Kailh Polia - New expensive tactile switch

Yeah, I keep waiting and not seeing them. Major bummer, but the point you bring up about I:C is fair: perhaps in a more-just world Kailh would be giving them a cut of these sales.

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Novelkeys is now stocking these.

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Novelkeys version seems to be slightly different than the original listing from what I remember. I believe the first ones were 3 pin versions but these are 5 pin. Also I might be wrong on this next part but I thought the originals were 62-67g bottom out but these are listed as 75g bottom out on novelkeys. Interesting.

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Hmmm interesting. I still haven’t tried these. NK claims there are Kailh’s response to the Holy Panda. Anyone here want to verify that claim?

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Just checked drops sold through listing for the switch and they show pictures of a 3 pin version for sure. They also list it as 67g bottom out so that confirms it I guess. Maybe the reason that NK took so long to get the polias is due to a preference for 5 pin switches.

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Well - I haven’t tried the NK version, but the same claim was made about the Dorp / AliExpress version.

To me, they feel nothing like Holy Pandas - until you take the stem out and put it in a Panda housing. Before that, they’re much more similar to Halo Clears.

That said, I’ll be picking up a few of these to compare with the Dorp / AliExpress version and Halos.

Edit: here are some photos comparing a Halo True and first Polia version stem.

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:roll_eyes:

Then again… if it means I can get a Halo Clear(ish) switch without actually buying Dorp Halo Clears… that’s still a win in my book

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This. I was thinking the same thing.

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appreciate the in depth review bro, i was looking to get these and i currently have some halo clears but after your review i think i might just get some lighter springs and replace them in the clears bc that is my main gripe with these. saved me some money

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Please let us know how that goes. Halo Clears could be good, but I find them heavy as well. Although that might have been Hako Clears I tested, can’t remember now.

These definitely feel lighter than Clears/Trues and that makes the tactility more notable (though still not super tactile).

Overall I find them super pleasant. These are sort of what Browns should be from the factory, smooth, unobtrusive, and light (well comparatively I suppose they are still heavier than browns).

I could use these in a daily driver.

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Novelkeys is having a clearance sale and these are included. Might be the best price I’ve ever seen for a halo stem.

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Ha! Was just about to post about that. Couldn’t pass up that deal.

I wonder why they won’t be restocking these; as far as I know they’re the only ones that had the 5-pin version.

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Oops I accidentally bought $90 worth of switches, Polias included. Oh well!

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God damn it. I haven’t tried halo stems before and this is super tempting. Curse keebtalk for keeping me informed!

And purchased, along with some more films and lube. 180 Kailh Polia incoming. This hobby is relentless lol

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Same lol

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The great thing about these is that the housings are totally viable for something else decent once you’ve nabbed the stem - especially for boards with SMD backlighting. Those little light pipes do make characters a bit brighter, assuming the switch is facing North. They don’t really spread it around much if any more, though, like the Halo marketing implies.

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It’s said that the Halo True housings are good for making silent switches using Silent Sky stems, so that might apply to the Polia’s as well. So you would get Halo stems + housings that could be used for Silent Tactile stems.

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Can confirm - I really like that combo with 60g+ springs. In a good way, it almost sounds and feels like a tighter, more dialed-in rubber dome that you don’t have to bottom-out to actuate. They can get a little mushy with light springs though.

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That’s exactly right. They get mushy around 55 G. I am building some Silent Sky in Gold V2 housings right now, and am using 60 G TX, which is barely enough to keep them somewhat crisp.

They were really meant for 62 G in the Sky housings, or even higher in more tactile housings [68 G in Boba].

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