Switching to a mechanical keyboard after a lifetime of using membrane keyboards: a one-way street

As long as I can remember, I always remember myself using membrane keyboards. I had never, ever used a mechanical keyboard for several days because, well, I valued being cheap and functional more than the experience of using a mechanic. The fact is that I have changed the computer. I have assembled a gaming computer (with its RGB and everything, like a streamer), I have added a 144 Hz monitor, a more decent mouse and, of course, a mechanical keyboard.

I admit that I was a bit reluctant at first. I am a person who is not capable of working with noise (maximum envy to those who can work with music) and I doubted if the Tiki tiki of the keys was going to bother me, but from lost to the river. Several comrades told their testimonies here and all they spoke wondersso let’s try, let’s try.

As I did a few weeks ago with the 144 Hz monitor, my idea is not to talk about the keyboard itself or do a review, but to tell you How has my personal experience been?. I would like to tell you what I learned in the process of choosing one and clear up any possible doubts that may arise for a person who does not know where to start. Needless to say, the comments are at your entire disposal so that you can share your experience or give your opinion.

Why switch to a mechanical keyboard

Being completely frank, I don’t know. I mean, yes I know, now I tell you, but there is no clear reason as there was with the 144 Hz monitor. I just wanted to change and try new things. If so many people speak well of this type of keyboard, it has to be very bad for me, that I spend half my life in front of the computer, I don’t like them. I already anticipate that, indeed, it has been.

The reason for changing is that I was very happy with my old membrane keyboard, the typical 15 euro keyboard that you find in any store, but from one day to the next it began to fail. And it didn’t miss a number on the numeric keypad or the asterisk, no. The “A” was missing. Either it didn’t detect the keystroke or the key got stuck and it wrote me an “aaaaaaa” which I then had to delete.

Beyond the fact that “A” is one of the most used letters in Spanish (only in terms of text there are about 300 “a”) and that I make a living writing, I used this keyboard to play. And you’ll see, when you’re playin’Valorant‘ and you try to go to the right by pressing the “D”, but your keyboard considers it more convenient to leave the “A” key caught and that you move to the left, leaving you in sight of the best of the other team, not very funny.

Overall, like many people I know who play on PC, they use mechanical keyboards, so I decided to buy one. The first one came out like a frog and it also failed shortly after (it didn’t detect the keystrokes on the “E” and “S” well), but finally I found the key, and never better said. The keyboard that I bought is a Razer Huntsmanwhat do you use optomechanical switches. switches? What’s that? Well, one of the things I learned in the process.

The thing goes from switches

As always happens in the world of technology, all you have to do is start to investigate a little about a topic to discover that there is a whole underworld behind it full of details to take into account. Did you think that a keyboard was a key, a plate and that’s it? Ha! wait for start researching Cherry MX and its colorsis that you go crazy.

What sounds when you type is not the key, it is the switch. The key, known in this world of mechanical keyboards as “keycap”, is just the cover, what we touch, but what gives life to the keyboard and what differentiates one mechanical keyboard from another are the switches. Depending on the switch, which is the switch that closes the electrical circuit of the board to “record” what we write, you will have one experience or another.

There are different types of switches, but the best known are the ones made by Cherry Industrial, the Cherry MX. Each switch has a color that serves to differentiate one from another. Depending on the type of switch, the keyboard will have one response or another. My colleague Eva made an extensive guide with everything there is to know about mechanical keyboards and I recommend taking a look at it. For the case, here is a summary of the characteristics of each switch.

All these switches work the same: you press the key, it releases pressure on a metal plate which, when released, touches another plate and closes an electrical circuit. There are different manufacturers, each with their colors (for example, Razer has your own switches with their own colors that, for practical purposes, are similar to Cherry MX), but in essence they work the same. For gaming, the most popular are the Cherry MX Red for its low actuation force and for being linear. For office automation, Brown or Blue, depending on whether you like the sound or not.

But looking for different options and models, I came across something quite curious: optomechanical switches. The name already attracts attention, but even more so does its operation. Optomechanical switches do not have a metal plate, but rather they use a laser. When the key is not pressed the laser is blocked, but when the key is pressed the laser is released and activates a sensor. I found it so curious that in the end the Razer Huntsman, which has these switches, ended up coming home.

There is no way back

The fact that the switches are optomechanical does not affect what I am telling you too much because, for practical purposes, they are very similar in sound to the Cherry MX Blue. I understand that one of the main concerns when buying a mechanical keyboard is if the sound is annoying, and the optomechanical switches on my keyboard sound the same or almost the same as the Cherry MX Blue ones, which are among the “loudest” or “clickies”.

Upset? Depends. Not me, not at all. In fact, I find it to be one of the most relaxing sounds. When you start typing and you’re on a roll, that is, you don’t miss a single key or make a single mistake, the sound is a pleasure. It’s pure ASMR. I can’t work with music but I admit that the sound of the keyboard drives me crazy. Now, don’t take it to an office, because your colleagues will start to stop asking you if you want to go with them for a coffee.

I’m not going to throw the roll that reminds me of the first IBM keyboards of the 80’s because at that time I still had a decade and a half to go, so I can’t talk about nostalgia. Maybe in a few years, when we write using a device that reads our minds attached to our heads, I can write something like “Remember the keyboards that used to make noise? What a time”.

Is the change noticeable? Much. I noticed it with the first mechanic and I noticed it with the Razer. Membrane keyboards are great because they’re cheap, quiet, and don’t require you to hit a big key, but with the mechanical keyboard, once you get used to the taller keys, I at least I notice more precision and speed when writing. It helps, of course, that I barely have to press down on the key to enter a character. It is a softer experience and I would dare to say that it is more pleasant.

But where I have noticed it most is in the hands. As you can imagine, a large part of my day to day consists of writing, so my hands get tired. With the mechanical keyboard, however, I notice that it takes much longer to get tiredpossibly because of the same thing as before: I don’t have to force the keys.

And playing? What about gaming? Well, I notice that too. This is perhaps more subjective, but I feel that I have more precision when moving or that, at least, I have more control over what I do. I also notice a shorter reaction time, something that makes sense considering that the switch travel is quite short and that the force that must be exerted to close the circuit is very low. My record of kills and deaths is also thankful that I don’t get caught with the “A” every two times three.

Then there is the matter of RGB. please kids watch out for RGB, because it starts by saying that you don’t want RGB in your computer and you end up buying fans with LEDs and looking for a way to have everything synchronized. It is a world that is better not to enter. But who cares, it has RGB, it can be set to different styles and if you have a Razer Chroma product (like my mouse, a Razer Basilisk) it can be synced with it. If you don’t like it, you can disable it and that’s it.

Definitely, I am very happy with the change. I find the sound of the keyboard quite pleasant, I have the feeling that I type faster and more accurately and my hands feel less tired. If you use the computer casually with a membrane keyboard, you are more than fine, but if you use it more intensively or to play, I, personally, would recommend trying it and clearing up any doubts. For me, of course, it has been a one way road.