Everything I say below should be taken with a grain of salt knowing that I did consume a strawberry Kit Kat provided to me by ZealPC before writing this review. That Kit Kat may have contained compounds associated with mind control and brainwashing.
I should also mention that I received my order very quickly
I was willing to pay the extra price to get them immediately rather than waiting for a group buy to go through. Not that you shouldn't invest in both
)
This will also be a short review by my standards.
Gateron clear switches:
The sample switch that was provided to me was lubed with a 62g spring. I can say definitively that it was the smoothest switch that I have ever felt. While I cant say that I have tried vintage blacks, I am certain that these would stack up. Moreover, the switch seemed to have no issues fitting into existing plates or accepting replacement parts (except for that whole cherry MX lock 2.0 thing). This includes the instillation of pre removed SIP sockets and LEDs. I did install the switch into one of my boards to test out its actuation and while I was informed that my sample switch had a slightly offset actuation (Zeal's quality control), it seemed to be satisfactory by my comparison. I am not one for linear switches but I can say that if you are looking for something smooth as silk and not impossible to find, Gaterons may be perfect for you!
Sorry for the grainy photo, this is a highly cropped 5d photo
Gateron clear switch tops: I was most excited to receive these after a very poor experience with Abostudios clear switch tops. When I first tried to install the Abostudio switch tops into my OTD PCB I had a lot of trouble getting them to fit into the plate. Moreover when I tried to remove a keycap from a switch with an Abostudios top, the top came up with the switch. No such problem with Gateron switch tops! Not only were the Gateron switch tops much sturdier and more ridged, they were much tighter on the switch. Although it took a bit of extra effort to get the top to fit onto the cherry switch bottom, when it was on, it was on, and wasn't coming off. An excellent side effect of this though was
0 wobble or movement in the switch top, so I felt more justified than usual saving hours of my time by not installing switch stickers! Moreover I had no issues installing the Gateron clear housings into the OTD PCB shown below
I should mention as a disclaimer that these switch tops are not the same "milky white" color as the Gateron switches, so don't expect the same effect.
For those wondering where you can obtain either of these products you can either wait until ZealPC has them back in stock or you can join the group buy currently happening. (links below)
Group buy courtesy of Hwoodhttps://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=68943.0ZealPCClear Tops:
http://zealpc.net/products/gateron-clear-switch-topsGroup buy for switch tops:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=68356.0Gateron Clear switches:
http://zealpc.net/products/gateron-clear-switchesBig thanks to ZealPC for hooking me up with a clear switch sample, and providing early access to these awesome components!
