What is a Mechanical Keyboards
Mechanical Keyboard is a keyboard relies on switches, instead of a flexible membrane for individual keys.
Generally, they are:
- louder (but can be much more quieter than a membrane keeb with silent switches)
- less resistant to water spill
- more costy
- heavier
However, they can offer ONE key benefits that membrane keebs can't provide: hotswappable switches. Hotswappable switches allows users to simply remove the switches and swap out for a new one, when the old one fails, or as mundane as they get bored of. However, not all mechanical keebs are hotswappable, especially from the 2 most popular "gaming" brand: Logitech and Razer. Logitech has a disgusting rate of nearly 99% of their existing lineup are not being hotswappable, while Razer sits at shameful rate of about 80%.
Mechanical keebs also offers several other advantages:
- Shit tons of options for keycaps, and keycaps profile
- A lot of them having removable cable
- Multi-layer key layering on premium / enthusiast level keebs
- Majority of modern mechanical keebs have flex mounting, drastically reduce fingers fatigue and improve sound
Switches
Switches are the foundamental part of a mechanical keebs. Generally, there are 3 types of switches:
- Clicky switcehs
- Tactile switches
- Linear switches
Clicky switches is perhaps the most well-known kind of switch, also the most hated one for a good reason. They are obnoxiously loud, as they have internal mechanism to produce a clicky sound and a tactile bump when pressed pass the actuation point, even if you press it soft and slow. The only two places they belong to are either the Print Screen button or trash bin.
Tactile switches are clicky switches but without the annoying clicks. They still offer a bumpy tactile feel when pressed, which act as a feedback as you type. This is incredible popular with those who spend a lot of time typing, as the feedback confirms if the key is being registered, reducing typo and the need to look at the screen to check for it. Cheap tactile switches has a less pronounced bumps, making them feel mushy instead of satisfying.
Linear switches are much more popular with gamers. They provide a smooth feeling from the initial press all until being bottomed out. This provide lesser friction and allows for faster pressing.
Both tactile and linear switches can come in a silent variant. They have padding on the internal mechanism that will immensely dampen the sound when bottoming out, and when released, making them a top choice at office, or if you frequently use your computer when your spouse is sleeping. I encountered one particular switch which has a damping pad when bottoming out, but not when released, so it created "delayed" feedback when typing, making you feel like you are having high ping on your hearing. (will update this post to name and shame)
