Mechanical Keyboards - Switch designs

Starting with keyfeel distinctions

The biggest factor to how a mechanical keyboard feels is the switch design, since those are what you type directly on. All switches can be categorized into several classes, depending on how you want to sort them. The two easiest ways to distinguish switches is either (1) the keyfeel, or (2) the design. For newcomers, it is easier to talk about switches by keyfeel.

No matter the complexity and design variety, all switches can be categorized into linear, tactile, or clicky; they’re rather self explanatory names. This article will introduce you to the three types of switches mentioned above, and towards the end I’ll talk about the activation mechanism classes of switches and different designs.

Force curve diagrams

I’ll be showing some diagrams below called force curves, these diagrams show the force required to push the switch down as a function of how much you’ve pressed it. Most switches have 4 mm of travel and activate around halfway through. As most switches involve pushing against a spring, you’ll see a generally linear force curve which gets harder to push the more you push (springs push back). Non-linear parts of the curve indicate tactility, some are very sharp and some are very round. Less jitter in the curve indicates smoother keyfeel, but can also be signs of more precise measurements. Most graphs were taken from here any others were sourced from other sites but from the same producer, referred as HaaTa. Take a look through them because there’s a lot more switches than I’ll be showing.

Linear switches

Linear switches feel, well, linear. There’s not much more to say, the keyfeel of a linear switch is like compressing a spring; its resistance will increase the further you press down. Linear switches tend to be the quietest of the three types and are used for a ‘pure’ keyfeel. Linear switches also have silent versions, where dampening mechanisms are implemented to reduce noise. This is effective at make the keyboard quieter, and I would say that these are the only safe switches to use in public or around noise sensitive people. Enthusiast-grade linear switches are focused on smoothness and often are lubricated to further increase smoothness. To someone that has only used membrane keyboards, linear switches will feel very alien. I highly recommend you to test typing on some keyboards before buying linears. Most people can adjust just fine, but you never know.

An awful lot of articles on the internet about keyboard switches will tell you that linears are ‘best for gaming’, but this is nonsense. Yes, in a theoretical sense linears would impede your fingers the least but this is so negligible in reality that it doesn’t matter. There is no gaming switch, don’t get fooled by this. If this was true, gaming would be done on touchscreens.

Here are some force curves for various linear switch designs, focus on the blue line since that’s the force curve for pressing the switch; the orange line is the release force.

The first switch is an MX red switch. The second is from Gateron, a clone manufacturer, Gateron yellow. Notice how the Gateron switch’s curve is less jittery, this means better smoothness. Smoothness is crucial in linear switches since there’s no tactile event and therefore any unpleasant feeling will be easily noticeable. The weighting is slightly different too, with the MX red being slightly stiffer. The third switch is from a Green Alps switch, which is officially classified as linear despite the small tactile bump; all Alps switches exhibit this behaviour. This switch is the lightest to press out of the three. Notice how the key travel is slightly shorter than the other too, Alps switches have around 3.4 mm of travel instead of 4. Because of the nature of linear switches, there isn’t much variety. The differences between linear switches comes down to weighting, smoothness, and sound; but all the force curves will look linear except for Alps switches.

Tactile switches

Tactile switches have a tactile bump somewhere in the keyfeel, hence the name. These feel the closest to your typical membrane keyboard, but are still rather different. The tactility is used as feedback to let you know the key has been pressed. The tactility of each switch design varies in magnitude and feel; some are sharp while others feel drawn out like rubber domes, there’s way more variety than linears.

The first diagram is from a Cherry MX Brown switch; that small drop of force in the middle is the bump you feel. MX Browns have weak tactility, if you try them out you’ll feel a slight bump in the middle of the key but it’s nothing like a rubber dome and you may even not feel it when typing. The second diagram is from an MX Clear, which is stiffer and more tactile; the increased drop in force creates the stronger tactility. The third is an Orange Alps switch. The force curve looks very different from the previous two; this one has two bumps and the peak tactile force is the greatest in the whole curve, unlike the MX switches which have a stronger bottom out force. The last switch is a Topre switch, which has the most unique curve. Instead of a bump-in-the-middle style tactility, the Topre curve is very rounded and the force keeps decreasing until the very end. Topre is a rubber dome switch, which is why the curve looks like this. Rubber dome switches have the general shape of this curve.

