Cherry MX Brown vs Red for gaming

[beni_rohit]

Hey there guys
My HyperX Alloy keyboard with cherry mx brown switches got delivered to me
i like the way they feel
however when i game, i dont really know if i like them
but the thing is i havent really tried a Red switch
i have the option of getting this changes for a cherry mx red switch keyboard
however i can get it changed only once..... so if i decide to get the reds i cannot come back to the browns
i want the keyboard for gaming
so are cherry MX red switches better for gmaing?

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

The key switches are more up to personal taste than anything else. Some like reds, other like browns and then other like a different switch.
The only answer you are gonna get here is peoples personal preference which doesn't help you much.

 

[doubletake]

This is a terrible question to ask of others just because it's completely, 100% subjective. You're basically asking people to make up your mind for you without having any idea what your preferences or tolerances are like, and more importantly, how or why should anyone do this for you? Do the smart thing and find a way to have both switch types made available for you to try. This might mean that you have to buy a second keyboard with the 2nd switch type, and then returning it if you decide it's not to your liking.

It's like asking people to decide what your favorite restaurant/drink/brand/musical genre/etc should be.

 

[raisonjohn]

My advice is to go to your local computer store and have a try at both the Red and Brown Switch side-by-side. Some stores have a try-it-out sample display of all type of MX switches, while some stores have open-box MX Red and MX Brown keyboards for customers to try.

This is the only way to solve your problem in deciding which switch type is best for your needs.

I own both MX Red (Corsair K70 Vengeance) and MX Brown (Corsair K95 Platinum) on separate builds. I personally prefer the Browns as it offers a slight tactile pressure and a "softer" click compared to when I use the Reds being too sensitive (for me) and does actually make the click sound louder than intended. So, it depends on how much force you apply on those keys, whether for gaming or for general typing, to choose which suits you best.

 

[beni_rohit]

My advice is to go to your local computer store and have a try at both the Red and Brown Switch side-by-side. Some stores have a try-it-out sample display of all type of MX switches, while some stores have open-box MX Red and MX Brown keyboards for customers to try.

This is the only way to solve your problem in deciding which switch type is best for your needs.

I own both MX Red (Corsair K70 Vengeance) and MX Brown (Corsair K95 Platinum) on separate builds. I personally prefer the Browns as it offers a slight tactile pressure and a "softer" click compared to when I use the Reds being too sensitive (for me) and does actually make the click sound louder than intended. So, it depends on how much force you apply on those keys, whether for gaming or for general typing, to choose which suits you best.

Well the problem is, it is not possible to visit a store to check all of them out
Because the stores in my city do not sell any of the keyboards
That is why i have ordered online

Since you own both red and brown
Would you say that the reds give some kind of advantage in terms of speed in fast paced games such as fps?

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

My advice is to go to your local computer store and have a try at both the Red and Brown Switch side-by-side. Some stores have a try-it-out sample display of all type of MX switches, while some stores have open-box MX Red and MX Brown keyboards for customers to try.

This is the only way to solve your problem in deciding which switch type is best for your needs.

I own both MX Red (Corsair K70 Vengeance) and MX Brown (Corsair K95 Platinum) on separate builds. I personally prefer the Browns as it offers a slight tactile pressure and a "softer" click compared to when I use the Reds being too sensitive (for me) and does actually make the click sound louder than intended. So, it depends on how much force you apply on those keys, whether for gaming or for general typing, to choose which suits you best.

Well the problem is, it is not possible to visit a store to check all of them out
Because the stores in my city do not sell any of the keyboards
That is why i have ordered online

Since you own both red and brown
Would you say that the reds give some kind of advantage in terms of speed in fast paced games such as fps?

Like we all said before, this is a totally subjective matter. Some dude may find that the reds will give him better speed and some other dude finds the browns giving him better speed.
There is no way to guide you and you need to try them out yourself as no one can give you an answer what is best for you.

 

[beni_rohit]

This is a terrible question to ask of others just because it's completely, 100% subjective. You're basically asking people to make up your mind for you without having any idea what your preferences or tolerances are like, and more importantly, how or why should anyone do this for you? Do the smart thing and find a way to have both switch types made available for you to try. This might mean that you have to buy a second keyboard with the 2nd switch type, and then returning it if you decide it's not to your liking.

It's like asking people to decide what your favorite restaurant/drink/brand/musical genre/etc should be.

Well the thing is
Its not possible to try both switches out because the stores in my city dont sell them
That is why i ordered online

That apart
There is usually a general conses about a few things
For example no one reccomends cherry blues for gaming
Whereas they are best for typing
That is why i asked
What is the general consensues on these switches?
Which are generally considered better for gaming?

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

This is a terrible question to ask of others just because it's completely, 100% subjective. You're basically asking people to make up your mind for you without having any idea what your preferences or tolerances are like, and more importantly, how or why should anyone do this for you? Do the smart thing and find a way to have both switch types made available for you to try. This might mean that you have to buy a second keyboard with the 2nd switch type, and then returning it if you decide it's not to your liking.

It's like asking people to decide what your favorite restaurant/drink/brand/musical genre/etc should be.

Well the thing is
Its not possible to try both switches out because the stores in my city dont sell them
That is why i ordered online

That apart
There is usually a general conses about a few things
For example no one reccomends cherry blues for gaming
Whereas they are best for typing
That is why i asked
What is the general consensues on these switches?
Which are generally considered better for gaming?

