Hi everyone, this is DY from Unikeys
Unikeys
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I am thrilled to bring you the IC of the X Switch designed by XY Studio.
Switch Type: Linear
Manufacturer: BSUN/YOK
Stem material: Modified LY
Top and Bottom Housings: POK
Operating Force: 45g
Bottom-out Force: 52g
Pre-travel: 1.6mm
Total Travel: 3.5mm
Factory Lubed: 205 and 105 mix on sliders. Dry film lube on the siders of the stem and on the spring.
What is so unique about the X switch is its choice of materials. I believe none of you have tried a switch that uses POK as both the top and bottom housing materials. The POK material is more uncommon as it just has been introduced to the market by BSUN and JWK. The POK material’s full name is polyketone. Its coefficient of friction is 0.04 which is only higher than LY (0.03) making it the top 2 smoothest material used to make switches. It is also super durable as its wear resistance is 14 times stronger than POM. Its shock resistance is 2.3 times better than Nylon and 1.4 times better than POM. I don’t want to bore you with the statistics, so in conclusion, the POK material makes the switch smooth, clacky, and durable.
The LY stem is fairly new but not uncommon. In recent months, we see LY material being used frequently on JWK switches. LY is known for its smoothness and the high-pitched sound signature that it creates. The most well-known switch with an LY stem is probably the SOTC switch which I believe some of you have already tried.
The combination of the POK and LY materials makes the X switch very smooth, and the precise factory lube from BSUN ensures that you can use it directly after purchase. If you are interested in the X switch, welcome to join our discord channel to learn more about it and get updates on the GB date. Thank you.
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Pretty unique switch. Sounds promising. I wish it wasn’t such short travel, but everything else sounds interesting.
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I’m loving the switch set I have with POK stems, so I’m definitely keen on trying these!
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I’m going to wait for full travel POK-LY combo but this looks promising.
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I’m kind of surprised to see BSUN is still around. I haven’t seen that name since the whole debacle with the Panda switch moulds. I guess they mainly focus on the Chinese market and we just do t see many of their switches in the west or something.
I think you are right. They kind of disappeared for a while, but in recent months they have been launching new switches with different designers quite frequently. Their new materials such POK and factory lube job have been recognized by the Chinese market.
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Thanks to my general o̶b̶s̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ *interest for alternative component materials I’m curious; but when did JWK or BSUN actually release their first switch containing POK? I’m sure it must have been a little while ago in the Eastern market somewhere.
I only ask because POK has already been utilised by a handful of other keyboard-aligned manu’s up to this point, some as early as the first-half of 2022 at least (KTT, a bunch from HaiMu & some Haimu-CIY, M.Z., … wouldn’t be surprised if there was more around TaoBao).
   But as always, in this keyboard Proprietary Plastics War we don’t really know which formulation/brand of POK is used in these X Switches. “POK” has existed for years now—decades, even—and like all engineered plastics it’s just a subclass in the larger family of Polyketones (PK). So the different forms of POK all have distinct makeups & unique physical properties with different hardnesses, friction coefficients, etc.
Maybe they have enough insider knowledge to know theirs is unique. Maybe it’s just marketing Snake Oil, and they don’t think the differences matter… Maybe it’s Maybelline™!
I haven’t seen any others with full-POK housings though, and the LY stem is a nice bonus! I just hope they don’t come with a phat markup because JWK×BSUN collab & Material Marketing (POK is specifically making an industry takeover specifically because in this resin shortage, POK was more available than Nylon, AND both easier & cheaper to make…).
Also, you can count me as another someone who’d definitely be more interested in a tactile version: ~3.8mm (non-pole would be neat!), pointed mid-travel bump on the small-side (like a CAPV2 GoldenBrown, or Outva Yin), maybe a 55g B.O. long spring… 
We’re always short on fun & different!
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Hi there! I haven’t seen many switches that use POK in the past. Another one I can think of that uses POK and is available for purchase in the international market is the F3 switch by FBB. The F3 switch is manufactured by SWK. Of course, there are more switches that use POK in the Chinese market, and they are made by various manufacturers such as JWICK, BSUN, Jerzzi, etc.
I agree that most of the materials that manufacturer uses to make switches are not rare. They are just subclasses of plastics like you said. I think the different manufacturers out there are just trying different materials to see if they work well on a switch. If they discover something interesting, they can go big on the marketing and say they discovered something “new”.
Speaking from a personal stand of point, I like the POK material because it is smooth and makes a switch clack. But that is just a personal preference thing.
Alright. Let’s see a POK 60% case pronto! More the merrier.
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Hi everyone, the X Switch GB will happen on April 28th. I will make an official announcement by then. Please stay tuned
