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Mr. Interface Switch Try Bag Review
CPTBadAss:
I recently got my hands on a Mr. Interface Switch Try Bag. I think this is one of the biggest assortments of switches I’ve ever seen and it’s been a lot of fun playing with them. I thought I’d document my thoughts on each of the switches. The try bag had mainly Cherry and Alps switches with some other specialty ones. It also included some ABS, PBT, and POM caps to try as well. I’ll be including this in my proposed Keycap Test Tour as soon as I get a moment to ask for donations of keycaps.
Yes, I know they’re not representative of the full keyboard. These are my impression of just the switches. It was cheaper than spending $1000 on all the boards to try each one. And that’s what meets are for anyways. Please check out my post meet review of switches I liked and didn't like. Combined with this review, it gives my overall opinion on many switch variants.
The caps are in order from left to right, top to bottom. I borrowed the pictures from here. I tested all the caps with and without the keycaps with the exception of the Topre and Bucking Spring keychains switches.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
* Cherry
* Alps
* Other
* Keychains
* Final Thoughts: Winners and Losers
Cherry Switches
MX Blacks: These are very smooth and have a nice springiness on the rebound. There is a pleasant slight resistance as I press down which then seems to guide me into the bottom out. Also very quiet.
MX Blues: My favorite switch until I get to try full keyboards instead of a single switch. They have all the clicks. Well, most of them at least. Bucking springs seem to have more clickyness but more on that later. Blues have a medium actuation. They’re not like Reds which seem to crumple if I sneezed on them. At the actuation point about half way down, the switch clicks and then it feels there’s an impact which is cushioned by a clicky spring. The rebound has a bit of a two-part feeling (to it but on a keyboard, it doesn’t feel as obvious.
MX Browns: The actuation feels a bit lighter than my blues but heavier than the reds. But it doesn’t feel smooth like the reds and doesn’t have that nice click of a blue. Instead, I feel a weird compromise of a slight bump. It seems on but it can feel almost gritty, as if something got stuck in my Reds and is getting in the way of the travel. On my Filco tenkeypad, the bump is even LESS pronounced. Not my favorite.
MX Clear: This switch is everything the brown isn’t. The actuation isn’t stupid light. It’s a bit heavier than my blues. And you actually FEEL a bump. When I press down, my feeling senses tell my brain, “Hey, there’s a bump in this thing!” This is in contrast to the feeing I get with Browns where I question whether or not I register a bump. They’re also pretty quiet. And unlike my blues, the rebound feels pretty smooth. I can definitely see why ergo-clears are popular. If the switch was a touch lighter, it’d be super sexy. I can’t wait to try some out in Chicago.
MX Red: I hate the light actuation on these. It’s so light, that the travel distance seems to be shorter than any other MX switch. I feel like I crash when I bottom out; the feeling is just so sudden. The spring rebound feels weak as well. I do like how quiet and smooth it is though. This might be my least favorite switch.
MX White: Sifo told me in the IRC chat that Whites are lubed from the factory. I definitely believe that, the actuation and rebound are super smooth. Almost MX Black smooth. There’s a wonderful bump like in Clears but there’s also a bit of a click as well. And the dampened click means that the switches are way quieter than my blues. My only complaint is that the actuation seems a little heavier than I’d like. I really like these.
Edit: Since this review, I have bought a Pure with MX White. It has become a daily driver board and my thoughts on the board and the MX White switches can be found here.
Cherry MY: Hm…feels like Cherry MX Reds except the actuation force increases as you bottom out. The actuation is way too light. I can definitely see why “feels like typing on wet newspapers” would be said about these.
Cherry ML: It feels a bit like a cross between a MX Black and Brown if the MX switch actuation distance was cut in half. It’s also pretty quiet. The switches can feel a little rough if you strike the keys at a bit of an angle. I don’t hate them though. Hoping someone can figure out how to lube them. I think that would really help.
Edit: I owned a G84-4100 and it's very tactile. It's a bit crunchy and without lubing. I actually really liked it if they layout wasn't so atrocious. It's pretty quiet as well.
Cherry M7: Apparently this is the predecessor to the MX switch. Feels like a heavy MX Black with a short actuation distance and a sudden bottom out.
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Alps
All the Alps switches have their actuation point at the top instead of the middle like MX switches seem to have. This threw me off when I tried out a Azio Levetron keyboard. That board’s quality was very cheap and the switches felt wobbly and almost unstable. I look forward to trying a quality Alps board such as a Matias Tactile Pro. Note: There was no Blue Alps in this bag unfortunately. The picture of the Blue Alps switch is second from the left.
