Mechanical keyboards are dead? Magnetic keyboards?

GoldenTiger said:
Brown switches for the win. Been on the same keyboard (cherry mx brown switches, rubber orings I installed, and steel backplate) for over a decade and still love it!
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can your keyboard do this?
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Ya, cherry mxbrown for me as well and sometimes I feel they're a bit sensitive, especially after pounding away at my crappy work keyboard all day. While I enjoy the feel I dislike the clacking they make. What if you could control the exact actuation point?
 
Cherry brown switches and any non-linear, high force, or deep actuation points are for soft baby single player gamers.

[H]ardcore gamers use switches so light they actuate when you exhale out of your nose.
 
I feel like I could switch fingers or keys faster than I could accurately half press the key. I like that it is an option though. I could see some software that would be great with the ability for dual mode keys.
 
sharknice said:
Cherry brown switches and any non-linear, high force, or deep actuation points are for soft baby single player gamers.

[H]ardcore gamers use switches so light they actuate when you exhale out of your nose.
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I concur, this soft baby single player was one of the top player in 3 RTS games back in the 2000's. Hardcore gamers can't compete.
 
PeaKr said:
What if you could control the exact actuation point?
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Yeah, the fancy way they're calling it is Hall Effect Keyboards.

So, the way I understand it, each key is analog, a paired magnetic field sensor and a magnet.
It'd 'understand' angles, and they could in theory modify a mechanical switch to work this way - just have the 'click' not actually do anything, leaving the detection to the sensor. So, it doesn't mean the mechanical 'feel' has to come to an end.

Another way you could pull this off is by having a tiny light source and photo-sensor (matrix of x by y pixels) pair for each key. You could then indeed have selectable actuation points.
It would be indeed very customizable, if the manufacturer allowed it.
 
El_Capitan said:
I tried them all. Too linear for me. I'll stick to my tactile brown switches.
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This - except I'd happily take blues or clears also (depending on acceptable noise level!)

That Tom's article in the OP is chock full of hyperbole. Never underestimate FOMO and the ability of manufacturers & marketers to convince gamers that finally, once and for all, if you part with your money once again for our very newest tech, THIS will be the evolution in peripherals that really changes the game. This time, we totally promise. :ROFLMAO:

I'm not saying that they don't offer any advantages whatsoever, of course. It's just not the revolutionary change that keyboard manufacturers would like for you to believe, IMO. I've owned at least two boards with the Hall switches and both times ended up going back to "regular" mechanical boards. For me personally, I had trouble really enjoying full height keys/travel after using LP mechanical switches and the per-key adjustable actuation sounded a lot neater on paper than it actually ended up being for me...so I would say that no, mechanical keyboards aren't dead and I doubt they're going anywhere anytime soon.

Besides that,.although mechanical linear switches are extremely popular with gamers, there is still a large portion of folks who prefer tactile switches in their boards and I'm not sure there is anything to offer for those folks on the magnetic side at this point in time. So if you go magnetic you're going to have to be OK with linear switches unless something has changed that I'm not aware of. All I could really find in terms of magnetic tactile switches were these and these, which appear to have compatibility issues. :p
 
Lateralus said:
This - except I'd happily take blues or clears also (depending on acceptable noise level!)

That Tom's article in the OP is chock full of hyperbole. Never underestimate FOMO and the ability of manufacturers & marketers to convince gamers that finally, once and for all, if you part with your money once again for our very newest tech, THIS will be the evolution in peripherals that really changes the game. This time, we totally promise. :ROFLMAO:

I'm not saying that they don't offer any advantages whatsoever, of course. It's just not the revolutionary change that keyboard manufacturers would like for you to believe, IMO. I've owned at least two boards with the Hall switches and both times ended up going back to "regular" mechanical boards. For me personally, I had trouble really enjoying full height keys/travel after using LP mechanical switches and the per-key adjustable actuation sounded a lot neater on paper than it actually ended up being for me...so I would say that no, mechanical keyboards aren't dead and I doubt they're going anywhere anytime soon.

