I believe the only significant barriers to producing an MX-stem/pinout switch with alps-style internals would be unrelated to intellectual property law, as long as its producers avoided infringing on Zeal’s patent-in-potentia on the modifiable leaf, but if anybody’s thinking of doing it I’d hope they’d hire a lawyer to make sure.
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I’m curious about these switches but idk why the tactile and linear counterparts are barely mentioned. They’re focusing all the marketing on the clicky ones. That, and no reviews yet.
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Chyrosan opened the switch on Youtube, and he said a review is coming. So I’m fully expecting that soon.
I agree that the tactile component is very interesting, and without that information, I haven’t ordered any of these yet.
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I just placed my pre-order today… Even if I don’t want to use them long term, I think it’s worth having a set just to check them out for myself…
Then again, god help me if I like them and want to put them in a bunch of builds…
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Im not a into clicky at all, so still waiting for linear and tactile sound tests.
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Interesting. If you would have posted this without a title I probably would have guessed they were Box Jades or Box Pinks with a click bar. The definitely sound better than click jacket switches, but I’d have to hear and feel them in person to see how they compare to Alps.
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Interesting - I’m using Box Jades right now, and when I heard that I thought “that sounds more like an Alps switch…”
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It does sound a bit like SKCM Blue. Bottom out sound is tad too strong (solid?) although I’m not sure how much of that is due to Clikiez’s CAP like stem design, thick SA cap, or carbon fiber plate. Strong bottom out sound does remind me of Keymacs board sound.
Would love to hear how clicky and tactile Clickiez sound with different board, plate, and keycap combo.
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I imagine that linearized they won’t feel much different to normal Cherry-style linears. These just seem to add a chamber for the click leaf.
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I imagine that the linear versions won’t be as great. Just speculations, but I’ve had to many 4 in 1 pens they sell at the Book Fair to know that if anything is a jack of all trades (in this case, clickiez with there 3 in 1) will never be as good as a dedicated tool for doing one thing (like a dedicated Linear or Tactile).
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I think that is a bad analogy. A 4 in 1 pen is a device where they’ve stuffed four items into the space of about two. These switches have all of their components to start with, to convert them you remove pieces.
An additive process versus a subtractive process is quite a different thing.
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I feel there are two ways of looking at this upcoming switch:
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At $1.3/switch, it’s ridiculously high. Given the plethora of other MX switches that are available, the value proposition is rather poor.
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This switch, if it truly replicates an Alps experience, makes “Alps” truly accessible. Without needing to harvest, clean-up or compromise on keycap compatibility or old PCBs. You could splurge on the Clickiez whilst having a relatively affordable build with modern sensibilities (a cheap qmk/via/vial PCB, multiple plates, cases and layouts etc).
Hence, I feel that unless the Clickiez is a bona fide Alps replica (if I’m even more wishful, an improvement to Alps), one would still be better off with a Box clickbar switch
Well, there is an improvment over Alps switches by the nature of replicating them in a Cherry form: resistance to dirt. Another thing that is maybe an improvement (although some will question this) there won’t be a need to try to uncover the Alps lubricant to refurbish the switches.
I don’t see Clickiez as being a clone of Alps, but something close to an Alps in Cherry form.
As for the pricing: I agree it’s pretty high. But, I suspect that it’s high because of all the investment in tooling that has gone into making these switches, so over time the price will likely come down.
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Two attributes of ALPS switches I liked but missing from Clickiez are:
- More room in the housing.
- Nearly flat housing bottom surface.
I think both adds a lot to ALPS’ distinct sound signature. For Clickiez, I think PE Foam mod which goes between switch and PCB may bring its sound closer to ALPS.
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These switches might be good candidates for those “switch tripods” - basically a version of the PE foam mod that stays with the switch instead of the PCB. It’s supposed to deepen the sound signature, but I’ve yet to test them myself.
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I tried them. I can’t tell a difference at all. Seems to be snake oil
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Not only seemingly snake oil, these always seemed like a bad ideal to me cause they’ll keep the switch from properly fitting all the way down into the PCB. Not the hugest deal & doesn’t really affect usage, but it can definitely affect sound & feel. A few of my earliest builds I messed up by not making sure all the switches were properly seated in the PCB & man did they feel + sound much better after a proper rebuild.
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Has their products went down in price over time? from the little research I’ve seen the Zeals v2 start at $0.75 per switch, they’re $1.1 now.
I think they sound nice, different enough from the Clickbars, price is too high for me (and it’s too heavy, I like light switches).
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Well, that’s typically an indicator that either (a) they are charging what the market will bear, or (b) they had to adjust pricing to handle costs. Not the best thing for customers, but (a) is understandable from a company needing to be profitable to stay in business, and (b) well, just look at the shipping costs, and manufacturing costs…things have gotten a bit wacky over the past 2 years.
So, it’s still possible they will come down in the longer term, but might stay up in price for the next year or two.
Well, the latter is certainly true; less than half a year ago Gateron increased their cost-of-manu and Zeal passed that along to consumers as a 10¢ price increase.
Beyond that, there’s likely some amount of the former as well but considering most people don’t do custom switches with Gateron due to:
- High MOQ
- Unwillingness to do custom nameplates
- Cost being high
I’d be fairly comfortable saying it’s a mix of both that nobody other than Zeal can speak to and that anybody else claiming to have a clear answer on should be treated with a hefty heaping of suspicion.
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