Kailh BOX Mute Jade first impressions

So, my Mute Jade switches from NovelKeys came in and I installed them into one of my QuietKey retrofit PCBS (example of one installed above). Here is my experience so far with them:

First off, there is a tolerance issue with the plastic pins, they are way too small to secure/align the switch properly. The footprint I used holds Gateron and Cherry switches very snugly but these BOX switches just fall out. I used some hot glue to stick the switches to the PCB before I soldered them. It’s so bad that some of the keycaps look wonky since the switches aren’t aligned perfectly. Also I don’t know why they got rid of the drain holes on the bottom of the switch.

The tactility and weight are NOT anything like normal BOX Jades. These remind me more of MX Clear but slightly lighter and more tactile. Not a bad feeling but misleading name. I like the quiet clicky sound too. There is a problem however, some of the switches are inconsistent and feel less tactile than the others.

So Kailh needs to increase the pin size slightly, get rid of the stupid name, and fix the inconsistency issue and these will be great switches.

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There are some noticeable stretch marks on some of the keys too. Will post photo later.

The stretch marks are very tiny compared to pre-retool BOX switches, but still there. No such marks with other switches on same keycap set.

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The new Kailh midnight switches cracked my GMK caps, unfortunately. They aren’t box switches, but they have the dust proof stem design. I cracked 3 before I gave up and out PBT caps on instead.

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Old Kailh Box stem problem again?

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I don’t think the stems on this keyboard will catastrophically fail like before but there still is an issue with them.

Older keycaps where the plastic has gotten more brittle over the years might have more problems.

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I am using this keyboard right now, it feels pretty good. But not “jade” at all. Reminds me more of MX Clear but more tactile (I sold my MX Clear board so I can’t compare the two right now).

Focus enter is lovely.

Weird how people still report them cracking keycaps, the BOX switches are definitely not the tightest switches I’ve used, the U4Ts seems far wider and takes a lot more force to put on them keycaps and I havn’t read any reports on them cracking keycaps.

I haven’t used any ABS keycaps on my BOX switches but the PBT ones didn’t show any damage signs.

It must be how the force is distributed to the stem then rather than just the size and tolerances.