Besides that,.although mechanical linear switches are extremely popular with gamers, there is still a large portion of folks who prefer tactile switches in their boards and I'm not sure there is anything to offer for those folks on the magnetic side at this point in time. So if you go magnetic you're going to have to be OK with linear switches unless something has changed that I'm not aware of. All I could really find in terms of magnetic tactile switches were these and these, which appear to have compatibility issues. :p
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100%. I love Blues, too, but only for typing. Used to use it for work, and people knew I was in the zone when they heard click-clack-clackity-clackity-clack for 15-30 minute stretches.
 
Prince Valiant said:
Curious to know as well. I have an optical keypad but I wouldn't want to type on a keyboard with the switches.
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I did the research now.

They're the same in that they don't have any physical metal touching and wearing down.

But Hall Effect (aka magnetic) can tell how far the key is pressed which means each key is esssentially analog and gives a 0-100% percent of how far it is being pressed.

This allows the software to get real fancy and basically do all sorts of cool stuff.

I think the 2 biggest features to come out of it are this:

1. Fully customze your actuation points. (although IMO just have it the most hair trigger possible or you're not [H] at all, you're a flaccid sp gamer)
2. "rapid trigger" Be able to press a key down, let it go up just a tiny bit, then down again, and it counts a s a press. You don't need to worry about going all the way up to some pre-set physical actuation point.


The corsair one let's you set the actuation point between 0.1mm and 4.0mm. Their optical switches are set to 1mm (that's what I currently use). So I guess I'll probably be getting one. Going to look at reviews and stuff.
 
sharknice said:
I did the research now.

They're the same in that they don't have any physical metal touching and wearing down.

But Hall Effect (aka magnetic) can tell how far the key is pressed which means each key is esssentially analog and gives a 0-100% percent of how far it is being pressed.

This allows the software to get real fancy and basically do all sorts of cool stuff.

I think the 2 biggest features to come out of it are this:

1. Fully customze your actuation points. (although IMO just have it the most hair trigger possible or you're not [H] at all, you're a flaccid sp gamer)
2. "rapid trigger" Be able to press a key down, let it go up just a tiny bit, then down again, and it counts a s a press. You don't need to worry about going all the way up to some pre-set physical actuation point.


The corsair one let's you set the actuation point between 0.1mm and 4.0mm. Their optical switches are set to 1mm (that's what I currently use). So I guess I'll probably be getting one. Going to look at reviews and stuff.
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Sounds like the perfect keyboard for competitive osu! players.
 
There have been feelers for this for awhile so to speak, a handful of implementation first with optical 'analog" switches and then more recently hall effect. However, for me the big issue is that the vast majority of them are proprietary and NOT compatible with every other HE switch using keyboard out there. For instance, both Glorious and Keychron now have hall effect boards, Wooting was one of the early ones, the aforementioned Corsair is recent etc... but they're not compatible with even other HE switches elsewhere only their particular ones. Also, most boards also are using a proprietary firmware and software configurator isntead of an open source firmware like QMK / VIA, ZMK, or Chrysalis/Bazecor . I'm interestedin the premise, but I'm waiting for things to mature a little more. When support for magnetic/HE switches is merged into the major FOSS firmware and configurators and there's relative standardization for MX-style switches that can be used in just about any HE board (this is pretty far along as Gateron and I think Kailh both have MX-stem stye HE switches in multiple forms), the big issue will be PCB manufacturers and keyboard makers settling on and implementing it. In fact, its likely that PCBs can support both traditional MX switches 3 or 5 pin (obviously without HE features) as well as common HE switches as the sensor for the HE switch is usually right in the middle and is on the board itself which doesn't occlude the pin locations or for that matter the typical north or south facing LEDs!

Once it gets a little farther along, it will be a nice additional benefit to have HE-style "analog" measurement for the entire travel, but sadly its not quite there yet...at least for my interests.
 
Never a fan of mechanical clicking and clacking. The quiet ones are decent. Never been a fan of expensive keyboards, and can't stand the noise pollution of clicking/clacking.