Clicky switches

Clicky switches are also self explanatory, these make a noise during the key press. The noise is there for additional audible feedback when typing and satisfactory sound. Inside each clicky switch is some mechanism that causes the noise, and these cause tactile events. Therefore, clicky switches are tactile and actually tend to be more tactile than tactile switches. Clicky switches have very distinct sounds, different designs and even clones within identical designs can sound radically different. Clicky switches are loud and you cannot make them quieter by typing softly; the clicky mechanism will activate regardless of how you type. This means that you can’t use them in public, and you’ll want permission from anyone living with you to use at home. The noise produced by clicky switches can also be picked up by a microphone.

The first force curve is from an MX Blue switch. Note how the tactile bump is similar to the MX Brown curve above but slightly larger, this causes MX Blues to feel like more tactile versions of Browns. The next curve is from a Box Navy switch, this switch is significantly more tactile and stiffer with a large buildup and sharp drop in force. Navies are harder to type on and feel more extreme due to the heavier weighting and tactility, and they also sound very different from MX Blues. The third force curve belongs to a capactive Buckling Spring switch, this switch also has a sharp drop but the overall curve is very different from the Box Navy’s; it’s way less stiff and there is no buildup of tactility before the force drop. Capacitive Buckling Springs sound very different from the other two switches as well. The fourth curve is from a Blue Alps switch. Once again, the force curve is rather distinct from the other ones. The tactility isn’t as extreme, and Blue Alps are known to be some of the best sounding keyboard switches ever produced.

Clicky switches have the most diversity between designs, both in keyfeel and sound. You’ll definitely want to think hard of which one to get before paying up.

What switch type will I like?

This is impossible to say without actually typing on keyboards with said switches. If none are available nearby, you can order a switch sample pack which gives you a few basic switch types to try out. However, typing on individual switches is very different from typing on a full keyboard. Worst case, I recommend going safe with some generic keyboard with tactile switches. It’s the hardest to go wrong with them, but remember not to get gaming branded keyboards.

Switch families

While splitting switches into linear, tactile, and clicky is a simple way to categorize switch designs, it is rather limited. A better way is to distinguish families of switch designs, which are typically distinguished by manufacturers. In other words, you can discover a lot more of switch types by categorizing them through manufacturers instead of keyfeel. The next sections will discuss some of the most well known switch designs.

Cherry MX

This has been the de facto standard switch design for around 20 years now. The manufacturer, Cherry, makes several switch designs and their flagship lineup is the MX family. MX switches have been around for nearly 35 years, their signature identifier is the + shaped cross mount and compact switch housing. Switch durability is often rated by how many times they can be pressed before problems occur, and MX switches are rated for around 50 million which is very durable. MX switches come in all three flavours; linear, tactile, and clicky. Often marketed as ‘high quality German engineering’ by gaming companies, MX switches are ubiquitous and found in many premium keyboards.

Being the modern standard switch design, lots of clone manufacturers use the same design; notable clone manufacturers are Gateron and Kaihl, which actually make better switches than Cherry does. When it comes to MX switches, don’t brush away clones as being inferior; it’s the opposite in most scenarios. Cherry-made switches tend to be more expensive, scratchy (not smooth and makes friction noise), and have rather disappointing tactility and clicky noise.

MX switches are contact based, meaning that the switches activate when two metal pieces contact each other to close a circuit. In recent years, clone manufacturers have innovated by implementing different activation mechanisms involving magnets and light.

Colour codes

Manufacturers tend to use different coloured plastics to identify switches. Most manufacturers follow the same colour codes, but some do their own thing. One example is Razer, whose colour codes are completely different. Here’s the most common colours found in the MX and clone world.

Because the MX world is absolutely littered with clones, there are countless other colours that are not standardized. For instance, Gateron Clears are actually super light linears. Zealios are purple and are midweight tactiles, but there are teal versions that are linears. Yellows are often used for midweight linears, greys can be either very heavy linears or tactiles, and so on. The enthusiast community has introduced even more colours like pink, navy, jade, copper, silver, salmon, and the list goes on. The table above covers colours used by Cherry and are generally followed by clone manufacturers, but there are always exceptions and you should do your own research instead of blindly following these codes.

Contactless designs (optical and Hall effect)

Earlier I mentioned that clone manufacturers have created MX switch designs that use magnets or light. These designs are innovative and deserve their own paragraph. Versus the conventional contact design, contactless switches, such as optical and Hall effect (magnetic), offer better smoothness and increased durability. Contact based switches will always have a smoothness ceiling because the activation mechanism requires parts of the switch to rub against contacts.