That is not true. Cherry blue are fine for gaming, many gamers just don't like the clicky noise from those switches. But i have seen plenty of people who like the blues for gaming as well.

 

[doubletake]

For example no one reccomends cherry blues for gaming
Whereas they are best for typing

If gaming is your only concern, then just use common sense and go for the switch type that offers least resistance (Reds in your case). It should be fairly obvious that if you're looking for the lowest physical latency between key press and onscreen action for gaming, then the switch with the lowest actuation force should be your target. If you had the option to do so, I would tell you to go out of your way and get a keyboard with MX Speed switches instead as they are the premier gaming switch for people looking for the fastest input possible.

But again, this is something you need to decide on your own. If you were to ask me specifically about my preferences, I would recommend MX Clears, even for gaming, but that's because I prefer much higher actuation force, and I have neither small hands nor weak fingers.

 

[Ultimoz]

I much prefer red, it makes typing and gaming a lot smoother and natural in my opinion

 

[raisonjohn]

Well the problem is, it is not possible to visit a store to check all of them out
Because the stores in my city do not sell any of the keyboards
That is why i have ordered online

Since you own both red and brown
Would you say that the reds give some kind of advantage in terms of speed in fast paced games such as fps?

Personally, I don't see any significant advantage in terms of speed comparing Reds and Browns.

Like what others have said, it is really a subjective matter / personal preference. What may be better for one may not be better for another. Ultimately, it is up to the end user (you) what type of key switches you prefer and/or how fast you can adjust to a specific type of switch, depending on your use (how your keystrokes are, how wide your hand is, how you play a certain type of game, etc.).

Honestly, whatever type of keyboard one opts to use, can still translate to some advantage depending on how that person adjusts to using that specific keyboard effectively. Even a membrane or scissor-type laptop key switch may be preferred by some (may play games better on it), if they are more comfortable using those than mechanical switches.

In the end, no amount of subjective advice can really factor into your decision as choosing a mechanical switch is on a person-to-person basis. If you really cannot find a store (or even a neighbor-friend) to which you can try out how Reds feel like, you are really left to just follow what your desires are and take the risk on the Reds (or just stick with the Browns you currently have).

 

[beni_rohit]

Alright i decided to get both and compare them side by side
I liked the reds much better
If i were to describe them I'd say they're smoother
And to give a general advice to someone who sees this in the future
You will like the reds better than the browns for gaming
the tactile bump on the browns is more like an interference
Its like a jack of all trades and master of none
it tries to be a typing and gaming switch at the same time
and it doesnt excel at either
So i kept the reds and returned the browns
thankyou for your help guys

 

[Mathias_6]

Brown are more silent, which is great, and they are supposed to be better for typing or more "linear". Otherwise doesn't matter, mechanical feels nice but I bet there is beyond that no difference in gaming between them, and they are at least supposed to be not-super-loud like the Blues are. (But those are the things that do matter and one can and should mention.)

One might also want to consider trying to get a keyboard with "flat" rather than the standard "high" keys of mechanicals. They are rare, actually there are only a few of them, but at the same time they are more budget-oriented (right now I think one from Cherry itself, and others with cheaper switches). And they should remove any negative difference one might feel to normal keyboards.

 

[nikashi0511]

i bought them all, and i can say some
red really good for pure gamer, expecial kind of really .. really hard core game require ultra of ultra fastest , double press or multi of multi press, like ultra hard core fighting game or ultra of ultra DPS combat system game
if not red not nesscesary
brown really better at overall, im not playing game all the time, typing, chatting, working. and i feel brown so much better, with litter resistant to tell you when exaclly the key had been pressed. and trully its can avoid the unwanted key by accident soft sweep out, or very soft touch on it. thats the good thing on brown.
with red you have to careful all your finger to type .
final: red swtich feel like you are using cheap keyboard, i mean normal keyboard, not feeling a mechanic key, if you really spent 200$ to buy mechanic key, dont go with red, go brown or orange . believe in me, you will not regret

 

[vlasis]

Hey there guys
My HyperX Alloy keyboard with cherry mx brown switches got delivered to me
i like the way they feel
however when i game, i dont really know if i like them
but the thing is i havent really tried a Red switch
i have the option of getting this changes for a cherry mx red switch keyboard
however i can get it changed only once..... so if i decide to get the reds i cannot come back to the browns
i want the keyboard for gaming
so are cherry MX red switches better for gmaing?

red and speed are supposed to be better for gaming cause of low actuation that makes its faster /easier ,brown are the middle ground between red and blue.brown have a small bump that u can feel when pressing the key,some like it others dont. red are linear ,meaning u will feel nothing but the bottom out of the key press (u can watch a video that explains the feel since u cant test them all) . red and speed are considered fastest,but some complain that they cant type with red and find it impossible with speed,others feel they can type fine with either.Will any of them switches make u a better player or give u an advantage? ofcourse not ,but having a quality keyboard is the same as having quality equipment for your work. stay away from corsair or razer,they are overpiced plastic garbage with pathetic quality control,huge amount led failures.Look around for cooler master,ducky,ikbc keyboards,lower price ,better quality BY FAR ,and ignore promoted crap like corsair k95 or razer chroma. Nothing will make u better,but a reliable quality switch will serve u better in any case.