This is the best $39.99 keyboard I've found.

https://rkgamingstore.com/products/rk61-60-percent-keyboard?variant=42772957298909

It's black with red switches and has very nice RGB effects. The clicks are clean and solid and decently quiet. The only sound is when the key is depressed it doesn't have any obnoxious switch click but for the price it's great and is wired/wireless plus it's software is decent too.

I'll try magnetic quiet one when it's price comes down to under 40 otherwise it's not going to affect my gaming experience whatsoever.
 
Happy Hopping said:
https://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-Apex-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard/dp/B07SVJJCP3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=388U10ERU4A79&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HC4jmPdOs5pGnPPEKmzhocl4_t83CJCpN73Ht2cMRMukatS81vx75WTFtp040RUBgzkvzGAMIGJZAuo5ojJMw92Az78uB6bJcLzBUh9sEft1rSgBc6XVUmq3sfkHmAYoUnpqDciPqRdy9LuVPFo3OJ3ecopf6Uknfm9m_erftPYpzDwCqM9oy5CoNBA6mSHXmd8NvMToRTvQZERvXDXda78LJ-xku28fg6hcvtL-ipg.v7hn5nOl4GYO5m-jJFF3HGNpJseMZd8A1jgZaJfRZ2A&dib_tag=se&keywords=steel+series+magnetic+keyboard&qid=1733078608&sprefix=steel+magnetic+keybo,aps,148&sr=8-1&th=1

Steel Series has this magnetic keyboard for a very good price, but I don't want to jump the gun and I want some local store to have this magnetic keyboard so I can try it out first
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I would stay far far away from any steel series keyboards. They are borked and they never update/fix them. Fair warning steelseries is canceled in my book I would NEVER buy steelseries.

I've thrown 2 steelseries keyboard out because of this. Don't be a victim lol.
 
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Didn't a number of games ban some of the magnetic keyboard software?

Keyboard software is meh.... I've no need for garbage software to use my Keyboard... just going to keep using me Filco MT2 TKL (mx-reds) absolutely love this thing a decade~ later still love it.
 
Prince Valiant said:
Any additional details? I'm curious.
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10 keyless TKL steel series RGB had 2 of them and both of them would stop working until you unplugged and replugged them in. Any other keyboard I plugged in work perfectly with no settings changed. Then plug in either of my two steel series TKL key oards and it starts disconnecting again. This was on 2 different machines with two different steel series keyboards. I researched online and found many many others with the same problem and no fix issued from steel series no update nothing. They are borked. Stay away. Warning to everyone.
 
xDiVolatilX said:
10 keyless TKL steel series RGB had 2 of them and both of them would stop working until you unplugged and replugged them in. Any other keyboard I plugged in work perfectly with no settings changed. Then plug in either of my two steel series TKL key oards and it starts disconnecting again. This was on 2 different machines with two different steel series keyboards. I researched online and found many many others with the same problem and no fix issued from steel series no update nothing. They are borked. Stay away. Warning to everyone.
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Same. I had 2 of their Apex Pro TKL boards -- bought one, warranty replacement for the 2nd. Several LEDs failed on each in less than a year. Corsair's K70 MGX line looks good, but I've become a 65% form factor addict. The MGX is available only in full size and TKL right now.

I pre-ordered a Nuphy Halo65 HE last week. It's getting high praise and cost $90 with the Jade Pro HE switches. Should be in my hands next week. The one I really want is the Pwnage Zenblade 65. It's a beauty and built like a tank. Doesn't have DKS, yet. Customer service told me it'll be included in a firmware update, but no word on when.
 
xDiVolatilX said:
Never a fan of mechanical clicking and clacking. The quiet ones are decent. Never been a fan of expensive keyboards, and can't stand the noise pollution of clicking/clacking.

This is the best $39.99 keyboard I've found.

https://rkgamingstore.com/products/rk61-60-percent-keyboard?variant=42772957298909

It's black with red switches and has very nice RGB effects. The clicks are clean and solid and decently quiet. The only sound is when the key is depressed it doesn't have any obnoxious switch click but for the price it's great and is wired/wireless plus it's software is decent too.

