All of the switches that are advertised as “extremely tactile” tend to meet that expectation, but for me, the bump is too close to the top. The majority of the travel of BOX Royals & Zealios V2 feels linear, just with massive resistance at the very top of the travel. I am looking for a switch that is highly tactile, but has the bump a bit further down in the travel. Any suggestions?
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Hmm, this actually a tough question to answer. I just pulled out my switch tester & pretty much all MX tactile switches have the bump starting very close to the top of the keypress. I don’t have all of the MX tactile switches out there, but I do have a decent selection including V2 Zealios & BOX Royals to compare the others too. From messing around with them real quick the three that standout to me that kinda meet your requirements are Holy Pandas & their variants, Outemu Sky with the v. 2.2 stems, & V1 Zealios. All of them have a tiny bit of travel before the tactile bump starts & are very tactile (sans the V1 Zealios, I guess they would be considered a more mild tactility nowadays). Mind you it’s not very much much travel before the bump, but noticeable vs V2s & Royals.
Have you tried any tactile SKCM ALPS switches? They have a completely different type of feel compared to MX tactile switches, but may fit what you’re looking for better than MX. To me tactile ALPS feel to have the bump closer to the end of the keypress, but because of how they generate tactility with two leaves sandwiching the stem the tactile event is much more integrated with the keypress IMO. It’s hard to explain, but tactile ALPS have a smoother tactility that makes a keypress feel like just one event. Unlike tactile MX switches which to me feel like a two event keypress. As in you feel the weighting increase up to the bump then it falls off pretty dramatically afterwards with most of them. Whereas with tactile ALPS the weighting ramps up smoothly through the whole key press & doesn’t fall off nearly as much afterwards, also there is much less travel left after the tactile event with them.
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Outemu Sky?
Got some lubed them, but I have not yet build a board with them. But from my limited experience with them I think they should be great.
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Ergo Clears? A nice bump in the middle; and actually in the middle. Before the popularity of moving the bump forward, this was the go-to for tactiles.
Zealios v1 switches also have a more middle located tactile event, but the v1s aren’t currently in production and can be much more difficult to find.
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V1 Zandas (v1 zealios stems in panda/gsus/yok whatever…etc) housings are kinda like this. The bump is higher up than a normal v1 zealio, but its more tactile. Holy pandas and V2’s do seem higher than Zandas, so I’d call it towards the top but not at the top
Edit: Also if you can go clicky, BOX Navy and Jades
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yeah, cream alps are some of my favorite switches. its hard to find alps board in good condition, and of course i can’t put my mx keycaps on them. i know there are pcbs with alps mounth, but finding loose alps is even harder than finding full boards in good condition.
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there’s still a bunch of V1 Zealios in stock at KBDFans:
https://kbdfans.cn/collections/zealios-switches/products/zealio-swtich-tactile
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i love where the tactile bump in the travel of zealios, but they just have a very weak tactility compared to a lot of other switches that are out there right now.
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Then go for meme switch combos, I personally love that aspect of this hobby as is, and taking some zealio v1 stems and putting them into some cherry retooled blue housings, or outemu, or hell, even some zeal v2 housings would give it a slightly bigger bump than that of the normal v1 housings.
Mixing and Matching parts and pieces is the best part of this hobby so why not embrace it? I think you might enjoy it.
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If there isn’t a name for Zealio V1 stems in a V2 housing yet, I’m proposing “Zealio HD V1.5 Remix”
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Have you ever tried mod-m ? A bit wobbly but nice
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Good call I didn’t even think of them when I posted, they do fit the bill pretty good & have more punch than V1 Zealios IME. Also I bet if you got some those no-slit clear Outemu top housings from hbheroinbob over on Reddit they could solve the wobbliness of tactile MODS. Not 100% sure the MOD stems will fit through those top housings though, as I know some stems like V1 Zealios are too wide to properly fit through them. They are exceptionally tight top housings IME.
Mods are partially so wobbly because they have a significantly smaller stem.
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I wanted to suggest this as well. The Mod-M stood out to me when I picked up a switch tester.
Mods are pretty great! In a modern perspective, they’re sort of a halfway between Holy Whatevers with the long, drawn out bumps and good ol’ Clears, with the sharper bumps. But holy moly are they pricey.
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I forgot ,the outemu skies are usually half of the price you pay for zealios
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Any thought on Topre compared to tactile MX? I always been satisfied with MX but now I feel like expanding…Are Topre that good? I mean, I tried some at the New Jersey Meetup last year but Idk, my mind didn’t seized the experience.
The silent skies have very little pre-travel however. You would need to remove the dampening pads (you are able to do this by design) for full travel.
I also didn’t have serious wobble issues with Mod. Maybe I’ve become inured to wobble and don’t notice it anymore… although I’m told they were retooled at some point so maybe I never tried the old ones.
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Topre’s good, but not for Topre prices. I absolutely love my Novatouch but it’s not worth the money for someone who’s relatively on the fence. And since this is the thread about tactile switches with the bump further in the travel, well, that’s absolutely not what Topre is. If you can get a used board or are willing to tinker with a Plum and put in some of their aftermarket domes, it’s worth a shot, but if you’re happy with all the different types of fun MX compatibles have to offer, then there’s not really much reason to.
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On the contrary to @Lesbian, I think that Topre is worth trying if you’re curious. I’d avoid a novatouch and go for a realforce 87u or FC660C since they are able to retain a good amount of their value in case you want to resell it. Topre has a pretty interesting feel, but I think it has some adjustment time.
I think Topre takes extremely well to lubing. When I got my first board, it took me about 1-2 weeks before I really started to enjoy it. Once I lubed it I saw the light. It can definitely be pricey, but a lubed RF87u is cheaper than a good deal of custom keyboards where cases can cost over the price of the RF87u. Price and value is relative of course.
The HHKB I think is also a pretty good option if you are adamant about modding. If you aren’t planning on doing too much or maybe just lubing, then I think the RF87u 55g is a more solid pick. The FC660Cs are decent, but they’re just not preferred format.
Last note, when I refer to the RF87u, I mean the r1, not the new r2s that have released recently. I haven’t had a chance to try those yet.