Long-term Gaote (Outemu)-manfactured Matias switch reliability

[Maledicted]

I have been using the same (clicky) KBParadise V80 at work daily for about 6 months straight. I can tell that the Tai-hao caps are starting to shine. I have had a grand total of 0 problems with chatter or unregistered presses.

I did have some intermittent chatter issues with a key or two on at least one of the other V80s I bought in the same batch that went away on its own within a week after it began, through use. I believe this was the "quiet click" version.

I have used all 3 (one of each switch variant) off and on since I bought them a year ago and I have various Matias mini boards with modern Gaote-manufactured switches that have all had similar reliability across a few years of on-and-off use. I haven't even had to disassemble any of them (besides general curiosity and tinkering), much less replace any switches.

I think it is time for the community at large to re-evaluate the reputation of (modern) Matias switches. They may not be as totally reliable as MX and clones, but it isn't like MX is totally infallible if it gets dirty either. They feel and sound so much better, and they're dirt cheap to boot. It is worth making the jump away from the MX hardware compatibility ecosystem, and the more people do so, the less of a problem it will become.

[Versaknight]

I like matias clicky switches but i feel that they can be slighly modified to sound a bit quieter and more like skcm blue/white switches. I love how they feel but not how they sound. I wonder if it is possible to get the same switches with different material top/bottom housings. It might solve a number of issues that they have

[butre]

I like matias clicks.  I find their dampened switches to be a little mushy.

I've been considering desoldering one of my alps-supported boards and putting matias switches in it for a long time, might be as good a time as any to do it

[Riverman]

I had a quiet click Mac keyboard for a while.  On its own, it was nice, but there were three things that kept me from loving it.  First, it was hideously ugly, and Matias themselves seems to be the only source for a full-size keyboard using those switches.  Second, there are no PBT keycap options, and keycap shine bugs the hell out of me.  Third, as nice as their switches are, they still feel mushy and just off in some indescribable way compared to real damped Alps, which is what they apparently set out to copy.  I didn't have any reliability issues with the keyboard, though, so that was a plus.  Do their clicky switches feel more like real Alps switches?  I've never typed on a clicky Alps keyboard, just Apple ones with cream damped, white damped, salmon, and orange switches.

[Maledicted]

I like matias clicky switches but i feel that they can be slighly modified to sound a bit quieter and more like skcm blue/white switches. I love how they feel but not how they sound. I wonder if it is possible to get the same switches with different material top/bottom housings. It might solve a number of issues that they have

You can swap dampened sliders into the clicky switches, or the clicky leaf into the tactile or "linear" switches. Chyros has a video about it. It does sound even deeper and quieter (since that's what you want), but I still prefer a stiffer bottoming out myself.

I like matias clicks.  I find their dampened switches to be a little mushy.

I've been considering desoldering one of my alps-supported boards and putting matias switches in it for a long time, might be as good a time as any to do it

If you're a fan of tactiles but not the dampening iterated in Alps and clones, you can swap the sliders from the clicky switches into the tactile switches, or the tactile leaves from the tactile switches into the clicky switches.

I have been thinking about the same for years, since most of my Alps boards have switches that are in terrible shape. I have been indecisive and/or waiting out the results of that wax mod everybody has been trying as well though. Matias switches are so cheap, there's no reason not to revive old Alps boards with them if you don't want to bother trying to save the OG switches at the moment.

I had a quiet click Mac keyboard for a while.  On its own, it was nice, but there were three things that kept me from loving it.  First, it was hideously ugly, and Matias themselves seems to be the only source for a full-size keyboard using those switches.  Second, there are no PBT keycap options, and keycap shine bugs the hell out of me.  Third, as nice as their switches are, they still feel mushy and just off in some indescribable way compared to real damped Alps, which is what they apparently set out to copy.  I didn't have any reliability issues with the keyboard, though, so that was a plus.  Do their clicky switches feel more like real Alps switches?  I've never typed on a clicky Alps keyboard, just Apple ones with cream damped, white damped, salmon, and orange switches.

These are the sort of subjective preferences that can really only be overcome if Matias switches achieve enough of a degree of market saturation.

Do you have a particular preference for dampened switches? I imagine the dampeners being decades older in Alps probably means they're stiffer than the ones in Matias switches. I haven't really compared dampened Alps directly to dampened Matias switches though. I like both.

Clicky Matias switches are just a little less refined than SKCM, they feel and sound very similar with just a little bit missing. They're clones of simplified Alps, so they're fundamentally less complex and there's no way around that.

[Polymer]

Clicky Matias switches are just a little less refined than SKCM, they feel and sound very similar with just a little bit missing. They're clones of simplified Alps, so they're fundamentally less complex and there's no way around that.

That's part of the problem though right?  They're just missing something that puts them in the not quite right category for some or people that know what they could be...or what they'd like them to be. 

I don't think you're going to find a huge number of people making the jump given the sketchy reliability..but maybe with a few more samples of longevity there will be people that will make the jump.  The lack of keycaps really hurts as well..

[Maledicted]

Clicky Matias switches are just a little less refined than SKCM, they feel and sound very similar with just a little bit missing. They're clones of simplified Alps, so they're fundamentally less complex and there's no way around that.

That's part of the problem though right?  They're just missing something that puts them in the not quite right category for some or people that know what they could be...or what they'd like them to be. 

I don't think you're going to find a huge number of people making the jump given the sketchy reliability..but maybe with a few more samples of longevity there will be people that will make the jump.  The lack of keycaps really hurts as well..

There's really no alternative unless you're going to be an Alps, buckling spring or Topre (etc) purist or something, so I don't think the fact that they're not exactly like SKCM should really be that huge of a deal, but it does seem like a lot of people in this hobby seem to have some pretty extreme OCD. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't think their current reputation is warranted any longer, and may have been irrelevant almost as long as Gaote has been manufacturing the switches, problems with 0 reinforcement of older micro USB connectors and potential poor mounting of the switches in the slightly more recent past notwithstanding.