- I'm going to help you pick out the perfect switch for you.
I've also recruited the help of a special guest
so make sure you stick around for that.
In the world of mechanical keyboards,
everyone usually starts out with one of the three starters,
just like in Pokemon.
You can choose between a red, blue, or brown.
Blue is the loud one that you typically think of
when you think of mechanical keyboards.
It makes a loud click on each press.
Brown is the safe option, it's relatively quiet
and has a bump you can feel on each key press,
and this can help minimize mistakes while typing.
Red is smooth and fast.
Typically gamers lean towards red switches
for their consistent feel with no bump.
For very general recommendations,
if you're trying to choose between the three starters,
red is for gaming, brown is for general usage,
and blue is for those people
that like really loud keyboards.
Keep in mind, you can choose whatever you want.
These are just super basic recommendations
if you really can't choose for yourself.
Beyond the starters it goes so much farther.
When you look at switches as a whole
there are three distinct groups,
linear, clicky and tactile.
These starters fall into these three groups
with red being linear, brown being tactile,
and blue being clicky.
On the screen you'll see a list of popular switches
in each category.
You can even go farther into more switch types
including low-profile, optical, silent,
EC, Topre, analog, and more!
Low profile switches are much shorter
and resemble laptop keys.
These are often used for better ergonomics
and a faster response time when gaming.
Optical switches are another good option for gaming
as they actuate via light
and don't have a debounce delay like mechanical keyboards,
so they're faster.
Silent switches have a rubber padding built into them
to minimize noise during the typing experience,
but you're going to experience a little mushiness.
Topre switches are their own thing entirely.
They're technically rubber dome switches
but they're much more tactile
and providing consistent typing experience
similar to mechanical switches.
When you look to buy keyboards at big box stores
like Best Buy or Micro Center,
keyboards will usually come
with your standard Cherry MX switch option
like the starters I mentioned earlier.
But when you look at other budget options
like on Amazon or elsewhere,
you'll starting to see different switch brands
such as Gateron or Outemu,
or even more budget brands such as Jixian and Huano.
These will generally be cheaper than Cherry MX switches
but they won't have the same consistency or quality.
You'll experience stuff like key chatter
and not having a consistent feel from switch to switch.
But if you're on a budget,
it's a great way to save money, money!
Outside of just budget switches
you can also find stuff made for enthusiasts and hobbyists.
These are bought at smaller vendors
and you have to buy them separately
and put them into your keyboard yourself.
Some may even come prelubed from the factory.
Some popular enthusiast switches
include Gateron Black Inks, Gateron Yellows, Kiwis,
Holy Pandas, Tangerines, Alpacas, and more.
It can get pretty crazy the deeper you go.
For recommendations,
you can see what switches our community uses
via our survey video right here.
So with all of these options,
how do you even figure out what you like?
Honestly, this is probably one of the most difficult things
when it comes to keyboards.
How do you figure out what you like
without needing to buy an entirely new keyboard?
Well, here are some ways to help.
Number one, you can go to the store and try them.
Usually stores have keyboards on display
that you can pull key caps off
and just start pressing around.
Number two, you can go deeper
and attend local meetups in your community.
Maybe put on some hand sanitizer
and start pressing around on other people's keyboards.
Those usually come prelubed and modded.
Number three, you can chat with people online
if you don't have the opportunity to meet people in person.
You can find a link to our Discord server down below
where there's a bunch of helpful people,
sound test information, all of that.
Number four, you can buy switch testers online
that can go from four switches to 63 switches,
depending on if you know what you're looking for or not.
And number five, you can listen to online sound tests,
but keep in mind that that's just really depends on
what they recorded with and what you're listening from
so it may not be 100% accurate.
Sometimes to get a truly accurate experience
you'll just have to buy them
and install them into your keyboard.
Switch testers and chatting with people
will get you a little bit closer,
but eventually you'll need to take the leap
and start testing them out for yourself.
Getting a hot swappable keyboard
makes this testing process a whole lot easier
because you don't need
to desolder and solder in switches every time.
A great starter keyboard for testing switches
is something cheap such as the LTC Nimbleback.
And eventually you'll figure out what you like.
If you're looking for recommendations,
Gateron Yellows are one of the best
budget options out there.
Now I'm not a super serious gamer
so I did get some help
from one of my friends here on YouTube.
Here's Techne!
- All the right.
So this is my third take at this plug right here.
Betty and Switch and Click gave me two minutes to do this.
You all know old Techne, I love talking, right?
So what I'm going to do,
I'm going to set me a timer right here
and hopefully, I can stay on track
as I'm wasting my time already.
But anyways,
what we're going to talk is the perfect gaming switch.
What is the perfect gaming switch?
And I can take the easy way out right here
and say, ah, it's all personal preference.
But maybe you're buying your first gaming keyboard
and you don't know a single thing about any of the switches.
So you go to the store, right?
You see some Razors right there.
You read about them, fast, linear, smooth optical switches.
Very nice switches there.
Maybe you're going in first,
hm, maybe I want a low-profile board, right?
Very short actuation, short travel.
We're already getting confused, right?
Maybe you're like, man, my parents get mad when I'm gaming
or my significant other, I don't want to keep my kids up.
So you go with that silent switch.
Sounds and feels so good right there.
Cherry MX Red Silents.
But the thing on your mind is like,
well, I'm hearing everybody online,
I should go custom, loop my switches,
loop my stabs, and go that route.
Sounds nice, doesn't it?
So right there
we have three options that are probably right on your mind.
But the four I want to bring out
are my four favorite switches for gaming,
starting with HyperX Red switches.
These things are butter smooth, very fast,
fairly light switch.
I really love these.
Next up, Kailh Speed Silvers on a custom board.
A great option for gaming.
A fast switch, not too heavy at 50 grams, right there.
Readily available and they're not going to break the bank
as far as these Kailh Silvers.
Love these switches for gaming.
But my two main switches,
my two main switches for two years going here,
Cherry MX Speed Silvers.
As you can see, I've got them on my Meijer Pro
and then my Corsair K70 TKL.
I absolutely love Cherry Silvers.
I love Cherry switches.
You're gonna hear a lot of people out there rag on them.
Aw, they're scratchy, why go Cherry,
go with these Tangerine, Blueberry,
Banana, Slurpee, Milkshake switches and lube 'em?
No, no, no, no.
That's not what we want to do when we're gaming, right?
We want to get our board, take it out,
plug it in and get gaming.
And that's what you're going to get right here.
I really love and highly recommend Cherry Speed Silvers
or any of these right here.
I think these are great options.
Yeah, they're all linear.
Maybe you like tactile or clicky,
and well, I just can't help you there.
But all of this is so confusing.
I feel your pain.
Really get out there, touch some switches,
play with some switches and see what you're going to like.
Great starting point, again, is Cherry Speed Silvers for me.
But again, this is all just exhausting
looking for that gaming keyboard.
What I'm going to do,
I'm just going to go with a controller.
- That was The Techne.
For gaming related peripheral reviews,
be sure to check his channel out right here.
Now when looking for switches for typing, it depends.
With new switches always coming out
it's hard to give you an exact answer
and it mainly boils down to preference.
For typing, people generally prefer a snappy, tactile option
or a heavy, linear option,
but honestly it just boils down
to what you think feels the best for you.
Here are some of my favorite switches for typing right here.
For typing I also highly recommend going a step further
and modding your switches and your stabilizers too.
This will make the typing experience much more enjoyable.
And thanks to all patrons for letting us do what we do.
Join down below, do it, do it, click it, click it.
And thanks to The Techne.
Check him out because he's awesome and cool.
Okay, bye.