Alright, I know there are a lot more switches available than what I have here.
By the time I could make this video, a bunch more actually came out already.
Unfortunately, I don’t have an unlimited budget, so
these are the switches that I could afford to get my hands on.
I guess you can kinda view this video as an addendum to Shoobs’s video.
Most of the switches in that video are around the 65 cent range,
and I’ll be focusing on options cheaper than that.
Now the biggest question we’re trying to answer here is if something is worth it’s price.
The two biggest players right now in the tactile switch market are either the Holy Pandas or Zykos.
With an unlimited budget, you could just get Zykos and be done with it.
But at $2 per switch, that’s a lot of money just to type on a keyboard.
Okay, then what about the Holy Pandas?
They’re half the price, but at a dollar per switch, that’s still a lot of money.
To make matters worse, Holy Bobas actually sound much better than Holy Pandas,
so there’s no way we’re spending that much on Holy Pandas if they’ve already been outclassed.
You know what, if Dogecoin ever bounces back, or, we hit 1000 subscribers.
Maybe I’ll do another video with the more expensive switches.
Lucky for me, today’s video covers the lower end of the spectrum with surprisingly good options
costing less than the mainstream Cherry Browns. Here is where I have to add that I skipped most of
the Cherry clones, since it’s pretty much agreed upon that they’re worse than the originals which,
as you’ll see, isn’t a very high bar to begin with.
But that’s enough background, this video is already too long given the amount of switches
we have to go through. So, let’s get into it.
Today, we have the
Cherry Brown, Gateron Brown, Cherry Clear
Kailh Polia, Akko Ocean Blue
Feker Panda, Tecsee Panda, Boba U4T,
And just for fun, the Polia Boba, and the Tecsee Boba
If you know me, then you know that I love to spring swap my switches.
So, we’ll be doing stock first, then lubed, then spring swapped to either 35 or 45g springs.
Then, we’ll lube that to round everything off.
Alright, that’s enough talking, let’s get into some sound tests.
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to convey how something feels over video.
So I think the best way I can describe these things is by comparing them to each other.
To start off, we have the Cherry Brown and Gateron
Brown tying in last place for the least amount of tactility.
That’s not to say that they’re the same though. Gateron Browns have what I would call a bump while
Cherry Browns feel more like a linear switch that have a light scratch halfway through the middle,
almost as if there’s some sand paper stuck in the middle of it
You can kinda fix this by lubing, but it’s still impossible to completely get rid of it.
It gets even worse when we move on to the Cherry Clears.
Here, the scratch is felt throughout the entire travel of the switch,
and lubing barely got rid of any of it.
I was quite excited for these after seeing this video, but unfortunately
it seems like they just took the worst part of the switch and somehow made it even worse.
Moving on to the Akko Ocean Blues. Their bump is more similar to the
Gaterons rather than the Cherries. When spring swapped, they become close
to the two Panda switches in both feel and sound. This is probably because they have the extended
pole which is found in more expensive switches and provide the sought after thoc sound.
Unfortunately, it also makes these switches really loud for some reason.
They were the loudest switch out of the entire bunch.
Next are the Kailh Polias which are a really weird switch.
By themselves, they’re similar to but less scratchy than the Cherry Clears.
I’d say they’re somewhere in between a Cherry Brown and Cherry Clear in terms of tactility.
They also got stuck a lot with the 35g spring,
so I’d suggest going with a 45 or the stock spring if you want to try these out.
Next we have the two Panda clones. The Feker Pandas are more of a direct
clone while the Tecsee try to brand themselves as their own switch.
I don’t have an actual Holy Panda to compare them to,
but since they both feel so similar to each other,
I can guess that they’re doing a pretty good job. This is where I have to mention the problem
with buying clone switches is that quality control is not the best.
With the Feker switches, out of a pack of 110, about 20 of them were basically linear.
Because of this, I’d suggest the Tecsee version as they were far more consistent.
And finally, to round it all up, we have the Boba U4T
These are also a bit of a weird one So far we’ve had the Cherry Style and
Gateron style, but now we have the Boba style which is more similar to a membrane
keyboard where the bump starts at the top of the switch and ends right after you press it
The closest comparison I can think of is like pressing the buttons on a controller.
I personally don’t like this style as, for me, the whole point of mechanical
keyboards is to avoid the membrane feel. Additionally, these are on the more expensive side
of the spectrum and also cap out at 45g springs so there’s basically no selling point for me.
However, buying these did open up the possibility for our honorary list members, the Holy Bobas.
These are probably one of the best sounding switches out there.
Unfortunately, they are a Frankenstein switch and cost over a $1 each depending
on how you source them. Traditionally, they’re
made similarly to the Holy Pandas with a Halo True Stem and a Boba U4 housing.
But in this case, I tried the stem from the Kailh Polia as well as the Tecsee Panda.
Both of them had issues with the stem getting stuck, but I’m assuming real Halo
Trues wouldn't have this problem. So if you really want Holy Bobas,
you should probably stick with the originals, but these were nice to try out.
Overall, I think the best switch here in terms of price to performance is the Tecsee Panda.
It delivers on the Panda style while also remaining consistent and relatively low cost.
They didn’t pay me to say this. but I just can’t sit by and let another person
buy Cherry Browns when these cost less and are basically better in every way.
The Akko switches are also really nice for the price and are a very low commitment
at only $14 for a pack of 45 on Amazon. In terms of pure cost, Gaterons obviously
win for being the cheapest, but I think the added cost of these two are definitely worth the price
while Holy Pandas at 3 times the price is probably not worth it.
But that’s all for this one. Let me know in the comments of
any budget tactile switches that I missed. I’m sure there are plenty.
Make sure to like and subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next one.