Mechanical Cherry MX
Mechanical Cherry Keys
Cherry is a company that was established in 1953 in the US, but its headquarters were moved to Germany in 1979. It has four divisions, and the one that is the most interesting in relation to this review is responsible for making mechanical switches. Cherry MX switches were marketed around 1985. They are mainly referenced by the colour of the key stem.
|
Switch type |
Clicky |
Tactile |
Linear |
Actuation force |
|
Cherry MX Red |
No |
No |
Yes |
0.45 N |
|
Cherry MX Silent Red |
No |
No |
Yes |
0.45 N |
|
Cherry MX Speed Silver |
No |
No |
Yes |
0.45 N |
|
Cherry MX Nature White |
No |
No |
Yes |
0.55 N |
|
Cherry MX Black |
No |
No |
Yes |
0.60 N |
|
Cherry MX Silent Black |
No |
No |
Yes |
0.60 N |
|
Cherry MX Linear Grey |
No |
No |
Yes |
0.80 N |
|
Cherry MX Brown |
No |
Yes |
No |
0.45 N |
|
Cherry MX Clear |
No |
Yes |
No |
0.55 N |
|
Cherry MX Tactile Grey |
No |
Yes |
No |
0.80 N |
|
Cherry MX Blue |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
0.50 N |
|
Cherry MX White |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
0.50 N / 0.70 N |
|
Cherry MX Green |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
0.70 N |
|
Cherry MX Viola |
No |
No |
CrossLinear |
0.45 N/ 0.75 N |
Cherry MX switches are the most popular ones on the market. Mechanical switches give you a more perceptible feel compared to the rubber membrane used in most cheaper keyboards. Mechanical keyboards are gaining an increasing share of the gaming peripherals market very fast. The performance is good, and the reliability is outstanding, so what more can you ask for? Aaah, yes – full key rollover (but can you actually push more than 10 buttons at once?) and anti-ghosting.
MX Reds (used here) are possibly the best choice for first-time buyers. Why’s that? Well, 45 g of actuation force, linear response, and quite rapid bounce back are the crucial features here. If you spend some time using a keyboard like that, you get used to typing faster without bottoming out the keys. Still, there are some switches that work better for writing, e.g. MX Browns or Blues.
The MTBF is 100 million strokes, so it’s a massive figure. Still, you’ve got the warranty if something breaks, right? The keycaps are made from PBT (so not the worse ABS which is less reliable/resistant), and the per-key RGB backlighting makes it look good.
