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75g Clickiez first impressions
CaesarAZealad:
Hopefully nothing weird happens this time XP
Build Name: Model C
Switches: ZealPC Clickiez 75g in clicky mode (Tactile mode in ESC and soon enough, the entire F row)
Keycaps: MT3 Dev/tty/
Chassis: NCR 80 Hot Swap
Plate: Carbon Fiber
Mount: Tray mount
TL;DR: Now this is tactility!
I've been waiting for these switches for 2 years now. I'm a bit of a Zeal simp, I'll admit it. When I was completely new to this hobby I bought a GMMK and an order of the fabled Zealios switches I'd heard so much about on r/mk. After mutilating 100 or so switches that collectively cost more than the board they were going into, I sat down to type for the first time on what I thought at the time was some far off and obscure switch only the deepest in the hobby knew about. From the first keypress I was in love. The tactility hit a sweet spot in my brain. It scratched an itch, sated a hunger, it slammed directly into the proverbial sweet spot of my brain that craved tactility.
I immediately found the Zeal discord to gush about these absolute peak switches. After giving Zeal a thorough ego stroking, I stuck around for just long enough to be there for the announcement of a brand new type of switch. A type of Zeal switch that would lead to a 2 year long wait with bated breath as the release day was pushed and pushed until they finally were dropped on Christmas day of last year.
I slammed into the GB as fast as humanly possible, fast enough to be the first one to order the brand new switches.
And we come to last Monday, I'm sitting in my college dorm when I get a delivery notification for ZealPC telling me my switches were waiting for me back at home. 4 days of frothing at the mouth in anticipation and a day of constant use and experimenting and we come to today.
To actually talk about the switches, they're an interesting beast. The click leaf of an Alps switch combined with the compatibility afforded by MX designs. I have to say, it didn't disappoint. The click on the switch is an immediate drop, not unlike Amber Alps. It's crisp, defined, and on the 75g switches it makes your keyboard sound like some kind of massive war being fought with exclusively industrial staple guns. The click on the heavier switches gives off a nice, bassy click that puts even some Alps switches to shame. If I had all the money in the world I would get a Keymacks board with Amber Alps and pit it against these 75g Clickiez for what would most definitely be the ultimate clicky showdown. It's not all happy times and titties though. The click on the 75g weighting feels, for lack of a better word, clunky. As a man who is lucky enough to have an Amber alps board on his shelf as we speak (or... type that is) I can compare them side by side.
First things first: The tactility of Ambers pales in comparison to Clickiez. Alps feel almost like a light clicky switch akin to box Whites when put next to the Clickiez 75g variant. When put next to the 40g variant the comparison is a little more fair, but the clickiez are still notably more tactile, though not as much as with Ambers Vs 75g Clickiez. If I ever get my hands on some fingerbreaker Alps I'll make sure to do a comparison, but for now these are by far the most tactile switch ever. That's right, I said switch, not clicky switch, because oh boy these things have 3 modes baby!
Let's get this out of the way first. Clickiez in tactile mode are NOTHING LIKE TACTILE ALPS. The tactile clickiez are essentially binary. No joke. Now don't get me wrong that's not a bad thing, it's a very nice form of tactility, but it is so intense that there is only 2 positions in tactile mode: 1.) Not pressed 2.) Bottomed out. In tactile mode they are quite possibly the most clacky switch I've even heard. It reminds me of that youtube video where someone makes an entire keyboard out of rotary encoder knobs, both in tactility and sound. It's quite pleasant. Now would I recommend modding a board with entirely 75g Tactile Clickiez? Heck no! I may be a bit of a lunatic daily driving the 75g variant of these switches, but even I have my limits! However I would most definitely recommend putting them in switches you don't want to hit such as CAPSLOCK, ESC, and other switches that you almost never press intentionally. I once said that tactile Alps switches were like having the tactile event in concert with the actuation of the switch, and this is not that.
Getting the most out of your switches:
Let's be real, these things cost A LOT. You're going to want to make sure the switches are as good as they can get.
First off: Lube. You don't need it. Using these switches you barely notice any scratch past the massive clicky event.
Secondly, you're going to want to have a nice roomy chassis. I went with the NCR80 for my build, but I'd reccomend taking a vintage MX compatable board, stripping out the lame MX Black switches (Because they always have MX Blacks >:( ) and slapping in your new clickiez. Then, bada-BINGUS you've got yourself a spicy keyboard. The higher the profile keycaps the better, and PBT is going to bring out the bass. Again this is all subjective, but it's what in my personal experience brings out the strengths in these switches.
Now time for the rating, because all of you love ratings
8/10 New daily driver, most definitely.
I would put sound tests, but I have no clue how to do that on here. Anyone willing to inform me will be rewarded with the sweet sound of clicky clacks!
HungerMechanic:
Thanks for the review. It sounds like the switch has a target market. Looks like it was successful as a premium high-tactility clicky.
I like what this switch is doing. Although the tactile switch sounds practically binary in how hard you are operating it. Like BKE domes.
I hope that the success of this switch propels them into reducing a toned-down tactile variant that's about as tactile as Orange ALPS, something you don't have to just slam down.
CaesarAZealad:
--- Quote from: HungerMechanic on Fri, 29 April 2022, 13:42:28 ---Thanks for the review. It sounds like the switch has a target market. Looks like it was successful as a premium high-tactility clicky.
I like what this switch is doing. Although the tactile switch sounds practically binary in how hard you are operating it. Like BKE domes.
I hope that the success of this switch propels them into reducing a toned-down tactile variant that's about as tactile as Orange ALPS, something you don't have to just slam down.
--- End quote ---
No problemo amico. Do keep your eyes out, Zeal has said multiple times on the discord that he's working on new clickiez variants, starting with one that feels like Brown Alps.
HungerMechanic:
Oh that is good news.
MIGHTY CHICKEN:
>.>, this is indeed good news, I love me some clickies with tall caps
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