Mechanical Cherry MX Keys
Mechanical Cherry MX 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 concerning this review is responsible for making mechanical switches. Cherry MX switches were marketed around 1985. The colour of the key stem mainly references them.
|
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. This is because mechanical switches give you a more perceptible feel than the rubber membrane used in most cheaper keyboards. As a result, 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 push more than ten buttons at once?) and anti-ghosting.
MX Browns (used here) are possibly the best choice for experienced users first-time buyers. Why’s that? The crucial features here are 45 g of actuation force and tactile response. These (and Blues) work best for writing.
The keycaps are made of ABS, which is less reliable/resistant than the PBT, and the per-key RGB backlighting makes it look good.
