To begin with
The BoardsFirst is a tenkeyless Leopold with Cherry MX Clears. Of these boards it is the one that I’ve had for the longest. Next, is a KBT Race with Cherry MX Whites. This is the only 75% board that I have ever owned, and that is probably my least favorite part of the board. Finally, is my newest addition, a Cooler Master Storm Quick Fire Rapid with Cherry MX Greens.
Some pics:
QFR
QFR and Race
Leopold and Race
Quickly, my thoughts on the different boards. My favorite for the keycaps is definitely the Race, though that is the only one with PBT caps. The Race is also my least favorite layout. I can’t quite get adjusted to the extra small control and shift keys on the right. In fact I’d prefer smaller arrow keys to have larger control and shift. The QFR definitely feels the most “rugged” of the three, and I’m fairly certain that it is the heaviest. That said the keycaps are probably my least favorite of the three, as I hate being able to feel the lettering so much (though I actually like the font). Though the biggest drawback on the QFR as a whole is the FN key and that it can’t be remapped at all. This is the only real negative against what I would consider otherwise the closest to a perfect keyboard for me (just give me a trackpoint and make the FN key remappable <- is that a word?). Now I haven’t said anything about the Leopold, but that is because it is just a solid board, nothing to really complain about. Also the most “standard” experience I would imagine to get.
As I want to focus on the switches and not the boards, I’ll be doing my best to put aside the differences in the boards. Ideally of course, the switch comparison would come from using the same board with different editions. As my soldering skills are basically nonexistent, and there isn’t, to my knowledge, a company that sells boards with these three switches, this will have to do for now.
Now that all of that is out of the way onto
The SwitchesClears: These were the second mechanical switch that I tried after MX Blues. I read quite a bit, mostly on here, about switches and the feelings obtained from them. I thought for sure that I would love the heavier feeling compared to the MX Blues and didn’t think that the lack of the click would bother me. Well I was partially correct. I do like heavier switches (obviously), and the noise of the Blues isn’t something that I’m particularly tied to. Clears are quite good, and compared to my time with Black Alps, I definitely like the Clears better. However, compared to the other two switches of this review this is by far my least favorite for just the switch. The Cherry switches that are not clicky seem to have a bit of a grinding feeling to them compared to the others. In speaking with a friend I finally came up with calling the clicky switches less resistant. That is they can be just as heavy, but they don’t seem to resist the keypress as much. As a result of this design I feel as though the clears do not feel as tactile as the weight implies.
Whites: I’m going in descending order of experience here, so next is whites. While, my time with Whites hasn’t been nearly as long as Clears, I instantly fell in love with the White switch compared to the Clears. They feel much more tactile to me, and as a result I actually bottom out less. Though this could also be from the White switch, at least according to the deskthority wiki, being much heavier, 80cN versus 55cN. My Race is, to my knowledge, the only PCB mounted board I’ve tried so far as well. So that may have an impact on my feelings here. At this point I honestly don’t know why the Whites are not more common, they seem to be a superior love child of the Clears and Blues. Also, I should point out that they are heavier, and quieter, than most “ghetto greens” since that usually involves a Black spring, at 60cN, and the louder Blue slider.
Greens: So the last switch here is the MX Greens which as stated previously, I have from the new QFR edition. In trying to eliminate all of the other possible variables from the equation, I would think that that my opinion of the Greens is very similar to the Whites. The activation point on the Greens seems a bit higher, which I like, but I cannot say with certainty if the the plate mounting has something to do with that. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can comment on this? The Green switches are definitely louder than the Whites, though I don’t have proper sound equipment to give anyone a video comparison between the two. The activation point aside, I think that any consideration between keyboards with either Whites or Greens is going to come down to other issues in the board. In my case the QFR is without a doubt a better made keyboard (even with what I consider to be much worse keycaps), and so I am more comfortable typing there. But if I try to look past anything like layout, then the switch comparison becomes basically a toss up.
So in summary, I’ve enjoyed all of these switches. Though I seem to favor the clicky switches, the noise is not something that I’m after, but rather a side effect of the design of the switches. I like the Whites and Greens about the same, and they are both heavier and, as I say at least, less resistive than the Clears. Though the Clears are definitely quieter and I’ll continue to use them at my cubicle in attempts to bother those around me as little as possible.
tldr: Greens ~= Whites, both are better feeling than Clears, but Clears are quieter.