Tactile Black: These feel like a lighter actuation Clear with an Alps acuation point. There’s definitely a rebound/springiness after the bottom out and a very obvious bump. It’s also very quiet.
Tactile Cream: Like the Tactile Blacks and Orange but very light. A bit lighter than the MX Browns.
Clicky Grey: This switch slightly heavier than the Monterey Blue does and has a quieter click. Mr. Interface says that it’s the basis of the Matias Tactile Pro switch. I really like these and I look forward to trying the Tactile Pro board out when I go to MechanicalKeyboards.com’s showroom.
Tactile Orange/Salmon: Feels the same as the black except it takes less force to actuation it. The actuation might be a little lighter than a MX Blue.
Tactile White: It feels like a better version of the Browns. The tactile bump is actually felt but the switch is still pretty light. The bottom out is similar to the Clicky Whites. The only problem is that the switch feels a little rough when I press down.
Clicky White: These feel nice. They’re clicky like blues and the actuation force even feels a little like blues. But there’s less tactility/bumpiness, just a click. And they’re a little quieter. The bottom out is very sudden and the switch doesn’t really offer any spring force resistsance. Very nice.
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Other
KPT: Feels like a Monterey Blue with a heavier spring; almost like a MX Black spring. The actuation point is somewhere between an Alps and a Cherry MX. It’s in the upper half of the actuation travel. I actually kind of like these.
Monterey Blue: The stems on these fit an Alps cap. These are like Clicky White Alps but a bit heavier on the actuation and they have a tactility to them. The rebound force feels the same as the pressing/actuation force. I can definitely see why these and the Complicated Blue Alps are so popular.
Fake Monterey MX: Feels like a shoddy version of MX Blues. There’s a bit of a click and bump that’s reminiscent to an MX Brown. Very springy. The bottom out has a weird feeling of wanting to resist but not really. It bounces you back to the actuation point which is semi close to the middle. Not very good at all.
Futaba: Very odd switch. It feels like a springy red with a slight click. Too light for me though.
Acer Black: Feels like a sticky version of the Tactile Orange but the actuation is towards the center. It’s louder and the actuation seems to slide into a groove and then grind a bit to the bottom. The stem fits an Alps cap. Wouldn’t be too bad if it didn’t feel sticky/grindy. Put this in this “it’s a very bad knockoff” pile.
Acer White: Feels like the super poor man version of MX Blues. Same actuation point as the Acer Black. Has an odd resonating bottom out sound. It’s a click but it sounds really hollow. There’s also a stickiness after the actuation like the Acer Black but not as grindy. Again, put this in this “it’s a very bad knockoff” pile.
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Keychains
For me, these were the two switches I was most excited to try out. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, there is SO much hype around these.
Bucking Spring: It feels….it feels. Holy **** this feels amazing. It’s like a heavier MX blue except it has a kick from the spring buckling. It makes a delightful click and the spring force makes me want to keep pressing it. It’s not that loud but it feels incredible. I can see why this is so wildly popular. I need a Bucking Spring board NOW.
Topre 55g: My reaction to this was the complete opposite of the BS keychain. It feels like a rubber dome with a bit of a “click” in it. No “thock” noise. I was so disappointed with it. I honestly think it feels like my Microsoft Ergo 4k. I’ll still try the Topre boards out but I don’t think I really care for them.
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Final Thoughts: Winners and Losers
So I discovered that I really like clicky switches. I don’t really like linear switches and tactile switches such as the MX clear, Black Alps, and Orange Alps are growing on me. Topre was a huge disappointment and Bucking Spring can’t be overhyped.
Top 3 New Switches
* MX Whites
* MX Clears
* Monterey Blues (Until I try Complicated Blue Alps)/Clicky Grey AlpsBottom 3 New Switches
* Topre 55g
* Acer Black
* Cherry MY/Monterey MX Clone
Overall I still love MX blues and hate MX reds/browns. Now can someone hook me up with a bucking spring board?? :P
For more information, check out Mr. Interface’s Switch Bag Thread. He’s also posted this video with his thoughts on the switches here.
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SmallFry:
Nice review man! You certainly have a way of writing easy to read reviews etc. :)
AKIMbO:
For me, in order of actuation force require- from most force to least force- it's: white alps, blue alps, monterey blues, KPT blues. That's based on using complete keyboards with those switches. It's too bad there wasn't an orange omron in that bag...when I had the switch sampler bag there was an orange omron in it.
If you like that buckling spring over membrane you should try capacitive buckling spring. Cap BS feels leagues better than BS over membrane.
boost:
Very nice review!
keymaster:
Great review, OP. I wish more keyboards came with either mx white or clear.
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