Switching Strategies: Clear Vs. Certainty

Mechanical keyboard switches offer the speed, durability, and responsiveness gamers need. But, as optical switches become more popular, we must ask: which is better for gaming?

How do optical switches and mechanical switches differ, and which keyboard switch do we think is best for gaming?

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How Do Mechanical Switches Work?

Mechanical switches work by creating contact between a metal piece on the bottom of the key and one on the keyboard. This closes the circuit and signals to the PC the key has been pressed.

There are three main types of mechanical switches: linear, tactile, and clicky. Linear keys are quieter, require less force, and provide no tactile feedback when pressed. Tactile keys are louder and produce a bump in the middle of the keystroke, while clicky keys give a larger bump and a loud “click” in the middle of the keystroke, making them loud but satisfying.

How Do Optical Switches Work?

In contrast, optical switches use a process called light induction. When you press the key down, the stem (the part that would usually hit the keyboard) blocks a beam of infrared light. An infrared sensor then detects the lack of light and signals the key has been pressed to the computer.

Mechanically, both switches are quite similar. For example, pressing the keycap pushes the stem down, and a spring pushes the cap back into position. And optical switches can also have similar characteristics to mechanical switches in terms of being more linear, tactile, or clicky.

So, which is better for gaming?

Optical Switches vs. Mechanical Switches

There are a few important aspects of mechanical switches you must consider when deciding which is better for gaming, including:

• Durability: How many keystrokes before the keys break?
• Speed: How quickly can you actuate the key?
• Satisfaction: How enjoyable are the keys to press?
• Noisiness: How loud are the keys?

Let’s take a look at these four factors in closer detail.

Durability

The average lifespan of mechanical or optical keys depends largely on the manufacturer. That being said, most optical switches have a lifespan of around 100 million keystrokes. For example, Roccat rates its Titan Switch Optical for 100m keystrokes, as does Razer for its Razer Clicky and Linear Optical Switches.

Leading mechanical switch manufacturer Cherry MX similarly rates its switches for 100m keystrokes, which is directly comparable to optical switches. However, that’s Cherry; other mechanical keyboard switch brands, such as Kailh and Gatereon, typically deliver up to 60m keystrokes.

Keep in mind, though, 60 million keystrokes equate to around 10 to 15 years of intense gaming or typing, which is probably going to be long enough for most people to feel they’ve made a good purchasing decision. Don’t forgethot-swappable keyboards allow you to swap out the keyboard switches, so in the event you wear a switch out, you can just pop a new one in.

Speed

The speed of switches depends on a couple of things, including the amount of force required and the distance the key has to travel to actuate.

Mechanical switches have around a five-millisecond debounce delay. Optical switches, on the other hand, don’t suffer from this delay, which means optical switches will generally have around 5 ms faster response time. However, the jury is still out on whether or not this small increase in speed results in better performance while gaming.

Other than that, the reaction speed of optical switches appears to depend largely on the manufacturer. The breadwinners seem to be theRazer Clicky Optical Purple switches. These are touted as some of the fastest keys on the market and are around 30ms faster than the fastest Cherry MX keys.

Feel and Noisiness

How mechanical or optical keys feel is largely down to preference, which also goes for the loudness. But, with more options available, it’s more likely you’ll find a mechanical keyset matching your preferences.

When it comes to mechanical switches, you have the option between linear, tactile, and clicky. This means you can choose satisfying, quiet, fast, or any middle ground.

Optical keyboards don’t have as many options. You may be lucky and enjoy the stock keys on an optical keyboard, but that won’t be the case for many people.

However, this is beginning to change, and many manufacturers offer at least a few alternatives.

TheRazer Huntsman series offers the Razer Linear Optical Reds and the Razer Clicky Optical Purples. Gateron also has several options, including Gateron Optical Black, Blue, Brown, and Red, each with characteristics similar to their mechanical counterparts.

Price and Availability

Because there are dozens of manufacturers and types of mechanical keys, you’re likely to find a mechanical keyboard you like fairly easily. You can also modify most mechanical keysets to make them louder, quieter, quicker, or last longer. As mentioned above, buying a hot-swappable mechanical keyboard makes this process much easier, as you won’t have to desolder the switches before changing or silencing them.

Now, while there aren’t as many optical keyboards compared to mechanical ones, the number of top-quality optical boards has increased. You can now find excellent optical keyboards such as theCorsair K100 ,Keychron K8 , andRoccat Vulcan TKL Pro .

Finally, there are plenty ofexcellent budget gaming mechanical keyboards to choose from, whereas a good set of optical keys generally only comes with a mid-to-high price keyboard. So mechanical switches definitely win when it comes to price.

Which Should You Buy: Optical or Mechanical Switches?

Choosing between optical and mechanical switches can feel a little overwhelming, so we’ve summarized the considerations you have to make.

• Optical switches are generally faster to actuate than mechanical switches.
• Optical switches have a longer lifespan, though some mechanical switch brands match this.
• Mechanical switches can be more satisfying to use.
• Mechanical switches are quieter, especially linear keys.
• Mechanical switches have a broader range of brands and types and are easy to modify.

Mechanical switches remain the placeholder for gamers. There are far, far more options when it comes to mechanical keyboards than optical, and considering optical switches are still relatively new on the market, this makes sense. The consequence is many people are unwilling to switch over to an optical keyboard just yet.

But, we may see a change in the coming years as more options become available.

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