Cherry ergo clears - your user feedback

It seems these are now in stock at several online shops, so I thought it would be nice to gather the feedback and comparisons on the Cherry MX ergo clear switches in one place.

I will give my personal feedback when my pre-order arrives from CandyKeys.

Looking forward to hearing how these compare to self-made ones, and other clones.

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Iā€™ve typed on mine for a day or two and I have some stock first impressions. I canā€™t compare them to self-made ones because Iā€™ve yet to try those, but I can say at least now I have some tangible context for the handful of ā€œErgo Clear inspiredā€ switches in my collection.


Feel:

The best feel-word I can come up with for these is ā€œcrispyā€ - like sugar wafer cookies. The bump has a sharp and definitive peak, while the climb and descent feel a little lumpy - at typing speed this feels like just a little more going on in the travel feel. (Iā€™m thinking this peak feels ā€œsharpā€ as it does because of how quickly the force required to move the stem changes, not necessarily a force-curve graph with a sharp point on it.)

Thereā€™s also a sort of ā€œdrynessā€ to the feel - this might just be the characteristic Cherry Nylon texture at work. They arenā€™t dry in a resistance-friction sort of way, but there is some texture, and I think the sound might be an element to that impression as well.

These are pleasant and easy to type on with a nice, affirmative bump. Thereā€™s plenty of texture and bumpy-bump feel, but nothing that gets in the way - no awkward or inconsistent resistance, no slip-stick, no distracting rattle.


Sound:

The best onomatopoeia I can come up with for these is ā€œsnickityā€ - somewhere between the sound of say, Cherry Browns and snipping scissors. Thereā€™s also a bit of grainy swish to slow presses which is mostly overshadowed by the other sounds of normal typing. Unsurprisingly, these bottom-out with a nice, moderate clack.

Every sharp tactile Iā€™ve ever tried has some amount of leaf-and-spring noise, but itā€™s notably minimal here - closer to a ā€œpluckā€ than a ā€œpingā€ or ā€œringā€ - in the category of sharp medium tactiles, Iā€™d say this is above average performance.


Comparison:

I know I have a few switches inspired by these, but the ones that come to top-of-mind are Dragonfruits. Now that Iā€™ve tried Ergo Clears, I can see the influence.

They have a similar style of bump profile and overall impression, though Iā€™d say both texture and that ā€œdryā€ feeling is more of a factor with the Ergo Clears than with the Dragonfruits. By the same token, though, the Dragonfruits feel less tight and stable than the Ergo Clears - theyā€™ve always given me a sort of ā€œmehā€ poorly-dialed impression, feeling more wobbly and less definitive than the other TKC fruit switches. For lack of better words, Iā€™ll also say the Ergo Clear bump feels more ā€œassertiveā€ than the Dragonfruitā€™s - maybe a combination of a little stronger with a little more stability.

While I love the flamboyant look of Dragonfruit housings, I have to say I prefer the Ergo Clears as switches for actual use.


Other Caveats / Considerations:

The only thing Iā€™d mention here is that these have a tighter grip with keycaps than any other Cherry switches I have. Maybe any other switches I have period.

I havenā€™t observed any real damage being caused by them, but itā€™s quite difficult to remove caps from them. Iā€™ve been doing some testing with some old cap-killer BOX Jades - and while those do significantly more damage to cap stems, caps are somehow easier to remove from those. Iā€™m sure thereā€™s a good reason for that, but I couldnā€™t tell you what it is.


In sum:

If you donā€™t mind that Nylon texture or the other things that come with sharp tactiles in general, I think these are a genuinely solid option, and a stronger offering than many of the other switches citing the original Ergo Clear frankenswitch as inspiration. I suppose thereā€™s a reason why Ergo Clears were the first franken to catch on, and why theyā€™ve enjoyed a healthy following this whole time to the point Cherry decided to sell their own.

These are the granddaddy of an entire populous category of switches, and I have to say, I think theyā€™re still its standard-bearer.

7 Likes

I think official Cherry Ergo Clear will reignite instead of killing interest in frankenswitch Ergo Clears.

I was really into Cherry Clearā€™s tactile bump a while back and ended buying a big pile of MX Clear stems from gazzew for which Iā€™ve looking for a good housing. Then forgot about them until I heard of Cherry Ergo Clear.