I'll try magnetic quiet one when it's price comes down to under 40 otherwise it's not going to affect my gaming experience whatsoever.
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Better be a good KB or I shall glare menacingly towards your posts......
 
DogsofJune said:
Better be a good KB or I shall glare menacingly towards your posts......
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Did you order one?

I was in the market for a new 60% black RGB quiet wireless+wired keyboard and saw this video from bitwit that pushed me over the edge to purchase it for $39.99


View: https://youtu.be/cof4QgOF6yI?si=yn7ChhRh7UoGTRRq

He gave it a very well review especially for the price. It is decently solid feeling and the keys don't wiggle they go straight down and spring back up. There is no clacking just a satisfying quiet "click" that is not loud. Now it's not silent, but it is quiet enough to have that satisfying "click". I got the black RGB version with the red switches which are they most quiet option.

For the price I would buy it again. The size is perfect because I have so much more mouse space now. I use a massive mouse pad (low sensitivity for headshots) and it fits my gamer aesthetic feel of my PC setup. It has quite a few RGB effects and lots of shortcuts that are all explained in the booklet.

It is very small, (which I love because nothing I hate more than large loud keyboard) so be aware that you will need to use the function button to activate other buttons like the F1 keys, print screen, directional arrows etc. It doesn't bother me because it is mainly a gaming keyboard and I use WASDF keys also cntl space shift caps tab and keys around it mainly.

For office work I wouldn't recommend. For a hardcore FPS shooter gamer like myself with a large mouse pad and tiny keyboard I highly recommend I love it.
 
I was so impressed with this brand that I also went ahead and ordered a 75% RK84 from Royal Kludge for my other backup PC ( I don't game on it)

This one was $55 after sale and coupon
https://a.co/d/b9jS1Rj
 
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xDiVolatilX said:
Did you order one?

I was in the market for a new 60% black RGB quiet wireless+wired keyboard and saw this video from bitwit that pushed me over the edge to purchase it for $39.99


View: https://youtu.be/cof4QgOF6yI?si=yn7ChhRh7UoGTRRq

He gave it a very well review especially for the price. It is decently solid feeling and the keys don't wiggle they go straight down and spring back up. There is no clacking just a satisfying quiet "click" that is not loud. Now it's not silent, but it is quiet enough to have that satisfying "click". I got the black RGB version with the red switches which are they most quiet option.

For the price I would buy it again. The size is perfect because I have so much more mouse space now. I use a massive mouse pad (low sensitivity for headshots) and it fits my gamer aesthetic feel of my PC setup. It has quite a few RGB effects and lots of shortcuts that are all explained in the booklet.

It is very small, (which I love because nothing I hate more than large loud keyboard) so be aware that you will need to use the function button to activate other buttons like the F1 keys, print screen, directional arrows etc. It doesn't bother me because it is mainly a gaming keyboard and I use WASDF keys also cntl space shift caps tab and keys around it mainly.

For office work I wouldn't recommend. For a hardcore FPS shooter gamer like myself with a large mouse pad and tiny keyboard I highly recommend I love it.
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Yeah I grabbed one
 
Mad Maxx said:
Same. I had 2 of their Apex Pro TKL boards -- bought one, warranty replacement for the 2nd. Several LEDs failed on each in less than a year. Corsair's K70 MGX line looks good, but I've become a 65% form factor addict. The MGX is available only in full size and TKL right now.

I pre-ordered a Nuphy Halo65 HE last week. It's getting high praise and cost $90 with the Jade Pro HE switches. Should be in my hands next week. The one I really want is the Pwnage Zenblade 65. It's a beauty and built like a tank. Doesn't have DKS, yet. Customer service told me it'll be included in a firmware update, but no word on when.
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I am just waiting for a few of you people gives a review as to how much improvement is HE over cherry MX technology
 
So you just got your Nuphy? how many days? so what are the gain from your magnetic keyboard vs. your Corsair, can you describe in more details? and is the gain only on playing PC games? or do you gain from business application, such as word processing / excel spreadsheet etc.?
 
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