Mechanical Switches
Cosmos supports three different types of mechanical switches:
- MX: Most common, thocky switches.
- Choc: Low-profile switches (closer to those on laptops)
- Alps: Much more rare, but they are usually highly rated
Furthermore, Choc comes in two varieties: Choc V1 and Choc V2. Whereas Choc V1 is designed to fit special Choc keycaps, Choc V2 works with MX keycaps. If you’re building a low-profile keyboard I recommend Choc V1, as Choc keycaps are thinner than MX keycaps.
How They Work
In lieu of writing an essay here, I’ll link you to two very good resources:
- ThereminGoat’s A Beginner’s Guide to Switches
- The Keyboard Company’s An introduction to Cherry MX mechanical switches
How to Pick One
There’s a few important qualities to choose in switches:
- Volume (some switches are Silent, others make loud Clicky noises)
- Linear vs Tactile (is there a “bump” when pressing down the key?)
- Actuation Force (how hard it is to press the switch)
Laptop Switches
The switches on laptop keyboards would count as tactile. Whereas you immediately feel the bump on a laptop, mechanical key switches vary in their placement of the bump. Typically, you will only feel the bump after pressing the key down halfway.
Tactile Choc switches will probably feel closest to a laptop keyboard. However, similar isn’t always best. Even though the linears are commonly recommended for gaming and tactiles for writing, I recommend you try both regardless of how you intend to use your keyboard. If I had to use adjectives to label them, I’d label linears as “smooth and efficient” and tactile as “comfy and fun”.
You may change your mind after trying a few switches, so don’t be too picky at the beginning. It helps to try a few switches before spending lots of money on a set.
If you have a friend with a mechanical keyboard or a local keyboard shop, you should try their switches! You can also buy “switch testers” online, which are plates with one of every kind of switch on it.
MX Switches
Cherry Switches are the most commonly sold MX switches. The common ones are, in order of increasing actuation force:
- Linear Switches: Red, Silver, Black
- Tactile Switches: Brown
- Clicky Switches: Blue, White
- Silent Switches: Red Silent
All of these are great switches, but Red, Brown, and Blue are the most common. Companies like Gateron also use the same naming conventions, so a Gateron Red will feel similar to a Cherry Red. Gateron also makes Gateron Yellows, which are linear switches that are slightly heavier than the Red. Lately I’ve seen these appear as the pre-installed switches on keyboards.
Now that I’ve said all of this, there are way more MX switches than the ones I’ve listed, and way more manufacturers than Cherry/Gateron. The switches I’ve listed are the ones commonly sold online, pre-installed in off-the-shelf mechanical keyboards, and good points of reference. However, you will, probably, very likely, find a switch not on the list above that better suits your needs.
For example, if you’re looking for silent switches, there’s Gazzew Boba U4s which are tactile, Akko fairies which are linear, Durock has both tactile and linear silent switches, etc. etc. And of course options from Cherry and Gateron.
Some people also take apart their switches and lubricate them to change how they sound. This is all I’ll say on that topic.
Choc V1 Switches
My recommendations, in order of increasing actuation force:
- Linear Switches: Purpz, Pro Red, Silver, Red
- Tactile Switches: Sunset
- Clicky Switches: White, Robin
- Silent Switches: Nocturnal
Compared to MX switches, with the Chocs it’s easier to be disappointed with the switch you buy (looking at you, Choc Browns). Therefore, I don’t feel it’s worth doing a comparison of every Kailh switch. If you’re choosing something not on this list, I recommend you search up opinions online (Reddit is not a bad place for this) before buying. Sound test videos are great, but how the switch feels is more important.
Some Choc switches (e.g. Browns) come with staple-shaped metal stabilizers inside. They rattle around when shaking your keyboard and don’t improve the switch performance by much, so I recommend taking them out.