I just went to a popular high street PC store to try some of these switch types out. There is a big one of these near me that's actually fairly well stocked with gaming orientated mice and keyboards.
I actually had to speak to one of their members of staff unfortunately which was embarrassing, but hey ho, I got them to get a Corsair K90 out of the box so I could have a feel of what Cherry MX Red switches were like. He watched me like a hawk whilst I did it and wouldn't leave me as he had to put it straight back in the box. So I felt like a bit of a bell just standing there typing in front of him with no PC attached lol. Oh well. They actually had 3 mechanical keyboards all with different switches for me to try for the first time. My findings were: (by the way I verified each switch type by checking underneath a key on each board!
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(In the order I tried them and my thoughts)
1: Razer Black Widow Ultimate 2013 Backlit - Cherry MX Blue switch type
In the pics online I thought it looked a bit bling bling and had heard of bad things of some of their stuff being unreliable. Well this keyboard oozed quality to me. Felt really nicely made. The backlit keys are really well done. Great lighting and dimmable. Fully mechanical with Cherry MX Blues. This thing felt so nice to type on. Even my kids thought so. They loved the lights too. They typed me a message on the screen:
"Dad this keyboard is epic can we buy it!"
My reply:
"It's £129.99 so no".
But it did feel really nice. I tried to type without bottoming out the keys but think I still was doing so. Don't really care, it felt quick and satisfying to type on. Yes they are clicky and "loud". In a store with people and music around, not a problem. In a quiet room at night time, probably annoying yes. In an office...dunno. Some of my colleagues absolutely smash their rubber dome keyboards so... I think in terms of overall noise it would probably not be that bad. It's more that it is a high pitch and clicky "noticable coz it's different" kind of noise.
I noticed the "bump" and tactile feel...I think. Kind of hard to describe really on paper. I think I would still find myself bottoming them out from just years of bashing rubber dome keyboards, which supposedly some say is pointless owning it. Maybe it would take some learning. Maybe I wasn't doing this. Dunno. All I know is I could type fast and accurately and if felt good! Click is satisfying yes. Sad but true.
2: Steel series 6GV2 - Cherry MX Black Switch type
This one was not connected up to a monitor but was lying on a shelf with an alarm thing around it, so I couldn't get a "proper" test. However, I could get easily enough of a test that it became instantly obvious that these were black switches, and as described online, the harder to press. They aren't hard to press like some would have you believe. Not at all. They are more like a brand new rubber dome keyboard of the stiffer variety. Linear yes, and in time would become more tiresome to type on yes.
It didn't feel bad per say, but I can't really think of a reason to buy this over a rubber dome keyboard because I don't feel it offers anything, strictly in terms of feel I mean. Keyboard was a no frills affair, but certainly solid and felt well built.
3: Corsair Vengeance K90 - Red Switch Type
I had to get the guy to get this one out of the box as explained above. These switches instantly felt much more similar to the blues in terms of weighting and force to actuate them. They felt nice to type on. From the reviews I read I was expecting them to be very soft and easy to press. I think this has been over exaggerated. Some of the reviews I have read kind of sounded like they were so soft that simply resting your fingers over WASD you might accidentally depress and activate some of the keys. This is not the case. They felt fine to use. To be honest the difference between them and the blues was not as noticeable as I thought it would be.
I felt the linear nature of them again, but since they did feel lighter and obviously mechanical and well built, they just also felt really nice. lol. I reckon I could type quick with blue or red to be fair. Just different feeling.
The Corsair keyboard was incredibly well built and much like the Razer, felt extremely well put together. I couldn't test the back light as the guy wouldn't let me hook it up to a USB port. No matter. The macro keys down the left side of the keyboard on both the Razer and the Corsair were actually less of a problem than I originally thought and I did not once accidentally hit them. It's more of an issue in terms of width of keyboard and desk space for me.
CONCLUSION
Blacks a definite no.
Blues awesome but noise concerns.
Reds awesome but feel I could probably type quicker on blues.
Browns - yet to try. Real shame I can't find anywhere to try these. I might take a punt and just go for brown on the basis they are meant to be the same as blues just without the audible click and according to info on each switch, between reds and blues in terms of actuation force. i.e. Sound perfect to me.
I didn't really get this "blues are bad for gaming" thing at all. I felt I could game on any of them fine, but blacks would have been least nice to use. OK so it would click a lot during gaming, but in terms of actually being able to functionally use the WASD keys on blues for an FPS...felt fine.
Hope this helps.
