Before I send out my
Mr. Interface Switch Try Bag on my
Keycap/Switch Test Tour, I decided to do a little test. I have a bunch of stock MX Black, 62g, and 65 springs on hand. The MX Blacks are from jdcarpe for my Epsilon, the 62g I bought from
Calavera’s group buy, and the 65g came with my
KMAC. I also have every Cherry switch but an MX Green. So I decided to swap all the springs into all the MX switches.
TABLE OF CONTENTS SetupI have the following stock MX switches:
And I have the following springs as I said before:
- Stock MX Black
- 62g KBDMod Spring
- 65g Spring (likely from Sherryton since the Olivetti Replica is only found in his shop and I received that set as well from the Auction)
My test lacked the following: Lubrication and Blue/Red/Brown spring swaps. The switches are for the Tour and I didn’t want to mess any of the switches up too badly by lubing them. I also don't have any lube. Plus I lost the spring in the Clear switch when I opened it up. I was on my hands and knees for forty-five minutes in a huge panic until I found that stupid tiny thing. The Tour would not have been the same without the Clear switch. That scared me off of taking the spring out of the Red/Brown/Blue and putting it into the rest of the switches.
How I conducted the test In between each swap, I recorded my thoughts in an Excel chart…because we go hard with keyboard science. And each switch had a Olivetti replica cap put on it. Yes, the switches were loose and not mounted into anything. Oh and I thought that the Green and Blue stems were the same. And that the Red and Black stems were the same except for the spring weight. Therefore, my testing wasn’t applied to the Red switch. If this isn’t the case, I’ll retry this experiment after the Tour.
Mini-guide to the interior of an MX switchFor anyone who doesn’t know what the insides of a switch looks like, and because I can be forgetful, I’ve included this little picture guide:
Each switch has four tabs that need to be pried open. Here’s one side with two tabs.
Here’s the other side with the other two tabs. Just use the switch tool to pry the tabs out. I think the tool will also fit into the top which has holes and you can squeeze the top until it opens. Those pictures can be seen below. However, my described method worked fine for me.
Explosion view of an MX Black switch (From left to right): top, stem, spring, and bottom. You can see the little holes in the top where The_Beast’s tool is supposed to fit into if they’re bent.
What I’m calling the back of the stem. It faces the leaf spring in the switch bottom.
What I’m calling the front of the stem.
The top and bottom; the Cherry logo faces the leaf spring when the switch is reassembled. The spring is the upside-down U that’s on the left side of the switch bottom.The master table organizing my keyboard science.
| 65g | Black | A |
| 62g | Black | B |
| Black | Blue | C |
| 65g | Blue | D |
| 62g | Blue | E |
| Black | Brown | F |
| 65g | Brown | G |
| 62g | Brown | H |
| Black | Clear | I |
| 65g | Clear | J |
| 62g | Clear | K |
| Black | White | L |
| 65g | White | M |
| 62g | White | N |
A) 65g (spring) Blacks (stem) – I loved these. They felt perfect for a linear switch. The Reds are way too light. Stock Blacks feel great and remind me of a linear version of MX Whites; just smooth and almost cushiony. 65g are the slightly lighter but offer the same smoothness and cushiony bottom out. I’m so taken with these that they will be going on my Epsilon.
B) 62g Blacks – I thought these were OK. They were just slightly heavier than MX Reds and didn’t have the same cushiony feeling that 65g Blacks had. I don’t like Reds or light switches. Blues are middle weight switches in terms of actuation in my opinion. Anything close to Reds isn’t a good feeling for me.
C) Black spring with Blue stem (Also called a ghetto Green) – I loved these. Switch feels like a SUPER clicky Blue switch. They’re nice and heavy; almost authoritatively Clicky. I am so smitten with these that I’m going to put them on my KMAC. And when I was in Pittsburgh, I tried Missalaire’s QFR with Greens and the switches felt the same to me. So I have faith that the ghetto Greens will be just as good as the MX Greens. And I can actually find them…unlike the actual Green switches.
Update: I found actual Green switches for my KMAC. So it doesn't have Ghetto Greens. Still a great switch though.
D) 65g Blues – I loved these. I originally tried these on SmallFry’s Phantom in Chicago. I really enjoyed them there. And now that I got to play with them again, I feel like they’re the upgraded version of MX Blues. They feel almost the same as stock MX Blues. But they’re somehow clickier with a nice bottom cushiony bottom out.
E) 62g Blues – I thought these were meh. They were the downgraded version of 65g; the poor man’s version. They would stick like ergo-clears and were kind of clicky. They didn’t even feel as good as stock Blues. But they were interesting.
F) Black spring with Browns – I did not like these. They felt like a bad version of stock MX Blacks. It was almost a linear feeling but a little catch at the bottom. Occasionally I’d feel a bump but the bump really felt like a bad version of a cushion.
G) 65g Browns – I thought these were OK. Kinda felt like a poor man’s version of an MX Clear. I almost felt the bump and it was pretty meh. Not horrible though, a step up in my book from stock MX Browns.
H) 62g Browns – I did not like these. It was mushy but springy; a very odd combination. The bump was very weak but the rebound was nice.
I) Black spring with Clear Stem (Also called Panda clears) – I liked these. This was probably my favorite iteration of the Clear swaps. It wasn’t sticky at all. It was the right combination of springy and bumpy. Unlike the weak bump in Browns that felt almost mushy, the Clear bump was unmistakable. It’s lighter than the stock Clears obviously and I’m a huge fan of the weight/actuation force on MX Blacks.
J) 65g Clear – I thought these were OK. The bottom out was very harsh, almost jarringly so. The rebound was delightful and the tactile bump is very apparent. This switch was sticky though.
K) 62g Clear – I liked these. This was my second favorite Clear spring swap. It was light but for some reason, they felt nice. It was springy and probably had the most apparently bump out of all the MX tactile switches I’ve ever tried. Not that sticky either.
L) Black spring with Whites – I loved these. Maybe we should just call this the Panda switch since it’s black and white? Hehe. Anyways, the bottom out wasn’t as resistive as the Whites feel. It was almost like the switch had a little more give on the bottom. Whites feel almost like they build resistance as you press down. It’s not TOO light and there is still the soft muffled click that I love from Whites.
M) 65g White – I didn’t like these. The bottom out on the switch feels odd, almost as if the actuation wants to continue to travel after the physical stop. It was a weird sensation that I didn’t care for. However, the switch still had the soft, muffled click.
N) 62g White – I thought these were OK. They felt exactly like a stock MX Blue. There was no soft, muffled click. Just the same exact feeling as an MX Blue.
Final thoughtsIf you want my impressions on stock MX switches, please check out the
Mr. Interface switch try bag and my
Post Chicago/Nashville meetup reviews.
I loved the following switches:
- Ghetto Greens (Black spring with Blue stem)
- 65g Black
- 65g Blue
- Panda Clears (Black spring with Clear stem)
- Black spring with White stem aka the Panda switch! I’m starting the trend!
I liked the following switches:
I didn’t care for anything else. I would like to revisit this test later with the stock Blue, 45g, 50g, 58g, and 67g springs. Also I’d love to get my hands on gold springs so I can be legit ballin like Sifo.
Also props to
this site which helped me make the table!
For those who read the whole article? Here’s a reward, a picture of my adorable puppy:
