Author Topic: Zealios VS Box Royal?  (Read 13500 times)

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Offline Pavilions

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Zealios VS Box Royal?
« on: Sun, 14 October 2018, 17:04:36 »
Comparing the two switches which one do you prefer? which one has the best tactile feeling and which one is stiffer than the other? I tried the Zealios and I really like them all but do you think I would like to use Box Royal?

Thanks

Offline brainandforce

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 14 October 2018, 19:20:25 »
I've tried both and I've found Box Royals to be a little unrefined in their tactility. Zealios have a rounder, smoother feel. That being said, I like Royal Hakos better than both.

Offline Kevadu

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 15 October 2018, 00:23:32 »
They're really quite different.  Box Royals have a much larger tactile bump that's very high up combined with a fairly light spring which makes them feel almost binary.  Like if you press hard enough to clear the bump you're probably immediately bottoming out.  It's actually difficult to stop in the middle of the key travel.

Zealios have a significantly smaller and more rounded feeling bump but they're smoother and are available in a variety of spring weights.  Honestly, neither one is exactly what I'm looking for in a tactile switch.  I would prefer something in between...

Hako Royals sort of do that...at the very least the heavier spring solves the 'binary' issue of the Box Royals and I feel like the bump is slightly less extreme (though still significant).  Just keep in mind that they're also quite heavy.

Offline Pavilions

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 15 October 2018, 16:51:21 »
I've tried both and I've found Box Royals to be a little unrefined in their tactility. Zealios have a rounder, smoother feel. That being said, I like Royal Hakos better than both.

They're really quite different.  Box Royals have a much larger tactile bump that's very high up combined with a fairly light spring which makes them feel almost binary.  Like if you press hard enough to clear the bump you're probably immediately bottoming out.  It's actually difficult to stop in the middle of the key travel.

Zealios have a significantly smaller and more rounded feeling bump but they're smoother and are available in a variety of spring weights.  Honestly, neither one is exactly what I'm looking for in a tactile switch.  I would prefer something in between...

Hako Royals sort of do that...at the very least the heavier spring solves the 'binary' issue of the Box Royals and I feel like the bump is slightly less extreme (though still significant).  Just keep in mind that they're also quite heavy.

Thanks for answering and letting me know, Now I'm going to order the Hako Royals to try them. :)

Offline FoC_Tow

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Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 15 October 2018, 18:33:32 »
Haven’t been on gh much lately but if I recall people reporter box switches cracking stems.

Will this happen with Hakos?
« Last Edit: Mon, 15 October 2018, 18:38:32 by FoC_Tow »

Offline Kevadu

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 15 October 2018, 19:33:21 »
Yeah, they're still box switches...

Offline MafiaButter

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 16 October 2018, 08:40:51 »
Not really comparable in my opinion. Box Royals offer actual tactility, although what they do offer is often considered overly harsh. Zealios on the other hand give a more traditional tactile MX feel, which isn't really tactile; it more or less feels like a disrupted linear switch. Keep in mind this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most people dislike this type of tactility, hence the reason Zealios V1 are being discontinued for the more tactile Zealios V2. But some (myself included) love it. It gives the user feedback that a key was pressed, but it doesn't dictate how you type. The Royals, on the other hand, are going to force you to bottom out. If you don't like that, then too bad because the Royals don't care. I would say Royals are for those that want extreme tactility and don't mind / aren't susceptible to a bit of finger fatigue after long periods of time, whereas Zealios are for those who want light, passive tactility.

It should also be mentioned Royal's tactility is all loaded at the top of the keystroke, whereas on the Zealios it's halfway down. Also, both switches are quite smooth stock, but Royals, being of the box design, don't surrender to lube that easily. Lubing Zealios, on the other hand, turns the smoothness up to 11.

But all that's in reference to feel. In terms of sound, relatively speaking both switches sound like ****. Especially Royals once they start to click. (Lubed Zealios sound OK)
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Offline Kavik

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 16 October 2018, 11:15:38 »
I can't give a direct 1-to-1 comparison because my Box Royals are in a plastic case with alu plate and my Zealios are in an alu case with brass plate.

Box Royals don't force me to bottom out, but they definitely are a little harder to finesse. Box Royals do get tiring after a while. I use them at work, and sometimes I have to swap out my keyboard because my fingers can't handle it anymore.

Stem cracking issues aside, the only issue I really have with Box Royals is that clicking thing that happens after a while. Apparently, the contact arm inside the switch is lubed from the factory, and, once this wears off, they start making a slight clicking sound. Since they are box switches, they can't be opened from the top even if the plate has the cut outs for it. I'm not desoldering, so I'm just stuck with them like this.