By then I also ended up with a huge bag of Kailh Blacks so tried a few Cherry Clear stems in Kailh Black housings and found the combo to be arguably more pleasant than with OG housing. Both the housing and the bump feel smoother. Stem return latency with sub-60g springs is a big concern in Ergo Clear but my latest favorite spring 53g 3-stage had very little issue.

While all bets are off until proven in-use but itā€™s clear (sorry) that my interest in Ergo Clear is back.

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Iā€™ll have to pick up a set of Cherry Clears and spring swap them myself sometime, Iā€™ve been using Durock Medium Tactiles (the equivalent to the RARA V2, Dragonfruit, Penguins, Mode Signals, Ceruleans) and I spring swapped them to TX Long 62gs to eke out a little more tactility without compromising the qualities of Ergo Clears in general. The OG Ergo Clears possessing sharper tactility compared to the DMT variants is something that Iā€™ve seen discussed previously so I should give these a shot sometime.

Will report back once I have some impressions and the switches in hand.

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Does anyone have any thoughts on the stem wobble of the Ergo Clears?

I have MX Browns and many Ergo Clears, and they are noted for not matching the characteristics of more modern switches.

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Seems pretty average to me. Up-top thereā€™s more E/W play, whereas thereā€™s more N/S teetering at the bottom. I wouldnā€™t say they feel wobbly in use.

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Thanks. I have samples on the way, and hope I can get away without filming. But weā€™ll see.

Interesting that I have a couple of sets of Ergo Clears to compare these with - Iā€™ll be interested in seeing how they perform with aftermarket springs.

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My ergo clears from geon.work came this afternoon and here is my initial impression:

The lubed one came with light oil-like lube on the stem legs + pole and 205g0 like grease on the spring. Sounds scratchy/sandy/gritty when compared to my DIY ergo clear lubed with 205g0 (of course). Iā€™m planning to put those into the break-in machine for 24 hours or so to see if I can get away with not lubing the factory lubed ergo clears (very unlikely lol). I was surprise when the spring doesnā€™t really have any pinging noise like the nixies so maybe i can just lube the rails on the bottom housing with some 205g0 to reduce the signature cherry scratch sound. We will see.

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Itā€™s me again. Iā€™m back again for another feedback.

Just took the official ergo clears off from my break-in machine after roughly 25 hours.

For sounds, the broken-in ones are now sounds slightly deeper/less harsh compared to the stock one. One key thing I would like to mention is that the official ergo clear came with its stem legs and pole lubed so itā€™s actually sound slightly quieter/ less gritty and felt smoother when the stem legs slide up and down the tactile leaf when compared to the DIY ergo clears I lubed with 105g0/3204 without lubing the legs. However, the official ergo clearā€™s stem rails came unlubed so it resulted in louder overall sound. Of course, the ones lubed with 105g0 is being the quietest but the broken-in one is just slightly louder than the ones I lubed + filmed with 3024.

For tactile feeling, the official ergo clear feels much sharper compared to the ones I made using SPRITā€™s 63.5g spring + 1050g0 and itā€™s slightly sharper compared to the other version which I made with using 45g spring from amazon + 3204. And about the same as the ones I made with using 1upā€™s 60g spring + 3204. I know itā€™s not an apple to apple comparison but both spring and lube choices will affect the tactile feeling for ergo clears. In terms of rebound, the one i made with SPRITā€™s 63.5g is very smooth and 1upā€™s 60g one came second but the stock ergo clear and the ones I made with amazonā€™s 45g spring all have this snappy/stickiness feeling. 45g one being the stickiest (expected) and tiny little bit sticky for both stock(stickier) and broken-in official ergo clears. Personally Iā€™m ok with this stickiness feeling, as long as all the keys can return, so itā€™s not a big deal breaker for me. On a side note, KNCā€™s average joe tactile stem is very smooth and quiet (even itā€™s unlubed) in the ergo clearā€™s housing but unfortunately itā€™s a light tactile long pole stem so it resulted in a much smaller ergo clear style bump.

