For the uninitiated: keyboard switches are the mechanism in mechanical keyboards that connect the key caps (the plastic piece with a letter on it) to the PCB (the circuit underneath that sends a message to your computer that you hit a key). It looks like this:

There are a shocking number of ways to build one of these, and they greatly change the typing experience.

Anyways, I will be building a keyboard, so I must pick out my switches. As with all hobbies these days, you can spend as much money as you’d like, and you have more options than you can shake a stick at. As is obvious on this website, I am scared of uninformed choices. So, I bought a bunch of switches and performed a tournament to pick my favorite.

One more note: like sparkling, mineral, and tap water, switches also have three main flavors: Tactile, Clicky, and Linear. Tactile have a nice little bump that give you a *tactile* feeling while typing – anyone who used IBM or Apple computed with the massive keyboards know what this is like (sort of, those were actually “Buckling-Spring” mechanisms). Linear switches have a constant pressure while depressing, making them ideal for speed typing and video games. Clicky, as the name suggests, are the stereotypical loud clicky switches that have a satisfying CLICK to let you know you have made contact with the PCB.

Finally, the Tournament:

Methodology: I bought 5 switch testers, totaling 99 switches. From these I quickly went through them and all the ones I didn’t hate I organized between clicky, tactile, and linear. Out of these, I did a few rounds of blind head-to-head testing to further eliminate obviously bad switches and develop seeds. Then I performed the above double elimination tournament over the course of a week to pick my favorite.

Outcome: The winners were the Gateron Blizzard and Baby Raccoon and the Kailh Box Pink for Tactile, Linear, and Clicky, respectively. However, I’d honestly be very happy with any of the switches that made it to the semi-finals. The only switch that really dominated for me was the Gateron Blizzard. It’s round were quick with little deliberation. Winner’s podium: https://imgur.com/a/3gN6lOb

Takeaways: I am obviously an enthusiast, but I do not consider myself a connoisseur – so take this with a grain of salt. All the winner were mid-range switches, price-wise. The very expensive ones I had in the competition did not perform as well as I might have expected. For me, in my blind tests, a lot of these “mid-range” switches really outperformed their more expensive brethren in terms of feel, sound, and quality. The “cheap” switches (Basic cherry and gats) were easy to spot and feel, and only a handful made it into the tournament. Also, certain companies dominated specific tournaments. Kailh dominated the clicky tourney, take all the podium positions. Similarly, Gateron swept the linear tourney. Tactile wasn’t as dominated, however all four Boba switches I had made it to the semis, sharing the podium with two Gaterons.