Oh Noes~! My Razer keyboard gave me +5 WPM

[vim_commando]

So THAT was unexpected. I was curious what sort of difference key switches made on my typing speed, so I gave it a go on most of the keyboards I have lying around.

My old personal best had been 88 WPM, a not spectacular but solid number.

This is what I ended up with today, a new personal best:



It pains me a little to say it, but it was on a Razer BlackWidow X Tournament Edition Chroma (talk about a terrible name  ) From the sounds of it the "Razer Greens" in this board are actually made by Greetech and not Kailh like most Razer boards (this review had a lot of info on it: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=86213.msg2427708#msg2427708).

I don't have a board with proper Cherry MX Blues, so I can't make a direct comparison to those. I have generally avoided clicky keys due to the noise; I've owned a Model-M and still have a loud Dell AT-101W, both were insomnia inducing 

My keyboard that gets the most abuse right now is my Infinity with Matias Quiet Clicks and DSA caps. I love the overall typing experience, but so far I just haven't been able to best 92 WPM on it.

I ran multiple tests on keyboards with different switches (Black Alps, Matias QC, O-Ringed Cherry Browns, three different Apple membrane). My average speed is consistently the highest on the Razer. 

Has anyone else measured a similar difference in typing speed from various key switches? If so, which ones have given you the best results?

[chyros]

I type really quickly on orange Alps, personally. I definitely vet a lot of speed variation between different switches.

[Joey Quinn]

My typing speed varies a bit depending on the board I'm using, my best is on my 55g HHKB at 82wpm but my average is around 75wpm across all my boards. However, my fastest averages happen on my MacBook Pro because I can just slide my fingers between the keys which leads to an average of 79wpm.

Total speed breakdown below for the boards I regularly use

55g HHKB Pro 2 > 78g Gat Clears > MX Clears > 45g HHKB Pro 1 = SKCM Blues

[apricot]

I've used Cherry Blues, Browns, Clears and Reds and Topre 45g.
I never tested my typing speed when I had a keyboard with Clear switches, but for the rest of them it's as follows:
MX Red: 72 WPM
MX Brown: 82 WPM
Topre 45g: 84 WPM
MX Blue: 91 WPM

MX Blue switches are definitely my favourite, but MX Brown switches work alright too when I need a quieter keyboard. In normal typing I average around 80 WPM.
I found that on the Topre Realforce I would make typos due to accidentally pressing two keys at once, but that's more to do with the keycaps than the switches.

I wonder if there'd be less of a difference in WPM if I had the same layout/keyboard on all of the switches I tested.

[Joey Quinn]

I found that on the Topre Realforce I would make typos due to accidentally pressing two keys at once, but that's more to do with the keycaps than the switches.

I wonder if there'd be less of a difference in WPM if I had the same layout/keyboard on all of the switches I tested.

What keycap profile are you normally using?

If by layout you mean switching from TKL to fullsize or something like that I don't think you'll see a change but ortholinear vs staggered would change the results.

[apricot]

What keycap profile are you normally using?

If by layout you mean switching from TKL to fullsize or something like that I don't think you'll see a change but ortholinear vs staggered would change the results.

I normally use Cherry profile or Leopold's similar Step Sculpture 2 profile.
Realforce keycaps have slightly less surface area on top of the keycaps with larger gaps in between keycaps. It's a miniscule difference, but apparently enough to occasionally trip me up while typing.

Yeah I meant the size of the keyboard. I'd like to try a ortholinear keyboard at some point.

[SBJ]

My typing speed and accuracy vary a lot depending on what board I'm using.
Specifically, the stiffness I find is what helps my accuracy.
Right now I'm typing on a board with tactile grays and it's definitely the board I'm most accurate with.
I have another board with gat greens and those are the ones I type the fastest on.

[Encabulator]

I type a constant 90 wpm on laptop rubber domes and a consistent 100+ on anything mechanical. Nothing I've tried has really lowered my speed other than super heavy switches.

[Encabulator]

I type a constant 90 wpm on laptop rubber domes and a consistent 100+ on anything mechanical. Nothing I've tried has really lowered my speed other than super heavy switches.

1st try today on a chromebook! Pretty bad accuracy cause I wasn't warmed up. If the image isn't showing up I got 97 wpm.

[pixelpusher]

So THAT was unexpected. I was curious what sort of difference key switches made on my typing speed, so I gave it a go on most of the keyboards I have lying around.

My old personal best had been 88 WPM, a not spectacular but solid number.

This is what I ended up with today, a new personal best:

(Attachment Link)

It pains me a little to say it, but it was on a Razer BlackWidow X Tournament Edition Chroma (talk about a terrible name  ) From the sounds of it the "Razer Greens" in this board are actually made by Greetech and not Kailh like most Razer boards (this review had a lot of info on it: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=86213.msg2427708#msg2427708).

I don't have a board with proper Cherry MX Blues, so I can't make a direct comparison to those. I have generally avoided clicky keys due to the noise; I've owned a Model-M and still have a loud Dell AT-101W, both were insomnia inducing 

My keyboard that gets the most abuse right now is my Infinity with Matias Quiet Clicks and DSA caps. I love the overall typing experience, but so far I just haven't been able to best 92 WPM on it.

I ran multiple tests on keyboards with different switches (Black Alps, Matias QC, O-Ringed Cherry Browns, three different Apple membrane). My average speed is consistently the highest on the Razer. 

Has anyone else measured a similar difference in typing speed from various key switches? If so, which ones have given you the best results?

what about keycap profile?  Maybe your razer has a better profile keycap for you?  Personally, cap profile is the biggest thing that effects my typing speed.  My speed by profile (Fastest to slowest)

G20>OEM>Cherry>DSA>R3 SA>Full sculptured SA

From G20 to Fully Sculptured SA i would guess there is around 20wpm difference on average

[tp4tissue]

Get gud' slow poke..   This is Geekhack..  !!

[vim_commando]

what about keycap profile?  Maybe your razer has a better profile keycap for you?  Personally, cap profile is the biggest thing that effects my typing speed.  My speed by profile (Fastest to slowest)

G20>OEM>Cherry>DSA>R3 SA>Full sculptured SA

From G20 to Fully Sculptured SA i would guess there is around 20wpm difference on average

That's interesting, but I didn't notice as drastic of a difference from my keycaps. I do think I had slightly lower accuracy on the DSA keys. My Razer, Dell and Tex keyboards all have a very similar OEM key profiles on different switches; I'd definitely attribute the speed difference to the switches there. My Apple wireless and MacBook Pro keyboards are of course very flat, but I can still hit around 90 WPM on those. The "Magic" keyboard "Magically" removes at least 5 WPM with its "improved" shorter throw, lighter press keys.

Get gud' slow poke..   This is Geekhack..  !!

Somehow, I'm not suprised to hear that from you

You do have a great write up on improving your typing speed. I'll be seeing what I can use from it to break the 100WPM barrier. I might struggle with the "use you right thumb for space" though. For some odd reason I always use my left thumb... unless its a double-space. All double-spaces are right thumbed  )

[ndumdr]

I type faster on Topre, my average WPM was around 130, ngl it made me feel quite good about myself. And then I tried Gateron red and despite being accustomed to it, my average WPM was around 110 which tilted me. Blues are satisfying to type on so I got around 115~ WPM as well, quite close to Gat Reds but it just felt better than Gateron Reds I guess. I do remember owning a Razer Blackwidow Chroma Green switches though, I think I also averaged around 110 WPM with it. Topre is the only switch that drastically improved my typing speed and efficiency. Planning to try Zealios next!