Ergo Clears vs Zealios v1 vs Zealios v2

I didn’t know they strictly used the v1 Matias switches. It’s cool that someone is still mass-producing Alps compatible keyboards these days (other than Matias). I have a V80 and after replacing some defective/chattering switches and swapping the case to an aluminum one I have to say it’s a very good keyboard.

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I’ve only used Simplified alps and their clones - but, strangely, my favorite ALPS switch at the moment are the simplified black and white switches, some of the less-appreciated ones.


Looks like Zealios V1 could be making a come back. Not a fan of zeal price though.

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I have so many conflicting feelings on this…

  • I would probably buy some.

  • Please don’t put them in some “atomic purple” housing just so they can be a 1.20$ instead of a 1$

  • Lack of mid-bump! I think he is a little late to the market… We were getting a new ergo-clear like switch every week there for a hot minute. Taro Ball, Penguins, Durock Mid-tactile. Those are just off the top of my head. There are plenty of options if you want to get in the ballpark of Zeal V1s if you ask me.

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There is a lack of mid-intensity, mid-bump [i.e. Cherry-style] tactiles on the market. Lots of Brown clones, but few truly Ergo-Clear derivatives.

Like you, I am conflicted about this, because I would rather see an emphasis on decent feel and utilitarian parts than some super-special $1.20 Royal Scaevola transparent housing. Like, fix your springs, Gateron. And no more wobble.

Zealio V1 style is a worthwhile design, so it should be produced again. No way am I buying V2. But prices have to reflect the new reality.

The only thing I would disagree with, @djmantis, is that we’re not entirely getting new Ergo-Clear switches all the time. All three of the switches you mentioned are just Durock Medium Tactile. I have lots of the variants, and while some are nice, they are not Ergo Clears except in their level of intensity. The bump is more top-mounted than Ergo Clear, and it gives a more ‘punching-through-paper’ feel than the Cherry switch. It’s more of a ‘collapse switch’ than a mid-bump.

The closest thing to Zealio V1 is maybe the Everglide Jade, maybe, and it would be nice to have something that doesn’t require so much lube.

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I read that the remastered version of V1 will have an opaque housing, which means lower cost and a deeper sound profile than the current V2.

I am late to the keyboard world. V1 was already discontinued when I got into keyboard. But V2 was the very first switch that I really liked, and I still find them fun to type on these days. So maybe I will keep an eye on them when these come out. I do hope they will give these a reasonable price.

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This is why I’m so conflicted. If this had come out in 2019-2020, when there were so few medium-tactiles on the market, it would have hit big.

Now that many have been exploring Ergo Clear derivatives in the absence of V1, the return of V1 will make less of an impact.

It mystified a lot of people that V1 was entirely removed and replaced with V2, at a time when heavy tactiles were proliferating. There was significant chatter 2019-2020 about the need to bring back V1.

But now, when we have Durock Light Tactile, Durock Medium Tactile, AKKO CS Ocean Blue, Kailh Polia, and Naevys trying to offer a medium-bump profile, this is the time Zeal decides to return V1.

After Glarses made a hugely-popular video saying that Ergo Clears were what MX Browns should be, and the blind switch test video showed people preferring MX Brown and hating Zealio V2, maybe 3-6+ months ago would have been the time to get the Zeal V1 train rolling. But whatever.

There aren’t many people actually executing the Ergo Clear concept well, so I do hope Zealio V1 makes a return.

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Yep. This is sort of why I am a bit leaning toward linear these days. Tactile has so many different profiles and possibilities. There is never going to be a perfect profile because, at the end of the day, people just like what they are getting used to. And I feel like that you can get used to pretty much anything once you give them enough time :sweat_smile:

I think the V1 is going to target people that entered the keyboard market after V1 disappeared. For people that has been in this hobby for years, V1 rerun may not be that interesting.

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You might say I’m leaning into linear these days, since the tactiles I’m using are so light!

But yeah, I’m kind of in the middle with the Zealio V1 thing.

It’s the reverse-image of your story. I got into modding in 2018 when Zealio V1 was already a thing. I finally got to test some in late 2018, and I liked the V1, but when I started making preparations for a build, it had been surprise discontinued, and V2 was all that’s available.

I actually have a board of Zilent V2. But I would like to build Zealio V1. It’s good that they will use an opaque and better-sounding housing. The functioning is more important than anything else. Some people say that Durock Medium Tactile is a clone of Zealio V1, but they don’t feel quite like the Zealio V1 I remember. Zealio V1 seemed smoother, more gradual, maybe sharper. But it was a while ago.

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I go back to my zeal v1 board occasionally and the amount of stem wobble surprises me (in a bad way) every single time. It’s seriously jarring, I don’t have anything else that moves around so much when my fingers are just resting on the keys.

For what it’s worth those were from production round 2, so I’m sure they tightened them up by the final version, but it still makes me not want to buy more of them.

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This is good purely for the fact that newbies will have an attractive tactile option that is not an awful top-bump holypanda fanboi knockoff.

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I sympathize.

Zealio V1 were known for wobble even by the standards of the day [when housings like OUTEMU Sky were considered permissible], and were considered ‘wobbly’ in direct comparison to Cherry MX Clears. Which is saying something.

But it was tightened up somewhat by R7 or so, IIRC, not so glaring by R11. According to the discussion on Discord, they are looking at trying to provide a tighter housing this time.

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