Zealios are smooth, but they aren't really my cup of tea. The tactility is just enough to make them not linear and give them a decent sound, but they aren't as great as others seem to think IMO. That said, the Zealios are not exhausting to type on.
Maybe they're waiting for gasmasks and latex to get sexy again.

The world has become a weird place.

Offline jizzaztartist

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 16 October 2018, 12:26:15 »
The one that doesn't crack my f'n keys.

Offline mike-y

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 16 October 2018, 15:54:29 »
I thought the revised box switches fixed the issue with the stems.  Are the revised switches still causing problems?


Offline Kavik

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 17 October 2018, 10:08:29 »
I thought the revised box switches fixed the issue with the stems.  Are the revised switches still causing problems?

Apparently. If you check out the thread about it, people are reporting continued issues even with the new ones: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=96323.400
Maybe they're waiting for gasmasks and latex to get sexy again.

The world has become a weird place.

Offline killyou

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 17 October 2018, 10:16:33 »
I wanted to get Royals but the stem issue persists and they apparently start to click after some use. I'm sticking with zealios and I will be getting zealio v2.

Offline zian_

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 19 October 2018, 04:34:42 »
 Both are super tactile. BRs feel sharper. They also start clicking after a while.
« Last Edit: Thu, 19 December 2019, 08:43:21 by zian_ »

Offline nguyenhimself

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #13 on: Fri, 19 October 2018, 11:55:45 »
One more thing to consider is the typing sound: I find Zealio's sound very pleasing and quite deep for an MX-stem switch (especially with some lubing). Box Royal sounds like a clicky switch to me, which I hate.

You can easily find typing videos of both switches on YouTube.

Offline dasein1980

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #14 on: Sat, 20 October 2018, 13:19:45 »
I had this same question when I recently modded a kb.

I tried both (stock BRs and Z78g) on an acrylic, switch modifier board with cheap keycaps (my BRs haven't seemed to crack any of my caps btw.)

I prefer the tactility of the BRs over the Zs. Someone on YT compared their feeling to (1) the break of pencil lead and (2) typing on bubble wrap because there's an immediate, jarring cliff of tactility and then a bottom out. I personally loved this amount of tactility. Zs felt too similar to my MX Clears for me.

At first, I didn't like the bottoming out/lightly weighted springs of the BRs. So I tried to mod them with Sprit's 100cn Alps springs (since I already had them on hand). But this diminished the tactility of the BRs, which I really liked.

So I went with stock springs.

Keep in mind that after a few weeks of breaking them in, the BRs not only become a little more clicky, their tactile bump also becomes a tiny bit more smooth and rounder. A little of that 'out of the box' harshness in their tactility wears off—a little.


Offline Pavilions

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #15 on: Sun, 21 October 2018, 19:08:55 »
I wanted to get Royals but the stem issue persists and they apparently start to click after some use. I'm sticking with zealios and I will be getting zealio v2.

When is Zeal version 2 is going to be released?

Offline dasein1980

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #16 on: Sun, 21 October 2018, 20:54:31 »
You can still get in on the group buy right now:

https://zealpc.net/collections/group-buy-pre-orders/products/zealio

I can hardly wait to try them when I get the chance!

Offline Telstar

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #17 on: Fri, 08 March 2019, 11:03:14 »
Has anyone got the zealios v2?

Offline killyou

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #18 on: Sat, 09 March 2019, 07:44:49 »
Yep. Low wobble, incredibly smooth, technically great switch but in practice for me tactility right at the top is off putting. Also force to overcome the tactile bump is too big for my taste as it kinda forces you to bottom out and you don't feel the travel that much and switch activation is not lined up with the tactile bump. You can deactivate and activate the switch again on the way back up to the tactile bump but before overcoming it. Not the best feature however it did not interfere in any way so far. I'd rather want retooled v1 zealio with v2 smoothness and low wobbliness.

Offline Telstar

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Re: Zealios VS Box Royal?
« Reply #19 on: Sat, 09 March 2019, 20:28:56 »
Yep. Low wobble, incredibly smooth, technically great switch but in practice for me tactility right at the top is off putting. Also force to overcome the tactile bump is too big for my taste as it kinda forces you to bottom out and you don't feel the travel that much and switch activation is not lined up with the tactile bump.

It could work for me. I'm deciding which 25 switches to put on the big novelkeys try pad.