So I’ve had a DAS Keyboard with Cherry MX Blues since 2011, and absolutely love the feel of the keyboard.
It’s my home board, and I love it. Finally got tired of the membrane ones at work, and got a KeyChron V6 Max to be able to play around and find what works best for me in a work setting.
I got Keychron’s K Pro Switches in Blue and Yellow, and I REALLY don’t like the yellows. I tend to rest my fingers on the keys with a slight bit of force; enough to actuate the yellows and cause mistypes a decent amount.
The Keychron K Pro Blues aren’t bad, I don’t mind the sound, neither do my coworkers, but they’re a bit off compared to the glorious sound of my home board. As well, it may be the keycaps I have currently (Keychron’s OSA profile), but while it’s not bad, it’s just not me. Can’t quite put it into the words. Not sure if the Blues feel off because the travel distance or some other factor. They’re extremely liveable for me, but just aren’t the Goldilocks zone for me.
What I like about the MX Blues in my das is, that I guess I type a bit heavy handed, and really bottom out the switches when I type rather than just getting to the actuation point. Never really truly tested it, but typing this out I realize I’m almost always hitting bottom out before I move my fingers on. The travel distance feels good, the point of actuation is noticeable to me and I can tell when I’ve actually pressed a key and know when I’ve done a typo without even looking at my board.
So I’m not sure if there are any other switches I should consider putting into my Keychron, or if I should just get a set of the MX Blues since I like them so much from my DAS?
Moving on, MX Blues are a step above many of their color-coded clones, but they’re not particularly well regarded, statistically speaking. That said, if they are what you like, then without any irony they are the best switches for you, and you should grab some. Cherry recently redid their molds and released “MX2A” switches which might make them feel a little smoother. I know the linears in the new molds are well regarded.
Beyond that, a lot of this is going to really turn on whether you like the click, or tolerate the click. Keychrons K Pro Yellow, as opposed to their banana, are a light-ish linear switch, and while certainly not super light, as a fellow heavy typist I would probably find them frustrating the same way you do. They should have the same travel as MX Blue, but same spec doesn’t mean same feel. You can stay in the linear world and simply get a heavier switch. Just look for a weight of at least 60 to match the blues, and maybe consider more, like the various vendors’ “Black” switches (including in the new MX2A molds). I have some JWICK yellow (brands are maddeningly inconsistent) that are heavy linears and I like them.
If you want a bump but no click, then a tactile of similar weight could hit the spot. I find browns just a hair too light, but the Bananas in my wife’s Keychron seem nice enough, and I have some rather heavy Holy Panda clones I got for cheap that I quite like as well.
If you really LIKE the click though, the Kailh Box are the go-to recommendation these days. They’re reasonably priced and use a different mechanism to get a cleaner click than the Blues and their various offspring. White are very close to the blues in weight, and some vendors (e.g. 8BitDo) are starting to use them in place of Blue clones for their entry-level clicky boards. I wouldn’t be surprised if Das eventually does as well. I prefer to go whole hog and get Navy, as I bottom out with every keystroke and want some meaningful tactility and resistance. Jades and Pale Blues are in between.
There are many more exotic options, and if you want more recommendations on Linears or Tactiles, wait around a bit, and folks with more sophisticated palates will be by.
@wjrii gave a great response here. Not much I can add other than if you are a clicky switch person you may also want to try Gateron Melodics, they use a a pretty novel click mechanism that a lot of people really like.
I ordered some Box White v2’s as well as some Navies since they were rather cheap and were from the same vendor.
I also found some keycaps that I MUCH prefer in cherry profile that have made the KeyChron Blues a lot nicer for me to handle. The keys just fit my fingers a lot more.
Just now to make sure that my coworkers tolerate the click!
Kailh Box are a very good choice for clickies (I love the Pale Blue variant by the way) but I would also mention the Gateron Melodics which are excellent. Try and get a sample of these too
That would make sense. Cherry and OEM are fairly similar in that they’re both sculpted cylindrical profiles. I think Keychron OSA might, strictly speaking, be one too, but the rounded keytops make them type a bit more like some of your retro-style spherical profiles. It might not feel quite right if you have a specific preference.
This discussion reminded me of these switches that NK_ came out with a few years ago. Apparently they weren’t very popular as they’ve stopped stocking them:
I actually liked the sound and feel of them, built a board for a friend with them who was looking for clicky but not aggressively so.
My Box White v2’s and Box Navy’s arrived. I tried em both out on my discrete numpad, and really liked the feel of the whites. Just swapped em into my main board, and they are a dream! The sound is a lot nicer compared to the Keychrons in my opinion (They actually sound better on the numpad with the epomaker keycaps, but), and the typing feeling is almost exactly what I was looking for! And one of my key problems, whereby I’d type too fast and the shift key wouldn’t disengage as I typed the next letter is basically gone and I can type at my normal speeds!
Still gotta replace the entire board (Didn’t do the F-key row + arrows and attached numpad), but I’m loving them for typing! They’re also a bit more muted in how they are compared to the Keychron Blues; still plenty clicky for my liking but not as possibly annoying for cubicle mates!
