[SOLVED] Can't decide between mechanical keyboard choices, need help

[ukLz]

Hi everyone. I have been recently thinking about finally buying my first mechanical keyboard and after a few weeks of thorough research on local market, I still can't make the right decision so I came here to seek for a slight assistance.

I think it is important to note at the very beginning that I've never had a mechanical keyboard before, this is going to be the first one for me... Also I haven't had that much of opportunity in the past to test out as many keyboard switches as possible, just a few, so I'm still essentially unfamiliar with the mechanical switches feel during typing. However, my personal preferences for a keyboard would be a 100% profile layout, Brown (Tactile) switches because I'm looking for a compromise between comfortable typing and somewhat competitive gaming, thus I thought tactile switches would satisfy my needs the best, unlike linear or clicky ones.

The max budget I can provide at this moment is up to 125€ and so far I have collected the following list of four most interesting models:

Logitech G513 Carbon - Romer-G Tactile
HyperX Alloy Origins - HyperX Aqua
ASUS ROG Strix Scope RX - ROG RX Red
Fantech MK884 RGB Optilux - Outemu Brown? I'm not entirely sure

The first three models are around 100€ of price range, at least where I live, although the last one is 40€ cheaper than the rest.. I'm not even sure myself yet whether I should spend as much money on the very first mechanical keyboard, because my initial idea was to get a very good keyboard and hopefully forget about changing it throughout the next several years... I typically rarely upgrade my PC peripherals and I still stick to the philosophy to pay good, but run for a long time. Other than that, I'd really love to hear opinions of other people on switches overall, which ones are the best, which ones should be avoided at all cost... and eventually which one of these I listed are the best to go for. Thank you for your help in advance. Cheers.

 

[Lutfij]

Generally, if you're mostly typing, then tactile switches are the way to go. If you mostly game where fast response times are necessary, in order to double tap, then you should look at linear's. If you want to annoy people around you, you get clicky switches. Also, form factor is a driving force when you choose a keyboard, if you're into competitive gaming, then the only areas your keyboard will be used is the left hand cluster, meaning that you can work with a 60% layout, have the mouse closer to the keyboard and produce faster actions/movements with your wrist(in combination with your fingers).

You could build your won mechanical keyboard provided you go for a board/layout with hotswappable option to drop in switches of your choice later down the road but they won't be 125 Euro's, more like double that. I'd pick the HyperX Alloy Origins with the Aqua's. Likewise you could look at the Alloy Origins Core in Aqua's.

 

[dwd999]

I use the Ducky One with the Cherry MX Brown keys, primarily because it adds volume control and mute keys in the upper right corner.

https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=1066

I just have the plain black version with white key backlighting.

 

[DSzymborski]

Are you open to any other models? There are a lot of compelling hotswap ones, and given that you're not sure what kind of switches will best meet your needs long term, I'd think you'd benefit from a keyboard you can swap out switches easily without swapping. Royal Kludge has a lot of very good budget hotswap keyboards that are easy to mod. Glorious' GMMK keyboard is also easy to get into and the Gateron Brown switches you can choose are dependable, middle-of-the-road tactiles.

 

[ukLz]

Are you open to any other models? There are a lot of compelling hotswap ones, and given that you're not sure what kind of switches will best meet your needs long term, I'd think you'd benefit from a keyboard you can swap out switches easily without swapping. Royal Kludge has a lot of very good budget hotswap keyboards that are easy to mod. Glorious' GMMK keyboard is also easy to get into and the Gateron Brown switches you can choose are dependable, middle-of-the-road tactiles.

Yup, I am open to any models out there but I have to note that I'm unable to order anything from Amazon/Ebay or anything like that because, sadly, such orders are highly taxed where I live, southeastern europe, it's really hard to get something broader than from what I can find in the local tech stores. Therefore I didn't really think of getting any of these custom keyboards with hot-swappable switches. I guess the best idea is to perhaps go to the stores and test out the keyboards myself, to understand the feel between each one of those switches, or ask friends who have the similar models to try them out and see what would be the best fit for me. Once I come up with the conclusion what's the best switches for me, that would definitely help me make the right decision.

 

[ukLz]

Generally, if you're mostly typing, then tactile switches are the way to go. If you mostly game where fast response times are necessary, in order to double tap, then you should look at linear's. If you want to annoy people around you, you get clicky switches. Also, form factor is a driving force when you choose a keyboard, if you're into competitive gaming, then the only areas your keyboard will be used is the left hand cluster, meaning that you can work with a 60% layout, have the mouse closer to the keyboard and produce faster actions/movements with your wrist(in combination with your fingers).

You could build your won mechanical keyboard provided you go for a board/layout with hotswappable option to drop in switches of your choice later down the road but they won't be 125 Euro's, more like double that. I'd pick the HyperX Alloy Origins with the Aqua's. Likewise you could look at the Alloy Origins Core in Aqua's.

Yeah, I do both game and type a lot, so I was really curious which switches would potentially be the best for my needs. I've been comparing HX Aqua with Logitech's Romer-G switches on youtube, trying to understand where the key differences are between those two switches. Some have shorter distance travel of 1.5mm instead of 2, some are less tactile than the others, etc. But again, I can't exactly tell the difference only by watching and listening on youtube, so I guess I'll have to find them in person and test them out before I come up with any decision for the purchase.

I've looked on Reddit posts a lot and I could see many people having complaints about all kinds of Logitech's switches, especially the mentioned Romer-G's, I thought some of the users here could share their own experience with Romer G's or HyperX's switches, whether they are durable enough, good factory stabilizers, and so on

Also, I highly prefer 100% form factor keyboards, I find it really hard when I'm missing a numpad section because I frequently use those keys as hotkeys for Discord or something like that. I need as many keys available on my keyboard as possible, so I'd rather stick to the 100% ones.

 

[hang-the-9]

Yeah, I do both game and type a lot, so I was really curious which switches would potentially be the best for my needs. I've been comparing HX Aqua with Logitech's Romer-G switches on youtube, trying to understand where the key differences are between those two switches. Some have shorter distance travel of 1.5mm instead of 2, some are less tactile than the others, etc. But again, I can't exactly tell the difference only by watching and listening on youtube, so I guess I'll have to find them in person and test them out before I come up with any decision for the purchase.

I've looked on Reddit posts a lot and I could see many people having complaints about all kinds of Logitech's switches, especially the mentioned Romer-G's, I thought some of the users here could share their own experience with Romer G's or HyperX's switches, whether they are durable enough, good factory stabilizers, and so on

Also, I highly prefer 100% form factor keyboards, I find it really hard when I'm missing a numpad section because I frequently use those keys as hotkeys for Discord or something like that. I need as many keys available on my keyboard as possible, so I'd rather stick to the 100% ones.

If you can find them where you are, I really like the Yellow switches from Gateron. They have a smooth but still firm feel, like a heavier really good quality MX Red switch.