to keep in mind ??? i see it's only 3pin are there 5pin box switches ??

BOX Browns are going to be different from the OUTEMU silents. The BOX Browns [at least, the non-silent ones and prob. both] have the tactile event and actuation right near the top of the switch. It's very crisp, and typing on many of them is like typing on cobblestones.

OUTEMU Skies and Silent Skies should be more like classic MX switches, with some pre-travel before the bump, which is rounded and Brown/Clear-like instead of the relatively sharp drop-off on the BOX Browns.

BOX switches are designed not to require lubing or modification, and have some light lube. When that lube runs out, the BOX tactiles become slightly clicky, since there is a kind of click-bar built-in.

OUTEMU switches require lubing and perhaps spring replacements to get the best results. Using them stock will not necessarily give you the best experience. But they are much easier to mod, since you can order them in pieces from someone on reddit.

[HungerMechanic]

BTW, Kailh Silent Box are also available on Aliexpress ...

It's best to wait for the Kailh switches to arrive somewhere like Novelkeys. They tend to be actually cheaper and faster all-things-considered when ordered within the United States. Or even from KBDFans.

AliExpress often sells small groups of switches at high prices, which only diminishes in larger quantities. This is the case, for example, of many of the OUTEMU tactiles sold there. Yet you can order Kailh switches in more affordable groups of 10 from Novelkeys [when they are in stock] or KBDFans [which can be cheaper if you are Canadian].

OUTEMUs can be ordered relatively cheaply on reddit's mechmarket, and the non-silent versions are available from MehKee.

[Findecanor]

It's best to wait for the Kailh switches to arrive somewhere like Novelkeys. They tend to be actually cheaper and faster all-things-considered when ordered within the United States. Or even from KBDFans.

I hope so ...
I'm just afraid that Kailh is going to want to sell these at a premium to compete head-to-head with Zeal.

[HungerMechanic]

Yes, BOX Browns are actually pretty affordable, so I hope they stick closer to those prices.

'Better BOX Browns' could be a more viable market position for them than 'Zilent competitor,' but we'll see.

[TuxKey]

both look really good.. hope the price is good to.
was looking at getting "OUTEMU Silent Forest switch no slot tops Silent tactile 62g 68g 5pin" on aliexpress..
here's the link:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000229 ... 2e0eekoW9a

any one familiar with them ??

OUTEMU Silent Forest is a successor to OUTEMU Sky. OUTEMU Sky is that company's attempt to replicate an Ergo Clear.

The Skies have a Clear-like stem, and are weighted at 62 or 68 grams. They have a nice tactility to them. However, the housings are a little scratchy, and the springs are noisy. The ones without the 'no-slot' tops are also wobbly.

However, it is understood that you are meant to mod the OUTEMU Skies. You can buy them in pieces, so that they are easier to lube and replace springs or mix-and-match parts. If you lube them, the scratchiness and noises supposedly decrease. Additionally, if you use the no-slot tops, the wobble decreases. So you can supposedly make a decent Ergo Clear from the Skies. And they are cheap.

The Silent Skies / Silent Forest (same thing) are an attempt to improve upon the stock OUTEMU Sky. They have silencing built-in, and can still be ordered in pieces. So what you are supposed to do is order them in pieces, lube them, maybe replace the spring, and you have Silent Ergo Clears.

I have tried some (unlubed) standard OUTEMU Skies, and they are interesting. I preferred the 62 gr weight, as I like light tactiles. They are pretty bouncy, and the stem is fairly tactile, probably at least as much as an MX Clear. I did not enjoy the 68 gr, as I found that the weight suppressed some of the inherent tactility.

