Durability check (Gateron Vs Cherry)

[Trevork]

I have been reading a lot of reviews regarding the characteristics of Gateron and Cherry. But I still prefer the durability over the performance of the switches that I desire. Currently confused which switch that is worth buying in terms of durability. I know that Gaterons are much better than cherry because it's a lot smoother than its cherry counterparts. But I am planning to buy a keyboard with Gateron Brown or Cherry MX Brown. But the question is: which one is more durable? The Cherry counterpart which is the Gateron or the original Cherry Switches? By the way I have been inactive for a few months/year soo I am still a newbie in this forum. I would like to thank those people who are willing to help haha. I am a Filipino so it's very difficult to find a store that provides switch testers in the country that I am currently residing in.

[kmba]

newer cherry switches are smooth.

[Trevork]

newer cherry switches are smooth.

But are the Gaterons have the same degree of durability compared to its Cherry counterparts?

[davkol]

I don't trust Gateron switches.

A Varmilo representative has said this (they didn't provide warranty for their keyboards with gaterons):

As for Gateron switch, we do have, but not recommend, since we got some negative feedback from our customers, especially after one year, the feeling and performance is not as good as it used to be.

There was EZ (ErgoDox) too:

We recently got an entire shipment of Gateron Browns switches that was simply junk. Had we been a big corporation I would probably have to sugarcoat this, but we're not, so I'm telling it like it is. We're talking 10,000 keyswitches that were just a disaster. Chatter, inconsistent feel -- just terrible product, and not something we'd ever put in a keyboard. What made this even more exciting is that we couldn't just refuse the whole shipment -- they made us sort through them by hand ("this one feels right, this one is bad").

I've had some bad experiences with them myself (inconsistent feel, leaf rattle in browns etc.) and heard similar things from a bunch of other people.

[Visionaire]

What sort of durability are you looking for here? Like number of keystrokes or resistance to dirt / water, etc? If the number of keystrokes, I think most switches are rated for MILLIONS of actuations so you're probably good either way. If you're looking for resistance to dirt, they're likely about the same and you might want to look into something like box switches.

[Trevork]

What sort of durability are you looking for here? Like number of keystrokes or resistance to dirt / water, etc? If the number of keystrokes, I think most switches are rated for MILLIONS of actuations so you're probably good either way. If you're looking for resistance to dirt, they're likely about the same and you might want to look into something like box switches.

Like how long will it last? Will it last for like a couple of years? Without having any issues? Without experiencing double presses? Sumthin' like that.

[HotRoderX]

In reality both switches are about equal. There quality control's should be about the same. I have heard bad things about both and when it comes down to it short of buying a vintage set of cherry's there just no telling what kinda life span they will have. Manufacturing tolerances taken into account both switches could last forever or fail tomorrow. There also the fact neither company is perfect. There been reports of early Gateron's just failing after 6-8months. There have been reports of cherry completely screwing up a group buy. They placed MX Red ((Which according to them is with in tolerance)) springs inside black switches. This tells me quality control at both places is most likely about equal regardless of what anyone says. Mistakes can happen machines can break. Things do get thought bottom line pick the switch that you like the most and just enjoy.

[Blaise170]

About 10 switches in my Varmilo have died, and as stated above Varmilo won't even warranty repair it since they have been shown to be unreliable. I'm going to have to do the repair myself and I'll have to find switches to replace it with. The only clones that have been very reliable for me are Kailh, all others including Gateron have given me problems a year or two down the road.

[HotRoderX]

About 10 switches in my Varmilo have died, and as stated above Varmilo won't even warranty repair it since they have been shown to be unreliable. I'm going to have to do the repair myself and I'll have to find switches to replace it with. The only clones that have been very reliable for me are Kailh, all others including Gateron have given me problems a year or two down the road.

Heard that and I don't see how they can not warranty the boards because a component failed. I am thinking Varmilo isn't telling us the entire story and most likely hiding behind some kinda bs. Cause I would think if something has a warranty then the manufacture is legally obligated to fix the issue. Then if it has a higher defective rate then is typical and continues to be a issue recall it. Instead of just .. o we have XYZ number of board's coming back with this issue.. no more warranty repairs for it.

[Blaise170]

Meh it would cost me more in shipping and time than just buying switches and doing it myself. The Gateron Clears are too light anyways, so I'll probably get some cheap MX Reds or something to replace them with.