Black or Brown switches??

GreasyDiablo88 · 3 Dec 2013 at 22:07

I'm looking to upgrade to my first mechanical keyboard and wondered whether I'd be best off going for black or brown switches. I'm getting the CM Storm Trigger board which will mostly be used for gaming/typing. On the subject of gaming, the switch choice doesn't have to be based on shooter's cause I don't play them too often

robin66 · 4 Dec 2013 at 03:58

Browns would be a better choice if you plan on typing with it a lot as well as gaming.

Blacks are a heavy switch and not recommended for long typing sessions.

Linear switches have the simplest operation, moving straight up and down without any additional tactile feedback or loud clicking noise – we’ll come to these more complicated switches later on. There are two common types of linear switches – Black and Red.

Cherry MX Black switches were introduced in 1984, making them one of the older Cherry switches. They have a medium to high actuation force, at 60 cN, which means they are the stiffest of the four most common Cherry switches. These switches are used in point-of-sale stations, but typically aren’t considered ideal for typing due to their high weighting. They have found use in RTS video games, where the high weighting can prevent accidental key presses that might occur on less stiff switches. The stronger spring also means that they rebound faster, meaning they can be actuated quite quickly given enough force – although you may also find fatigue becomes more of a factor than with other switches.

Tactile switches provide, as the name suggests, additional tactile feedback as the key actuates. As you press the key down, there is a noticeable bump which lets you know that your key press has been registered.

The most popular type of tactile, non-clicky switch is the Cherry MX Brown. This switch was introduced in 1994 as a special ‘ergo soft’ switch, but quickly became one of the most popular switches. Today, the majority of Filco keyboards are sold with Brown switches, as the switch is a good middle-of-the-road option appropriate for both typing and gaming. They are also ideal for typing in office environments, where a clicky switch might annoy some.

I'm using brown switches myself, I had blue switches before the browns and they were such a joy to type with, But not so good for gaming I found. Double pressing the keys on a blue switch doesn't work well at all for double jumping in games.

I browns are just a good all round switch. But if you can find a local shop with both keyboard switch types on display. You might want to go and try them out for yourself.

GreasyDiablo88 · 5 Dec 2013 at 17:02

robin66 said:
Browns would be a better choice if you plan on typing with it a lot as well as gaming.

Blacks are a heavy switch and not recommended for long typing sessions

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go for brown's tbh. I'm not too bothered about the fact that they aren't great for gaming cause I could really only see it being an issue if you play a lot of shooters, which I don't. Besides, I use my Xbox controller for a lot of my games anyway so it's just typing.

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it

EdgeDs · 6 Dec 2013 at 02:03

Trouble is trying to Answer this is a bit like trying to predict which food you would like. Its going to be a personal thing

Rroff · 6 Dec 2013 at 02:10

Blacks are purely FPS gaming switches in gaming context IMO, for general gaming your better looking at red v brown.

EDIT: Oh and RTS context if your one of those insane activations per second type people but thats a whole different story to itself.

Outline · 6 Dec 2013 at 09:13

I disliked Blacks, and have enjoyed Browns whenever I've used them (but not owned a Brown switch keyboard).

MrMarvelous · 6 Dec 2013 at 14:03

It's all personal preference.

I did have a Cherry Red Quickfire but red switches press in so easily with literally no pressure required that i've concluded that most people who don't like Black switches are women. I'd go into the purple shirts store and try out some keyboards there. Our local one has a few keyboards out on display with various switches, hopefully you'd be able to make your mind up from there.

GreasyDiablo88 · 8 Dec 2013 at 16:51

I will go for the browns when it comes to it. A friend of mine has black switches and when it comes to typing for a long time he says they're actually rather good.