By eliminating this friction, optical and Hall effect switches can become a whole lot smoother. Additionally, the metal contacts will wear over time by oxidizing or deforming. While this take decades of very heavy usage, contactless switches are immune to these problems and have failure points in more durable components. Optical switches rely on durable LEDs to function, and you’ll never see a magnet lose its effects in your lifetime. These switches are harder to find and more expensive because they aren’t as mainstream as traditional MX switches, but are worth looking out for.

MX Hackjobs

Because the MX design is so ubiquitous with tons of manufacturers, enthusiasts have started making modded switches taking various parts from different switches. The result is an ocean of MX ‘hackjob’ switches. These switches can get pretty nutty, the simplest mods are applying lubricant to make the switch smoother. Then you get people interchange various stems and housings for smoothness and sound, and eventually you get a switch with each part from originally unique switches. Then you have people applying stickers between the top and bottom housing shells to change the noise, etc.

There are also custom switches manufactured in smaller scales, designed by the community and vendors. Good examples are Zeal switches, Aliaz switches, and Holy Pandas. The MX world is filled with these modded switches, which all have miniscule differences in feel and sound. In my opinion, the sheer diversity is nice to see but none of them can overcome fundamental design traits that are inherent to the MX design without making drastic changes to the switch.

Summary

MX switches are a contact-based design originally created by Cherry, and have been cloned an uncountable amount of times because they became the modern standard. They can be identified with a + shaped switch stem. The MX family has linear (and silent linear), tactile, and clicky designs. MX switches are extremely common, 99% of all mechanical keyboards sold today will use them. Cherry-made MX switches are often inferior to several clone designs, and there are recent innovations from clone manufacturers such as using superior activation mechanisms. The most common switch colours are red, brown, and blue. If you’re buying a mechanical keyboard that was made in the past 20 years, it’ll have MX-style switches unless you know what you’re getting into. The MX world is filled with smaller custom switches made by communities, so there’s a good chance that something niche out there will satisfy you.

Alps SKCM/SKCL

Alps switches were contact switches made by Alps Electric from the early 1980s to late 90s. Back when cheap membrane keyboards didn’t exist and mechanical keyboards dominated, the Alps design was the de facto standard for manufacturers to use and copy. Alps switches can be recognized by the rectangular stem with a hole in the middle and their more boxy housings than MX switches. Alps switches also came in linear, tactile, and clicky variants. SKCM denotes tactile and clicky, and SKCL represents linears. So SKCL brown would be a linear brown switch, SKCM brown is a tactile or clicky one. Alps switches are more prone to being damaged by dust and wear (rated at 20M key presses instead of 50M), have way more diversity than Cherry switches, and are known to have better sound.

Alps switches are sorted into two generations: complicated (SKCL & SKCM) and simplified (SKBL & SKBM). Complicated Alps switches are older, have more complex assemblies, and feel better. Simplified Alps switches were developed for cost cutting and are inferior to the complicated generation. The Deskthority wiki is a great place to find more information about everything related to keyboards, and they have detailed entries documenting Alps switches.

As I said in the beginning though, Alps switches were made from the 80s to 90s. In the late 90s, demand for mechanical keyboards fell because of much cheaper membrane keyboards, and Alps Electric stopped producing their switches. A lot of other switch manufacturers stopped producing as well, leaving Cherry as one of the few manufacturers left. This lead to the standardization of MX switches later on. Consequently, genuine Alps switches are only found in vintage keyboards nowadays. There are some manufacturers that still use the Alps design, the most well known one is Matias, but Alps switches have mostly been replaced by the MX design.

Colour codes

Alps switches came in a lot more colours, and their colour codes don’t always align with Cherry’s. This table is not comprehensive by any means, it only covers the more well known ones. Matias switches have different colour codes too, so be aware of that.

Vintage obscurity

If you thought looking at all the MX clones was bad, have fun looking at all the Alps and clone switches. Alps had tons of clones and obscure designs that varied signficantly relative to a Cherry MX and clone’s differences. Alps switches were produced when mechanical keyboards were mainstream so you can only imagine how many designs there were. Some SKCM/L switches (blue, amber, brown) are highly sought after and are very expensive and rare, you might be shocked when looking at eBay auction prices. Alps made more switch models other than the SKCM/L family, look up Alps SKCC as a starter if you’re interested. These are getting deep into vintage territory and is out of scope for a high level overview on switches; most articles on keyboard switches would only tell you about membrane and MX families so this is already enough.

