I’ve come to the same conclusions – I think being an early adopter in this hobby has cost me a lot of money, lol. They are definitely better than the KS-8 and KS-9’s that I purchased like 3 years ago, but are absolutely crushed by the recent CJ switches which were only $0.08 more a piece (smoothest unlubed, stock switch that I’ve ever felt). Once lubed (205g0) and filmed, they are smooth for sure, and do sound pretty good, but they are still outclassed by the CJ, OP Blacks or any of my JWK switches that are close in price. Shockingly, my JWK Blacks (JWICK logo’d all nylon versions from the ElBoard GB before every other vendor put them up for sale) are smoother and better sounding at $0.24 a pop.
Comparisons aside they are a descent switch. No leaf ping is present. The springs must be lubed as they ping and crunch worse than Cherry switches though. Even after lubing, while not felt, there is a slight scratch noise when depressed – not nearly as much as the OG Gats. They do sound pretty deep once lubed, but still have that love it or hate it, distinctive Gat bottom-out clack.
If they were a quarter a piece I would be singing their praises, but not at over twice as much (not to mention the misleading vendor marketing copy). I’m still a bit shocked that they weren’t nearly as smooth as the CJ switches which tout a similar polishing process, but they are moving in the right direction at least.