Guide to Buying Your Own Mechanical Keyboard

For every avid e-sports enthusiast, a set of mechanical keyboards with excellent feel is definitely the poison that everyone dreams of. However, with the rich keyboard types, how to choose a suitable keyboard has become the most troublesome problem for many small partners.

Shaft selection

At present, there are four classic black, black, tea and green shafts in the selection of the shaft. Cherry also released the silver shaft and the mute red shaft around 2015. For the specific differences and introduction, please refer to the following

1. Black shaft

Operating pressure: 58.9g±14.7g

The black shaft is the shaft with the highest operating pressure among the four main shaft bodies. Compared with ordinary users, typing and pressing are more laborious, and are not suitable for ordinary (especially female users) or users who need a lot of input. However, the black shaft is the shaft with the smallest sound among the four main shafts, and has little effect on the surrounding people.

2. Red shaft

Operating pressure 44.1g±14.7g

The operating pressure of the red shaft is 44.1g±14.7g, which is the shaft with the smallest operating pressure among the four main shafts (same as the brown shaft). It's great for average and heavy input users (especially female users), and has a moderate sound. But it lacks "paragraph sense" and the unique typing feel of mechanical keyboards.

3. Green shaft

Operating pressure: 58.9g±14.7g

Touch pressure: 58.9g±19.6g

The green axis is the axis with the greatest pressure among the four main axis bodies (same as the black axis). Typing and pressing with it has a unique "paragraph feel". After pressing halfway, it is necessary to increase the pressing pressure to continue to press it to the end, and at the same time, it will produce a crisp sound, which is the main shaft with the most "mechanical keyboard" characteristics. The rhythmic typing sound is both rhythmic and enjoyable for the user.

But at the same time, the sound of typing will become a nightmare for those around you, causing noise to others.

4. Tea shaft

Operating pressure: 44.1g±14.7g

Touch pressure: 54.0g±14.7g

The brown shaft is the shaft with the smallest operating pressure among the four main shafts (same as the red shaft). Typing and pressing also have a unique "paragraph feeling" like the green axis, but the feel and sound are poorer than those of the green axis, the pressing force is not as strong as the green axis, and the noise generated is moderate, very suitable for general and Input heavy users.

5. Silver shaft

The silver axis has the same linear feel as the red axis, but mainly pursues faster. The initial pressure is 20cN, the trigger stroke is 1.2mm, the trigger pressure is 45cN, the full stroke is 3.4mm, the bottoming pressure is 70cN, and the gold contacts guarantee a life of 50 million pressings. It is more suitable for contestants or typists.

6. Mute red shaft

The pressure grams of the silent red shaft is the same as that of the red shaft, both 45cN, and the trigger stroke is about 2.0mm, but the total stroke of the silent red shaft is shortened to 3.7mm, while the red shaft is 4.0mm, and the total stroke is shortened by 0.3mm. Trigger faster, suitable for playing games. However, due to the use of buffer materials, the feel of the CHERRY mute red shaft will also be a bit fleshy. It does not have the crisp and crisp knocking feeling of the red shaft, and it will feel a little stuffy when it touches the bottom.

keycap selection

In the keycap selection, the first thing we should pay attention to is the keycap height

1. Original height

The original height of the keycap means that the height of the keycap is the same as the keycap used by cherry.

2. OEM height

The OEM height is the height of the keycaps produced by third-party manufacturers, which are usually higher in height

Secondly, we need to pay attention to the material of the keycap

1. ABS

ABS material keycaps are the most of all materials. Of course, the main reason is that the technology is mature and the price is cheap. ABS material keycaps can be seen from ordinary keyboards of tens of yuan to high-end products of thousands of yuan. ABS keycaps are available in various colors and can be made translucent to meet the needs of backlighting, which is unmatched by other materials. The keycap made of this material is the softest compared to other materials. It is not very hard and has a mild touch. It can be said that the hand feels relatively good, but it is easy to oil.

2. PBT

PBT is often mentioned in the mechanical keyboard circle. It should be the most reliable and excellent keycap material at present. Whether it is oil resistance and hardness, it is first-class, and its anti-corrosion and anti-oxidation effects are also very good. Oil. In addition, it is easy to decompose when it encounters water in a high temperature environment. It is because of this characteristic that there are special shops that use water to color the PBT keycaps. The color of the dyed keycaps does not fall off and is natural and beautiful.

3. POM

The keycaps of POM material are less than ABS, Cherry likes it very much, so it is most common in the original keyboard. It is a durable and simple material. Whether it is durability or firmness, POM is better than ABS, and its oil resistance is also multiplied. At least two or three years will not cause oil problems (oiling varies from person to person)

How to maintain the mechanical keyboard

1. Remember to cover it with a cloth or bag when the keyboard is not in use. It is both waterproof and dust-proof. Dust has an important impact on the mechanical switch. From the feedback from using the keyboard, the failure of the keys is caused by the accumulation of dust in the switch. Hope You can take good care of your keyboard and do a good job of preventing ash;

2. Try to avoid liquid splashing when using the keyboard. Water will cause the circuit of the mechanical keyboard to short-circuit, which will cause the keys to fail in light of the above, and the circuit board and important chips will be burned out in severe cases, resulting in irreparable serious consequences;

3. The keyboard should be used on a fixed computer host as much as possible, because the voltage of the keyboard interface of the computer motherboard is unstable at the moment when the keyboard is inserted, and it may break down the keyboard "CPU" due to voltage or static electricity. The correct way is to turn it on. Connect the keyboard to the computer before connecting, and use a metal conductive material to discharge the static electricity near the interface before connecting;

4. Try to clean your hands before each use of the keyboard, and trim your nails flat, so that the keyboard can be kept clean for a long time and the life of the keys can be prolonged. The words printed on the screen are easy to fade. Paying attention to cleanliness can greatly prolong the adhesion time of the printed words;

5. If you don’t have professional equipment, try not to forcibly pull out the key caps. The method of pulling the keys with uneven force is fatal to the mechanical shaft, which should seriously affect the feel. If you have to find out, you can buy relevant accessories (even if there are Professional equipment, it is also strongly recommended to avoid repeatedly pulling out the key cap).

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