Summary

Alps SKCM/SKCL switches are discontinued vintage switches with rectangular stems and boxy housings. They were the dominating design in the 80s and 90s, with tons of different variants. Alps switches have more variation and better designs than MX switches, are way less durable, and are hard to find in good condition nowadays. SKCM means tactile/clicky, SKCL means linear. The easiest way to find an Alps keyboard is to get them used on eBay, and the most common switches you’ll find are SKCM White, Salmon, Cream, Black, and SKCL Yellow. Alps made a simplified model of the SKCM/L switches called the SKBM/L series. Modern incarnations of Alps switches can be found in Matias switches, which use the SKBM/L designs.

Topre

Topre switches are very different from MX and Alps switches; these switches use rubber domes and activate via capacitance, not contact. Topre-like switches are referred as ’electrostatic capacitance’ switches, which is a mouthful and mostly for marketing hype. The rubber dome means that Topre switches feel very similar to a typical dome-over-membrane keyboard, but is built better and feels more refined. I’ve been using one for a few years and the domes haven’t become stiff or developed any problems found with cheaper membrane keyboards. Topre switches only come in tactile forms in three weightings: 35g, 45g, and 55g. There is no linear version because the rubber dome creates tactility, and no clicky version exists. The tactility is very different from MX tactile switches, as those switches have a hard time replicating the rounded feeling of a rubber dome. Some rare Alps switches are said to feel similar to Topre (SKCM Green, Brown). Topre switches also have a very distinct sound profile that some people swear by and I’ll admit that it is a rather nice sound.

Topre switches use capacitance to activate. While my knowledge on electricity is very lackluster, this basically means that pressing down on a switch changes an electric charge buildup (capacitance), and this is how the keyboard detects key presses. The change in capacitance is caused by a spring underneath the rubber dome. Capacitive switches offer some benefits over contact switches, notably inherant NKRO and improved durability.

Colour codes

Topre switches only use two colours to distinguish silenced and non-silenced versions, not to distinguish the switch weighting.

Ludicrous pricing and small market

The market for Topre keyboards is much smaller and restricted than MX switches. The company that develops the switch, also called Topre, controls what keyboards get to use its switches and charges pretty absurd prices for them. As a result, the number of keyboards that have Topre switches is very small, just a handful exist. In the MX world, any manufacturer can buy some cheap clone switches, design a keyboard and sell it for low prices. The cheapest Topre keyboard you’ll find is around $100 USD, and most models are around $150-$200. The very premium pricing causes some controversy, some people cannot understand why a rubber dome keyboard is sold for $200 when the point of a mechanical keyboard is to get away from them. This is a partially true argument, but I don’t want to go into it here since that argument can take up a whole separate article. All I’ll say here is that Topre switches are rubber domes done correctly with good construction, a robust activation mechanism, and nice keyfeel.

Summary

Topre switches are developed by the company Topre, and it only comes in tactile forms. The tactility is distinct from MX tactile switches due to the switch using rubber domes for tactility. Topre switches use a capacitive actuation mechanism, which increases reliability and provides NKRO, and there are very little keyboards that use the switches. The keyboards are all expensive which cause controversy; you have extremely loyal fans and those that compare Topre to a $5 Dell crap board. Due to the nicheness, the only place you’ll be able to try typing on these keyboards is enthusiast stores.

Buckling Springs

This is the last switch design to check out. Buckling springs were developed by IBM back in the early 1980s and as the name implies, the switch uses a spring that buckles in its mechanism. Buckling springs come in two variants: the older and better capacitive version found in Model F keyboards, and the newer and cheaper membrane version found in the Model M and Unicomp keyboards. You can still buy new buckling spring keyboards, unlike keyboards with Alps switches.

Buckling springs are clicky switches because of their design; a spring sits angled in the switch housing, and it buckles when you push down on it. The buckling causes a piece of plastic at the end, called the flipper, to hit a PCB or membrane below, and that activates the key. It’s a very elegant design and comes with a bonus that the click and activation are perfectly synced. Clicky MX and Alps switches always have some mismatch between the two, since the click comes from a separate element in the switch. In buckling springs, the clicker is the activating mechanism. Buckling springs also feel very different from other clicky switches, check the force curves shown earlier.

Colour codes

Buckling springs have no colour codes. The two designs are not distinguished by colours; it’s just by the keyboard the switches are installed in.

