How To Choose The Right Mechanical Keyboard Switch For YOU

hey what's going on guys its brain being here again you know buying your first mechanical keyboard can be a pretty daunting experience if you're not familiar with the different types of switches that are out there or maybe the different terms for all the different specs really can be kind of an overwhelming experience with all the different options that are out there so with the holidays coming up I figured a lot of you guys are gonna be making your first ever mechanical keyboard purchase or maybe you're looking to broaden your horizons or find something out there or just want to make sure that you ask Santa for the right keyboard with the right switch type for you I wanted to boil down all of my old previous switch guides into something that's very basic and very easy to understand for somebody who might be completely new to all of this so with that let's go ahead and take a look at my beginner's guide to mechanical key switches secret lab combines best-in-class materials a plethora of finish options and industry-leading comfort to provide the ultimate seating experience with models for users of all sizes and aesthetic tastes there's sure to be a chair for any setup click the link in the description to find out which chair is right for you now like I mentioned at the beginning of the video I'm gonna keep this very basic from the start so if you're familiar with keyboards your regular watcher of my channel this probably isn't a whole lot of new info for you with that we're gonna start at the very very basic of just talking about what is a mechanical keyboard so what are mechanical keyboards mechanical keyboards use physical switches under each individual key that when pressed send a signal to the computer the keyboards you're probably used to seeing most out in the wild are membrane keyboards these keyboards typically come with computers and they would be what you would use in school or at your local library for example these keyboards use multiple layers of plastic membranes that close a circuit when the key is pressed these membranes run the entire length of the board and they include all of the keys on a single sheet mechanical switches are all separate from each other eliminating the possibility of the wrong key being activated during a press this also allows for something called rollover which in the simplest terms means how many keys can be pressed simultaneously and still sent unimpeded to the computer this can be something very basic like holding shift and hitting a letter key when typing or all the way up to holding multiple keys down when gaming commonly on gaming keyboards you might see around ten key rollover which is one for each finger so realistically that should be more than enough but on some higher-end keyboards you will see n key rollover which means you could press every key on the keyboard at once without any issue so why does all this matter what's so great about mechanical keyboards mechanical keyboards offer a superior typing and gaming experience over membrane keyboards they're more reliable because of the individual switches that we just talked about and these switches can last a lot longer than men bring keyboards to with your typical switch lasting from fifty to eighty million clicks another big advantage to mechanical keyboards is the ability to choose the switch type that feels best for you and while each switch does have its own distinct feel I want to stress you guys that there's no right choice the purpose of this video is to help you choose which switch you might enjoy the best but let's get one thing clear you're the one who's going to be using this keyboard so if you like the way a particular switch feels then that's the switch you should go with when it comes to switch types there's three basic types of switches out there now I know in the more advanced world there are different kinds of switches but we're trying to keep this super super simple so for the purpose of this review we're just gonna go with the three most commonly available types of switch the first type of switch we're gonna talk about are clicky switches now clicky switches are probably exactly what you think about when you think about mechanical keyboards they offer a crisp click that you can feel and hear when the switch actuates or sends a signal to the computer clicky switches are a favorite among gamers and typist alike for their satisfying sound and feel the only time I would really steer somebody away from clicky switches would be for streaming loud clicky switches and a mic over the course of a stream can be really annoying to your audience you can kind of get away with this by using a noise gate on your mic but that can take a lot of time and issues to really dial everything all in and if you are looking at getting a keyboard specifically for streaming I typically recommend just going with tactiles or Linear's some examples of quickie switches are Cherry MX blue or Razer greens typically any blue or white switch a variant will be a clicky switch next up we have tactile switches now tactile switches are very similar to clicky switches just without the click tactile switches are similar to click ease in that they have the same tactile bump at the point of actuation they just don't have the click that comes with it they can range from super light bumps that are barely noticeable all the way to super snappy hard ones that you really need to push through most commonly though with something like Cherry MX browns it's a nice balance of a noticeable bump while still being smooth enough to use for gaming tactile switches are by far my personal favorite and in my opinion they're the most versatile and well rounded switch for both typing and gaming some examples of tactile switches are Cherry MX browns are clears razor orange or Logitech's Romer G switch pretty much any clear or brown switch variant will be a tactile switch and lastly we have linear switches now linear switches get their name because they don't have a bump in there when you actuate it so it's a smooth linear key press all the way down for when you bottom out the key but this doesn't mean that you won't feel the precise moment that the stroke registers in the computer Lin ears make for a more smooth experience when playing games like fps or action games where you're controlling a character's movement they tend to be quieter than their tactile or clicky cousins especially if you don't bottom out the keys and if you can master this then they will be almost silent now paired with some earrings Linear's will definitely be the quietest variant even if you do bottom out the key you can also look into Cherry MX silence which are just linear switches with built-in sound dampening for an extra quiet typing experience if you're really trying to keep things super quiet keep in mind though that Linear's tend to have a lighter actuation force too so bottoming them out is actually a lot easier to do than on the clicky and the tactile variants some downside the Linear's is that they are a little bit harder to get used to when typing in my experience due to the lack