Cherry has been the premier manufacturer of mechanical keyboard switches for the best part of 40 years, with its switches finding their way into all sorts of keyboards from a variety of third-parties. There are a bunch of different types too, with Blue and Brown switches for typists, Red and Black for gamers and Greens for the Eastern markets who like a stiff switch. Now though Cherry is introducing something new, designed for the low-profile laptop market.
The low-profile switch is just 11.9mm in height, almost seven millimetres less than the standard switch. That could help it be implemented into notebooks so that gamers and typists alike can continue to enjoy the feel and functionality of a mechanical keyboard in a portable package. That is backed up by a reduced travel distance from 4mm to 3.2mm, which should make these switches faster too, making them potentially great for gaming as well.
The new switch also features a clear housing to help support uniform, RGB backlighting and has the usual 50-million key press rating that means it should last for years without wearing out.
For those used to other mechanical switches, this one features an actuation force of 40cN, which is roughly equivalent to Cherry MX red switches. That does however, mean that there's no additional click and no tactile feedback as with Cherry MX Brown and Blue switches. That means it will be fine for typing, but not quite as nuanced as those more typist-orientated switches.
What do you guys think of the new low-profile switch? Would you consider buying your next keyboard with it as the main switch type?