Differences of the two designs

The original capacitive design had several advantages over the membrane buckling spring. First, it activated by capacitance instead of a contact-based membrane. This made the Model F significantly tankier than the Model M and gave it inherant NKRO. With capacitive buckling springs, the flipper hits a PCB that measures capacitance. The Model M’s buckling springs had the flippers hitting a membrane, exactly like how a dome-over-membrane keyboard works. The membrane implies reduced durability, a reduction from the Model F’s 100M key presses to about 20M, and also meant the keyboard had 2KRO instead of NKRO. Capacitive buckling springs are also said to feel lighter, more crisp, and smoother than the membrane ones. The Model M’s membrane also means that you can’t just blindly say ‘all membrane keyboards are bad’, because the Model M still completely outdoes any cheap dome-over-membrane keyboard. Overall, the Model M was a cost cutting redesign from the very expensive and well engineered Model Fs.

Summary

Buckling springs were designed by IBM that started production as a capacitive switch in the early 1980s before being changing to a membrane-based design in the late 80s. Buckling springs are clicky switches and they don’t have any colour coding or different weightings, it’s just one switch per design. Due to the switch design, the click, tactility, and actuation are all perfectly synced. The tactility and sound is considerably different from MX switches, and the Model F and M also sound different from each other. Buckling springs are technically vintage switches, but you can still buy newly made keyboards from Unicomp.

Overall Summary

This article is rather detailed and covered a lot of material, so it’s fine if you’re confused on several points. Here’s a quick list that condenses the content above:

Switches can be classified into linear, tactile, and clicky keyfeels

• Linears don’t provide any feedback while typing, hence the name. Silenced linears are appropriate for public use
• Tactiles provide some tactile feedback and are the closest to dome-over-membrane switches, but still feel very different
• Clicky switches make noise and are tactile. Don’t use these in public or next to someone

Another way to classify switches is by how they activate, we covered contact, contactless (optical and Hall effect), and capacitive

• Contact switches rely on two metal parts to touch and close a circuit. The contact-based nature means that the switch has a relatively low (but still high) smoothness ceiling
• Optical switches use an LED and photosensor to detect key presses. The lifetime of these switches is dependent on the LED, and can be very smooth and durable
• Hall effect switches use magnets to interact with electrons, and the switch activates when the interaction is strong enough. Hall effect switches are ridiculously durable since the point of failure is the magnet, and can be very smooth too
• Capacitive switches detect key presses by changes in capacitance (charge build up). They provide inherent NKRO and increased durability and smoothness over contact switches

Switch designs can be also be classified by design, we covered Cherry MX, Alps SKCM/L, Topre, and buckling springs

• Cherry MX switches are the dominating design in today’s market, 99% of keyboards you find will use the MX design. They are contact based, have + shaped stems, and come in linear, tactile, and clicky versions
• Alps SKCM/L switches are discontinued vintage switches that were dominant back in the 80s to 90s. They have rectangular mounts, came in all three versions too, and are less durable than MX switches. Alps switches ’live on’ as Matias switches
• Topre is a tactile-only, capacitive switch designed around a rubber dome. The tactility feels very different from MX switches and so is the sound profile; the switch also has a silenced version. Topre keyboards are very expensive and are produced in much smaller quantities
• Buckling springs were switches designed and produced by IBM and now produced by Unicomp. It’s a clicky-only design with a unique sound and keyfeel. Buckling springs have two designs, the older capacitive one and the newer, cheaper design that uses a contact-based membrane instead

So what switch do I choose?

If you’re not looking to dive into vintage keyboards, spend $200, or use a Model M, you’ll be looking at keyboards with MX switches. The first step is to try out the switches, the best way is to go type on some retail demo models in a store. Try out the basic colours; red, blue, brown. Choose the keyfeel you like and then choose a weighting. If reds are too light, you might want yellows. Blacks are pretty stiff so I don’t recommend immediately getting those if you think red is too light. If you like tactiles but browns are too light or not tactile enough, search online for alternatives. Repeat for clickies. If you can’t test out keyboards locally, then choosing a switch type becomes difficult. In theory brown switches should be safe for anyone to try, so in the worst case you could just try a keyboard with browns or equivalents.

Switches go way deeper than this

There’s lots of other vintage switch designs that I didn’t cover, and new MX hackjobs are constantly being created by the modern enthusiast space. It’s very difficult to cover all of this in even a rather lengthy article, so let’s ignore them for now. What you should know by now is the different types of switch designs and how they would feel to type on, but this is best realized by actually trying them. Once you choose a switch type, it becomes easier to follow through with other deciding factors. These will be discussed in the next and likely final article in the main series of mechanical keyboards. The other factors include form factor, keycaps, and other smaller topics.