of tactile feedback the same is true of playing games like MOBAs or mmo's because I personally find the tactile feedback kind of lets you know when you've activated a skill in game so it makes it a little easier to know when you've used those skills some linear examples would be cherry MX red black speed or silent or razor yellow switches pretty much any red black or silver switch a variant is going to be a linear switch but keep in mind that these aren't hard rules so always double check what switch type it is I'm going to quickly just do a brief sound comparison between clicky linear and tactile switches but if you want to hear a bunch of different switches or particular brands of switches I'm gonna leave a link in the description to my 34 switch sound test video the one thing that I always recommend is to try to get hands-on with these switches before you buy a keyboard so if you live down the street from something like a Best Buy or a Fry's it's always a good idea to try to go down there cuz they usually have a couple of different keyboards on display that you can just play around with on maybe pop a key cap off to verify which type of switch is there and figure out what feels best for you if that's not something that's available what you could do is also order a switch tester off of Amazon they're usually about ten bucks and it'll have six different types of switches in it and that will give you an idea of which switch type you think you might like I usually recommend this because it's better to spend ten bucks in order the right keyboard the first time then to drop a lot of money on a keyboard that you end up not liking the way it feels now after talking about the three different types of switches there's also a bunch of different kind of switches that we're gonna talk about some of the more common varieties you may hear a switch called Cherry MX MX compatible or something along those lines this just means that the stem uses the same MX style plus sign looking stem that the keycaps will attach to you and this is important to know because certain style of keycaps will only work with certain styles of stamps you may also see something called box switches this refers to the plastic box that comes up around the stem which make this which is much more stable than traditional style cherry switches there's also optical switches like you see on the razor Huntsman now these used like to register keystrokes and set of mechanical contact points like traditional switches do low profile switches like kale chocolate switches for example are slim down mechanical switches that offer a similar experience just in a thinner package analog switches allow for dynamic functionality similar to how joystick on a controller works and a couple places you can find these are on the wounding one keyboard or the Razer Tartarus Pro gamepad mechanical switches do have a couple of different specs that are pretty relevant to the performance of the switch and I'm gonna go over a couple of the basic terms on what those mean in case you read on the back of the box or on the website you'll be able to understand a little bit more what they're talking about actuation distance is how far down you need to press the key in order for a stroke to register in the computer unlike membrane keyboards mechanical keyboards don't need the keys to be pressed all the way down in order for the keystroke to register in the computer on a tactile or clicky switch this is the point of the press where you'll feel the bump or hear the click and what this really boils down to is the speed of the key press or how touchy the keys are a typical actuation distance is about two millimeters while some gaming switches or faster switches in general have up to half of that making the keys require very little press to register this makes them feel a little bit more snappy and responsive for gaming but I find that it makes it really easy to accidentally hit the wrong keys when typing until you can really get used to it also guys consider the difference between one and two millimeters the distance there is so minut that the average person who really is not gonna notice a difference whatsoever travel distance is the total distance that a switch will go before it bottoms out for example a Cherry MX brown switches an actuation distance of two millimeters and a total travel distance of four millimeters you would have to push the key the full four millimeters before bottoming out that's the total travel where you might see the stat being more important is on low-profile keyboards or some gaming oriented switches that have a shorter overall travel actuation force is how hard or the amount of force that you need to move the switch towards actuation point these typically range from 40 to 55 grams and the most common switch varieties and gaming centric switches tend to stay in this realm to pretty much any board you buy off the shelf at Best Buy or Fry's or any gaming brand is gonna fit into this category some switches can go all the way up to 80 plus grams and some less common switch types for those of you that are a little bit more heavy-handed but you're gonna have to look into some more specialty type keyboards to get those and once you get into some more enthusiast level switches you'll start to see actuation forces that actually get heavier as you get closer to bottoming out the key you could think of it almost as cushioning the press this also helps you to encourage better typing practice to some examples there would be kako or halo switches well there you have it guys I hope this guide is a little bit beneficial for you for trying to decide which keyboards which may be the best choice for you again I really want to stress that there is no right choice here so just find the one that feels best for you and that's what you should go with again I do really recommend getting hands-on with these whether in the store or with the key switch tester and feel free to leave comments down below asking questions I'll do my best to answer them as well as I know the main audience for my channel knows quite a lot about keyboards so I encourage some of you guys to help answer some of these questions as well but anyways guys if you enjoyed this video give it a like to show your support and if you're new here on the channel I'd love to see you stick around as I've got a lot more videos like this coming for you in the near future and as always guys thank you so much for watching and I will see you in the next one [Music]

Channel: Brainbean

Views: 349,005

Rating: 4.933876 out of 5

Keywords: beginners guide to mechanical keyboard switches, how to choose a mechanical keyboard switch, how to choose a switch, which switches for mechanical keyboard, which switch should i get, mechanical keyboard switch comparison, mechanical switches for beginners, keyboard switch guide, which keyboard switch should i get, mechanical keyboard switch, mechanical switch guide, choose a mechanical switch, best mechanical switch for gaming, mechanical switches, keyboard switch, switch

Id: HjrcQEM68vk

Length: 11min 53sec (713 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 05 2019