I hope to find out soon what lubed Silent Skies are like, and also Silent Skies using aftermarket 63.5 gr springs.

i ordered " 90PCS + Silent Forest 62g " a few extra to experiment with.. i only use 65% boards so i need no more then 70.
if i like them i will certainly grab sum extra .. they should arrive within 2wk according to the tracking will see.. i talked to the guy that is involved with the factory on reddit and if your in the US buying parts or the complete switch is an option. for me here in EU aliexpress will do.. supposedly these are a new version couple things were addressed he mentions them in his reddit post..
look forward to silent ergo clears.. really exciting.. got sum Sprit springs on the way and sum random springs in house so i can experiment .. and have enough lubes to test out..will see..

[HungerMechanic]

I will be trying out some samples of Silent Sky and maybe the new 'U4' stem in a month or so, I figure.

I've already purchased some 63.5 gr Spirit springs to test in the Silent Skies, so let me know how that works out for you.

I liked the 62 gr weight in the regular 2.2 Skies, so I wanted to try a similar weight, but with better springs. I'll let you know how it works out with lube + replacement springs.

Definitely, you want to at least "donut lube" the bottom of the stock spring, but it is better to just use a quality lubed replacement spring, I figure. And you will want to take other lubing measures to reduce scratchiness and improve the sound.

It might be worth it for you to also order a small number of regular OUTEMU (non-silent) Sky 2.2 from AliExpress, since the tactility might be a little closer to Ergo Clears, since there are no concessions to silencing. You will definitely need the 'no-slot' tops with those.

In the meantime, my BOX Silent Brown samples are arriving soon, so I will test them.

[HungerMechanic]

Okay, my BOX Silent Browns finally arrived.


tl;dr: BOX Silent Browns are business-like, sturdy, and silent switches no heavier and slightly more tactile than MX Brown. To get BOX Silent Brown, dampen an MX Brown, remove scratchiness/sandiness, reduce wobble and put the bump at top.



Here's what I posted elsewhere:


I just opened my BOX Silent Browns.

The first thing that strikes me is that these are very light. They can't weigh much more than regular BOX Browns, and may even weigh less. Anyway, they're definitely Brown-weighted. Within 5 gr of MX Brown. I tested them beside some 63.5 gr Ergo Clears, and the BOX feel as light, or lighter.

The second thing is that they aren't super-tactile. They may be slightly less tactile than regular BOX Browns, but I'll have to test them side-by-side. They have a similar force profile as BOX Brown. There is a tactile resistance right at the top that has to be overcome, and then it just drops. I recall BOX Brown as having a steeper and starker 'drop' that felt more like a buckling mechanism.

It's a profile that resembles Zilents, but less steep, less tactile. Someone recently said that they feel midway in between Zilents and Aliaz, maybe closer to Aliaz, and I agree with that in terms of overall tactility. But the bump profile is closer to Zilents than Aliaz.

They're basically a less tactile, less sharp Zilent. That may be good or bad for you.

Third, they're definitely silent. They are much quieter than the Ergo Clears they are running beside. They might be quieter than Aliaz, since there is no weird spring noise.

Overall, these appear to be perfectly functional silent switches. They are a not-too tactile version of BOX Browns or even Zilents. They feel consistent and fairly smooth, but also kind of boring. Like these haven't been designed to wow you or anything, just function as a silent Brown using the BOX design.

I took a risk and have a couple of GMK keycaps on them right now, and it sounds and feels fine. Nothing has cracked yet. I think I may enjoy the KBDFans PBT Dolch more with these switches. Very quiet and stable.

-----------------

When speaking of tactility, it's all relative.

When I say BOX (Silent) Browns aren't very tactile, I mean that in comparison to the new generation of super-tactile switches, such as Holy Pandas, or Zealio V2.

In comparison to MX Brown, they are more tactile. Some people say that they are more tactile than regular BOX Browns. I would say that BOX Silent Browns are medium tactility, if on the lower end. They occupy this category together with MX Clears. I have Ergo Clears [63.5 Progressive] that are less tactile than these BOX Silent Browns, and Ergo Clears that are more tactile [60 gr actuation].