Overall, Iā€™m quite happy with the official lubed ergo clears after broken them in. For a lazy person like me, I tried to avoid lubing + filming switch any way I can. As long as the leaf and spring ping is minimal, Iā€™m okay with not lubing over the official lubed ergo clears. Iā€™ve been avoided buying JWKā€™s tactile switches due to the annoying leaf ping issues after collecting many of the DMT variant (Taro, Shogoki, Penguin, Ceruleanā€¦etc. and yes, the zealios v1 redux also suffer from leaf ping too). Iā€™m really happy that Cherry finally made Ergo Clear as an official product so I donā€™t have to spend time to create my own ergo clears anymore. Now I wish Cherry can make an official silent ergo clears too. :smiley:

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One other relevant thing that comes to mind regarding keycap damage and that I often see overlooked;

Ā Ā ARTISANS

While weā€™re lucky enough today to have a handful of PBT+ABS manus that have put a proactive effort towards stem fortifications, there are still some stubborn switch makers that have dragged their heels on ending this issue for reasons I canā€™t comprehend; be it because the design teams are just riddled with Head-in-Sandā€™s Disease, or they just donā€™t take it seriously enough - (*cough* Kailh *hack*)
Ā Ā Ā  But even if we ignore the straggling keyset brands with stems are still vulnerable to cracking (is GMK & certain SA still a risk these days?), let alone those of us who collect old-run sets or vintage transplants; P/U Resin is still rigid enough that stem cracking is much easier from even uniformly-smooth switch stems, and more devastating on a value-per-cap basisā€¦

I shattered 2 artisan stems on a Kailh Midnight Pro/V2 silent that had already been through keycap swaps likely close to double-digits! Unfortunately before I investigated up-close & learned that these updated/less-drastic thick stems are STILL too stressful to be worth the risk (these are the same style of ā€œfriction fitā€ stem-bars that caused the notorious cap-shattering problems with the original BOX switches. And Kailh have continued to use the molds today - most recently released, AFAIK, being the IDOBAO Ɨ Kailh ā€œElf Ultrasilentā€ that utilize identical DP stems & housings w/ silencing inserts).

Ā Ā Ā :b: curā€™fl, yall

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My Ergo Clears arrived a few days ago - I finally got around to trying them.

The stock spring was about what I expected. It felt about ~67 G-ish.

Very comparable to a stock JWICK T1, in fact. Also reminiscent of the MODE Tomorrow and Aflion Runner spring. Punchier at the top than a Brown-type spring. It feels as if the Ergo Clear relies more on the spring for ā€˜tactilityā€™ than the T1 does, the latter having a more tactile stem I think.

The stock spring is a little overpowered for 1U keys, IMHO. It should be good for stabilized keys and spacebar.

I tried 3 types of aftermarket springs: 68 G Progressive Spirit, 55 G MStone 18mm, and 63.5 G Spirit.

Of the three, 55 G 18mm was the most suitable for factory-lubed Ergo Clears. They are even punchier than the stock springs. The stock springs are fairly strong on the upstroke, producing a kind of ā€˜flatā€™ bump on the way up. Itā€™s a smaller ā€œdotā€ on the upstroke with 55 G 18mm, as they are less slowed-down by the tactile notch.

68 G Progressive was the least suitable for factory-lubed Ergo Clears. I have only had success with these springs using heavily-lubed MX Clears [3204]. They catch more on the upstroke, whereas the stock springs are more linear. Certainly, they are the lightest at the top, of all springs tried so far. But this is not a spring for unlubed Ergo Clears.

Finally, I tried 1 Ergo Clear with 63.5 G Spirit, which is pretty good with Pro Purples, and a traditional Ergo Clear weight. While they are not quite as powerful on the upstroke as stock, they are gentle and subtle - the effect I was trying to achieve with 68 G Progressive. The tactile bump feels larger but less-dense (more granular) with 63.5 than with the stock springs. More airy.

In terms of sound, on a bare NCR-80 PCB, they sound lower-pitched and substantially quieter than AKKO POM Browns. Or at least quieter. Compared with Mode Tomorrow, the Ergo Clears sound less-lubed.

Iā€™ve only been typing on these for a few minutes so far. As it stands, I would build factory-lubed Ergo Clears using 63.5 G Spirit springs, to get ā€˜richer Browns.ā€™ Function-wise, 55 G 18mm is superior. But very punchy.

Personally, I can see why switches like the T1 have supplanted the Ergo Clears. I prefer their force-curve. Somehow, you can move to the next switch with less probability of bottoming-out. And they are fast. But more strain on the wrists than Ergo Clears.

As they are punchier than MX Browns and derivatives, I think Ergo Clears and T1s would be better for data entry, spreadsheets, and angry letters, but thatā€™s subjective.

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I should add: based on a quick look at the insides while replacing springs, these are lightly-lubed compared with customs, but heavier than typical Cherry.

