Discord:https://discord.gg/xprJb8Ta26
Hi everyone, this is Dashan from Unikeys. Today I am bringing to you the interest check of another HMX linear switch. It all started with the Hyacinth V2 switches which helped HMX earn its seat at the switch manufacturer table. People start to notice that even though they are a pretty "young" factory, they can create high-quality switches that come at a fair price point. Most of you know the story after that; HMX kept pushing out interesting options such as the Macchiato and Macaron switches which come with great value. Yes, HMX switches are great. They have smooth travel, minimum stem wobble, great sound, and a typing feel. However, HMX is actively looking for ways to differentiate its product line and to make each switch unique on its own to prevent the issue of having too many re-color switches. I think they did a great job on the Cloud switch regarding that aspect.
Price
Price: 0.35 USD per switch
Switch Specifications
Switch type: Linear
Designer: XL
Manufacturer: HMX
Stem material: LY
Top Housings: PA12
Bottom Housing: PA 2.0
Operating Force: 42±5g
Bottom-out Force: 50±5g
Pre-travel: 2.0mm
Total Travel: 4.0±0.3mm
Spring: 22mm Single-Stage extended spring
Factory Lubed: Yes! on spring, stem feet, and stem sliders
The HMX Cloud Switch
The Cloud switch is one of the earliest HMX switches that use the LY material. Previous HMX linear switches all came with pretty standard POM, PC, or Nylon materials. Although the LY material is no longer rare in the market nowadays, a decent LY formula does bring the best out of a switch in my opinion.
Design:
HMX's previous molds have a huge advantage which is also a disadvantage sometimes. That is they have a very tight stem-housing compatibility. The housing and the stem mold very precisely to produce a minimum stem wobble and create a super smooth travel in the meantime. However, such a design comes with an issue for previous HMX switches which was that a tight housing creates a syringe effect; It means that sometimes key presses feel like pushing in a syringe. This was caused by having less space between the stem and the housing slides. This wasn't a huge issue for switches that have a short travel but become quite obvious for switches that have a longer travel. Since the Cloud switches were aiming for a 4.0mm travel distance, this syringe effect issue must be resolved. HMX adjusted its mold design prior to the production and left a bit more space between the stem and the housing. After the adjustment, the syringe effect was no longer an issue, and they were able to keep the stem wobble at the minimum level as usual.
Another design tweak to be noticed is that although the spec sheet says the Cloud switches have a 4.0mm full travel distance, but it is more like 3.9mm in real life. This is mainly because they are stem pole bottoming out, and the extended stem tip shortens the travel a little bit.
Materials:
I still remember the day I wrote the BSUN X switches' IC post; I said that the LY material at the time was still not very common among switches and that only a few options came with this choice. It has only been a few months since then, and now we see every manufacturer pushing out switches using the LY material. I personally have no problem with that at all since I love LY stems very much. One of the reasons is that LY is a mix of both POM and UPE (specific formula depends on each manufacturer's design), and that balances out the smoothness and hardness of the stem. An LY stem basically takes both POM and UPE's merits and eliminates their defects at the same time. After trying out the Cloud switches, I have to say HMX's LY material formula is as good as BSUN and JWK's. However, I do notice that it is possible HMX added less UPE to it since the bottom-out still sounds quite clacky. Another good thing about this is that we don't need to worry about the LY shrinkage issue that appeared on the JWK SOTC switches.
Regarding the top and bottom housing materials, I have to say HMX has more PA variants than any factory that exists on this planet. Please allow me to reiterate this for you:
From most clacky to less clacky: PA2.0-PA12-PA1-PA66
Smoothness: They are all very smooth. PA2.0 is a bit smoother than the rest since they added PTFE to it to increase smoothness and friction resistance.
Really, the PA variants only differ in their sound profile mostly. You can see that the Cloud switch is using PA12 as its top housing and PA2.0 as its bottom housing. This means they will sound clacky instead of thocky. However, thanks to the LY stem, they are not going to sound as loud and thocky as the Hyacinth V2 I can assure you that. The bottom-out sound created by LY and PA12 is very pleasant and concentrated.
Overall, it is very obvious HMX is making an effort to have their new switches made different from the existing ones. The changes in mold design and material choices can prove that. Based on my personal experience, I can also they that they sound and feel different from the previous HMX switches we carry. The Cloud switches are very balanced in sound and feel. However, for those who are waiting for a thocky HMX switch, you might need to wait a bit longer.
Form of Sales
Time of Sales
October 27th at 8:30 PM ET