I had someone else type on these just now. They thought that the BOX Silent Browns were "heavier" than both 63.5 gr Ergo Clears, and 78 gr H1 switches. Now, the H1 switches are obviously heavier in spring weight, but because they have little tactility, the BOX Silent Browns actually seemed 'heavier' than the H1s.

Personally, I find that the BOX Silent Browns are more tactile than Cherry Browns, maybe even the less-tactile Ergo Clear variants. But I find them a little harsh. Because once you clear that initial bump, it just slams down like Zilents. And the BOX Silent Browns only have 3.6mm of travel. So it's a bit of a slam-slam. At least you know you're typing.

I think these might be a good candidate for a stock custom switch at KBDFans or Varmilo. Like if you need a 65% or something that's quiet, order a TADA68 / VA68M with BOX Silent Browns, and it's ready to go. Just add dampening.

[Findecanor]

Thanks for the post!
When I saw the listed specs for the switch I anticipated that they would feel a lot like the Input.Club Hako switches, which are also a tactile Box switches.
Do you have any Hako switch to compare with?

[HungerMechanic]

I have tried Halo Trues, Hako Clears, and Hako Violets.

The Hako Violets are within the same ballpark as regular BOX Browns in terms of weight and tactility. The tactility of Hako Violets is sharper than BOX Brown, though.

Hako Violet is not too far off from BOX Silent Brown. If you can imagine a rubbery Hako Violet that's maybe a bit sharper, that kinda what BOX Silent Brown feels like.

[Findecanor]

I thought so... Now I have to get my hands on some.
I would also like to compare them to Alps Cream damped ... On a real keyboard of course. Comparing single presses is not always representative to the real experience.

[HungerMechanic]

I think they are going to suffer against ALPS Cream damped

Although they might be able to compete on the dampening.

[HungerMechanic]

My evaluation of the BOX Silent Brown switch is that it succeeds at being a quiet BOX tactile. It is right there on the level of Aliaz and Zilent, and may even be slightly quieter.

Its tactile characteristics are in between that of the Zilent V2 and the BOX Brown. Both have the tactile ceiling at the top, and subsequently collapse. The tactile event of Silent Brown may be slightly more resistant than the original BOX Brown, and I find that there isn't as much of a 'buckling' effect as there was in the BOX Brown.

The BOX Silent Brown wobbles less than Cherry MX tactiles, but probably more than Zilent V2s. They are not a wobbly switch by Cherry standards. They are also smoother than stock MX tactiles, but there is some scratchiness present, maybe a result of the dampening.

The biggest weakness of the switch for me is that it races to the bottom very quickly after the tactile event. With 3.6mm travel, I find myself reaching bottom more quickly than I would like. I did not find that I experienced this problem with the original BOX Browns.

If these switches hold up in terms of longevity, then Kailh has a pretty solid silent tactile on its hand. However, I find that the original BOX Browns feel a little more 'crisp' than the Silent Browns, and have more of a 'buckling feel.' Consequently, I would like to see a non-silent BOX Brown V2 using the new circular BOX stem. An improved BOX Brown V2 that doesn't turn clicky and doesn't risk breaking keycaps would be a worthy improvement.

[XMIT]

3.6mm of travel is a deal breaker for me on full sized. It's why I couldn't use the "Romer-G" or "Gamma Zulu" switches.

[Findecanor]

I'm using MX Clears with Zilencio clips, which do reduce the key travel a bit both at top and bottom, but I find the reduced travel to be OK because the spring is so hard that it prevents me from bottoming out.

I think I could cope with 3.6mm if there are similar hard springs for Silent Box switches. The springs are different from MX, but Sprit has some springs for regular Box. I'm a bit stumped about which ones are the closest to MX Clear's spring though.
And are the springs really the same in Silent Box and non-silent Box?

[kailh01]

the kailh box silent red and brown tear down from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lya3m6ZFtlU