There was visible white lube in the circular area of the bottom housing where the spring rests, which I donā€™t see in other Cherry switches. The side rails didnā€™t have visible glistening lube, so if they are lubed, it is very subtle. The springs are lubed, and have visible lube pooling at the base. There is some visible lube on parts of the stems, but far less than on custom-lubed Ergo Clears.

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I totally agree with you

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Great set of responses so far, I especially enjoyed your detailed review @Deadeye - very insightful.

I was hoping that Cherry would have taken the opportunity to fix the tight stem issue that has plague clears users since forever, alas it seems not.

I just received my shipping notification from CandyKeys, Iā€™ll hopefully be able to try mine as early as this week, by the sound of things so far, theyā€™re exactly what I was hoping theyā€™d be.

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I got some Cherry Clears in from Cannonkeys this past week and I wanted to share some initial non-typing impressions comparing the bump profile in hand and the smoothness.

My favorite switch that I use in my main keyboard has been Durock Medium Tactiles for quite a while now, which are modeled on Cherry Clears. The DMTs Iā€™m using have a very light coat of 3204 on rails and stems with TX XL (18mm) 60g springs and Deskey films. Iā€™m lubing my Clears with a slightly heavier coat of 3204 on rails only as I aim for as much of a ā€œfrictionlessā€ feel, and the prior DMTs ended up feeling a little sluggish with rail+stem lube.

I would rank the smoothness of these Clears compared to the DMTs as follows: Unlubed Clear<Lubed Clear<= Factory lubed DMT < Lubed DMT. The DMTs get really close to the frictionless feel that I desire, whereas the Clears are definitely smooth post lube but you do still hear some scratch. Its not the egregious scratch that one would expect based on older pretool molds, but thereā€™s some definite texture to the push feel. I expect that this is mostly unnoticeable when typing at speed though, and some light break-in should close the gap to the DMTs.

I find the Clears to have more pre-travel and a smaller but sharper feeling tactile bump. Looking at the stems corroborates this for me as the DMTs have a slightly more rounded bump in the tactile leg. However, the Clears are consistently lighter in terms of peak tactility - when testing by pressing two switches together with the same spring and lube combination, the Clears have consistently actuated first. The impressions of the rounder bump lines up with Pylonsā€™ testing of the two and his force graphs. I would have to disagree with @Deadeyeā€™s impressions earlier here on the Clears having the more ā€œassertiveā€ bump, but this is most likely because the Dragonfruits have really loose tops/housings while the Durock Medium Tactiles are quite tight housings with low amounts of stem wobble.

I have to finish lubing these and use Geonā€™s stem trimmer to reduce the size of the stems, but so far I like what I have. If Durock Medium Tactiles didnā€™t exist then I would be using Clears in most of my builds for sure. However, based on my preferences in switch smoothness and the slightly rounder bump profile of the DMTs, I prefer those even at the standard price of $0.55 USD per switch from standard vendors. Right now I can get them from the official Durock Aliexpress storefront for $0.40 USD per switch which is a really competitive price compared to the $0.38 USD of standard Cherry Clears.

These are going to go into my Keychron Q5 I use for work so Iā€™ll be able to use both long term and update with more typing impressions when theyā€™re ready.

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Have you ever tried GAZZEW Boba U4T(x) switches? You might prefer these over Cherry Clears. At least, that is what happened to meā€¦

I havenā€™t tried Boba U4Ts yet but I have had good time on Durock T1s, Durock Sunflowers and Holy Pandas. That style of big rounded bump just isnā€™t what I like to use in my main keyboard - but they are good!

I prefer medium tactile switches for long term typing in the style of Ergo Clears, which is where my interest in the Durock Medium Tactiles and Ergo Clears is.

What a great and timely post!

Itā€™s very accurate, and I concur. I have a DMT build, and 100 RARA V2 whose springs were obnoxious. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Built many Ergo Clears. Theyā€™ll never be as smooth as DMT, and they have a different bump.

A person on another forum was getting back into keyboards after 7 years and wondered if there had been any advancements in switches :star_struck:

So I have been providing information about Ergo Clears and DMT.

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If youā€™re willing to suffer, Iā€™ve confirmed that 3 coats of RO-59 on MX Clear stem makes them darn smooth. Donā€™t have DMT so canā€™t say if theyā€™re just as smooth.

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