Fresh design of MX stem internals - Gateron Caps

Lube squirt gun?

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There is no good situation in the history of ever that corresponds to the sentence ā€œlube squirt gun.ā€

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Going to be interesting to see how this will affect the sound! Can’t wait to see a sound test.

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What now, I can only imagine good scenarios were u need that. :upside_down_face:

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You know, I just realized how annoying this name may be.

ā€œHave you tried gateron caps?ā€

ā€œyou mean the blanks?ā€

ā€œno not those caps, the switch capsā€

ā€œcaps on switches are called keycaps, yes I’ve tried gateron keycapsā€

ā€œno, the switches that are capsā€

ā€œswitches as keycaps?ā€

ā€œno, the switches called capsā€

ā€œcap switches?ā€

ā€œcap switchesā€¦ā€

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Yeah, good luck Googling it!

Gater’s on first!

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Okay… so I have some of these now. I bought the milky with yellow stems. I’m still not sure why they exist. The do sound good stock. That is the only thing that is great about them. I believe this comes from the generous oil lube on side rails and legs from the factory. Comically long springs. A lot of friction when pressed off center. This is especially noticable when you press on the north side of a keycap installed on these switches. However, scratch is present in every position except for dead center keypresses.

Pros:
Sound like a well-lubed switch without much lube drag (decent job with oil lube from the factory)
Packaging has built in acrylic switch tester/lube station

Cons:
Scratchy
Parts that don’t play with other switches: Bottom, stem, weird long spring

I guess they are nice when put to the purpose of typing. You don’t notice the scratch when typing quickly. I don’t understand the redesign. Is the new design what gives them a better sound signature? I need to clean the lube off of one of the switches and test to be sure.

TLDR:
New design offers no real benefits other than sound. Switches are scratchy with off-center presses but nothing drastic. Similar to cherry and other Gateron milky housings.

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I’ve been typing on these for about 1/2 a day now, and I’m going to say that I recommend you guys try these just to hear them. They sound really nice. It might be the best sounding linear I’ve ever used. I’m not sure what causes it. I don’t konw if it’s the lube or the new design or perhaps a new type of plastic., but it’s very nice. Definitely a thud instead of a clack. Now, if they can just find a way to make them smoother.

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It may be the sound of the housing pole’s flat top area (a circle) striking the bottom of the stem. With normal MX switch, it’s the stem’s bottom edges (two thin lines) that strikes the housing. And with Halo and Cream, it’s the sharp tip (one point) of the stem poll. So the striking surface area of this switch is much larger.

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It is a nice sound with a softer yet more solid bottoming out feel to the fingers. Gotta say, I like them. I like them more than something like a normal gateron clear/black or milky switch.

But again, if smooth is your thing, these won’t fit the bill.

I did experiment with swapping out the top. Seems a LOT of the scratch comes from the top. It feels smoother with an ink top or a JWK top. But there’s still drag/slip-stick on off-center presses. Less scratch but still not skating smooth like a JWK.

If you do happen to get some of these, do yourself a favor and don’t judge them until you put them in a full board and type for a while. Something pleasant about this switch when typing.

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ooooh might want to pick some up!

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The GB for these is still open on Novelkeys. I ended up grabbing 3 of the 35pc packs of the milky variant cause of the pricing. Can’t really go wrong at roughly $0.26 a switch IMHO!

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They also have browns & blues in the Caps housing, https://www.keychron.com/products/gateron-cap-switch-set?variant=32295670743129. Although they are only available in packs of 12 pcs., look to have the regular Gateron clear top housings (polycarb I believe?), & come with 3 pin SMD compatible bottom housing.

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If you preordered The Yellow caps from NK, shipping is starting! I just got my tracking info for my batch of 105 today.

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I’ve been typing on my milky ones for an hour or two now, and I’m really impressed - especially since these can be had for ~40 cents each. (shoutout to @davisthegreat for stocking these @3DKeebs and shipping them fast)

@pixelpusher is right; these aren’t skate-smooth like Inks or Tealios - but they are worth checking out because there’s something about them.

I think it’s a few things, most of which revolve around that new internal shape. The key-travel itself feels more stable, and the contact of the plastic parts has a pleasant sound and feel. It seems really subtle in-hand, but I have to agree again that they really shine once they’re in a board.

They don’t skate - but they’re at least as buttery as a typical Gat Yellow, with the aforementioned benefits for your extra fifteen cents.

I think these represent another very welcome entry into my favorite sector of the keeb market; extremely solid ā€œmiddle-shelfā€ stuff that genuinely approaches the next shelf up. At least with these milky versions, no money is spent frivolously - but what’s spent is used well.

There’s a good recent thread here about how this hobby relates to diminishing utility - and I think products like these do the most to keep even the material side of the hobby from being dominated by that.

If all you’re after is a keyboard that provides an excellent typing experience, you don’t have to hollow-out your wallet - and in [current year] you can get so much more for your money than you could five years ago. For me, these switches are a welcome part of that.

Whether or not you start at (or stay with) a modest-yet-solid foundation, there’s basically no ceiling when it comes to expression (or what you can spend on it).

For me, these are very stable and satisfying linears that represent a subtle but significant iteration in the MX-compatible space. I’m interested to see if Gateron develops any tactiles on this foundation!

Edit: they already have blue and brown versions - hmmm…

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Decided to throw these in my hotswap board & give them a try stock. I’ve been using them for almost an hour now & my impressions are positive so far! Slightly scratchier than most high end linears, but very similar scratch to any other Gat yellow I’ve tried. The springs feel a bit heavier than their stated 63g bottom out to me. Although a 63.5g progressive spring is the heaviest one I’ve been using lately so it may just be me there. The sound is great IMO! I have them on a CF plate right now & they have a nice thock to them, but still lean towards the more poppier side of the sound spectrum. With lube these will be a fairly deep sounding switch I think.

Not sure I want to put these in my 8X MkII now that I find they feel a little heavier than I expected, but will be lubing these up & keeping them in my test board for now. I’ll update this post after I do it!

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Sounds great but scratchy makes this switch an ideal candidate for polishing. Tempting.

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adding this reveiw to the site if you don’t mind - also restock SOON

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I’d be delighted - glad you like it! Really enjoying the switches.

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