First of all I would like to thank Tim from QWERkeys for sending this out for review and overview!
The kit can be found on their website for £20.
Here’s my video on the QWER8 V2:The QWER8 V2 MX Switch Testing Kit comes with 8 colour switches:Red
Blue
Green
Brown
White
Clear
Black
Grey (mine was linear and not clicky)
What’s the point of getting the QWER8 V2?So you might be asking yourself, why would you spend £20 on a key tester, which effectively doesn’t work without you having to buy a PCB for it to register your key presses.
Well, there’s two reasons really:
1. Novelty – this switch is very well designed, with its brushed aluminium look and clear keys. Clicking away randomly as a stress reliever also is a great reason to buy this switch
2. Testing keys you might not be able to – a lot of people in certain parts of the world (such as US folk) take this as granted; however outside the US I’ve struggled to find places that actively have mechanical keyboards for sale, let alone on display for people to try. Thus you have to invest a minimum of £70 to possibly £150 on a mechanical keyboard, with the possibility of disliking the switch it uses. It thus makes sense, to try before you buy – as switches are extremely subjective.
Speaking of subjective opinions on switches, here’s my brief overview of switches and my opinion of them. There’s no right or wrong – as it’s all subjective, but the general concensus agrees with what’s said below:
RTS gaming:Black: 60g — Stiff — Used for RTS games
Combination:Brown: 45g — Mid ground
Clear: 65g — Stiffer than Brown (Note: the actuation force is debated on the internet between 55g and 65g)
Grey (Linear): 80g Used as space bar on clear boards
Typing:Blue: 50g — Clicky — Used for typing
Green: 80g – Stiffer than blue with clicky sound — sometimes used as spacebar on Blue switch keyboards
White: 80g — like green, but more silent
FPS Gaming:Red: 45g — Lightweight, very soft — FPS gamers
A more in-depth guide can be found on
Overclock.net and
KeyboardCo
Would I recommend the QWER8 V2 and would you buy it?Definitely. I would have gotten it for curiosity over the less common switches that are on it (Green, White, Grey and Clear) and furthermore gotten it for novelty.
Furthermore, you can put a PCB under it and even put in LED diodes in order to have a mini illuminated Key Tester (something I’m definitely thinking of).
Since I’ve gotten it, I’ve been using it as a fun stress reliever and even educated quite a handful of people on the different switches that exist in mechanical keyboards.
In all honesty, I love it and can’t see why I didn’t have it before. I honestly recommend it. If you’re either a pro mechanical user or new to mechanical keyboards – this is definitely a must buy.
In short: A fun geeky toy to have laying on your desk.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures & my review/overview!
-Totally Dubbed
