You come to the right place if you are wondering about between Kailh vs Cherry MX mechanical switches for your mechanical keyboard.
In this article, we cover everything from head to toes. You will have an overview of Cherry MX and Kailh switches and then get to know the pros and cons. After that, you will jump right into the comparison of Kailh vs Cherry MX.
After going through every part we’ve mentioned, you will be likely able to decide on choosing the legendary Cherry MX switches or its famous dupe, Kailh. Now. let’s get started.
Not only the one starting the mechanical switches ‘ wave but also Cherry MX is the top dog of this market, despite the non-stop coming of other promising switch brands.
Everything about the Cherry MX switches becomes the standard for the others, including the idea that each switch type goes with a certain color and the conventional design of plus-shaped stems.
| Linear Type | Tactile Type | Clicky Type | |
|
Standard |
MX Red, MX Silent Red
MX Black, MX Silent Black |
MX Brown | MX Blue |
| Low-Profile | MX Low-Profile Red,
MX Low-Profile Speed |
MX Low-Profile Tactile |
MX Low-Profile Click |
| Special | MX Speed Silver | MX Clear, MX Grey |
MX Green |
Technical Data:
| MX Red | MX Black | MX Speed Silver | MX Red Silent | |
|
Actuation Force (gf) |
45 | 60 | 45 | 45 |
|
Travel Distance (mm) |
2 - 4 | 2 - 4 | 1.2 - 3.4 |
1.9 - 3.7 |
| Sound | No click | No click | No click |
Silent |
| Life Cycle | 100 million actuations | 100 million actuations | 100 million actuations |
50 million actuations |
Most of the products from Cherry MX are of the linear type. That is sufficient to get how popular those Cherry linear switches are. If the tactile and clicky switch has only one variant in the standard line, linear has two different variants, Red for light actuation force and Black for heavy typists.
Besides, they introduced special linear switches such as the Cherry MX Speed Silver - one of the mega-fast switches currently, and Cherry Silent - for those who hate the typing sounds.
| MX Brown Tactile | MX Blue Clicky | |
|
Actuation Force (gf) |
55 | 60 |
|
Travel Distance (mm) |
2 - 4 |
2 - 4 |
| Sound | No click |
Audible click |
| Life Cycle | 100 million actuations |
50 million actuations |
The tactile switches of Cherry MX are ones of the highest quality that you should not miss out on. The tactile bumpy feedback from the Brown tactile switches is phenomenal while that of Blue clicky is strong and sharp.
Furthermore, their durability and longevity are and will always stand at the top. There must be a reason for that much money we pay for those awesome Cherry tactile ones.
Apart from this brief introduction, we have a complete article about Cherry MX mechanical switches that you should check out.
Among many brands that cloned Cherry MX mechanical switches, Kailh is able to stand out with its decent-quality and long product lines. Their first products are the exact copy of Cherry so not a surprise, but reasonable with that much money. However, later on, they launched their own lineups that are good enough to hype up the keyboard community.
Kailh tactile or linear switches are pretty nice to use, but the most loved ones are those Kailh clicky switches. With the ‘click bar’ method only Kailh has, clicky lovers usually come for it if they want a satisfying tactile response.
| Linear Type | Tactile Type | Clicky Type | |
|
Standard |
Red, BOX Red,
Black, BOX Black |
Brown, BOX Brown | MX Blue, BOX Blue |
|
Low-Profile |
ML Choc Red | ML Choc Brown |
ML Choc White |
| Speed | Speed Silver | Speed Copper, SPeed Gold |
Speed Bronze |
| Pro | Pro Burgundy | Pro Purple |
Pro Light Green |
| Kailh Red | Kailh Black | |
|
Actuation Force (gf) |
50 | 60 |
|
Travel Distance (mm) |
2 - 4 |
2 - 4 |
| Sound | No click |
No click |
| Life Cycle | 50 million actuations |
50 million actuations |
Kailh has Red and Black switches as Cherry MX. Overall, their smoothness and tactility are quite good, enough to please beginners who are not familiar with the mechanical keyboard world. Moreover, there are a lot of actuation-force options to choose from, ranging from very heavy to very light.
| Kailh Brown Tactile | Kailh Blue Clicky | |
|
Actuation Force (gf) |
50 | 50 |
|
Travel Distance (mm) |
2 - 4 |
2 - 4 |
| Sound | No click |
Audible click |
| Life Cycle | 50 million actuations |
50 million actuations |
Typically, Kailh also has Brown for tactile and Blue for Clicky but they do not stop from there. The brand provides people with many tactile and clicky versions like Kailh Speed Gold, Kailh Speed Bronze, and Kailh Pro Burgundy, to name but a few.
Regarding the clicky type, as we have mentioned above, Kailh’s options are of the best in the market. Thanks to a unique design, there is double feedback when pressing the key, making the whole typing experience peculiar.
Asides from this short overview, you should go read our article about Kailh, which covers almost mechanical switch lineups in detail.
The time for the truth is coming. Are you thrilled? Now, let’s discover the benefits and drawbacks of Kailh and Cherry MX switches.
|
Pros |
Cons |
|
|
|
Pros |
Cons |
|
|
This time we will compare each switch type of Kailh and Cherry MX switches. Let's put the linear switch on the stage first.
| Cherry Red | Kailh Red | Cherry Black | Kailh
Black |
Cherry
Speed |
Kailh Speed | |
|
Travel Distance (mm) |
2 - 4 | 2 - 4 | 2 - 4 | 2 - 4 | 1.2 - 3.4 |
1.1 - 3.5 |
| Actuation Force (gf) | 45 | 50 | 60 | 60 | 45 |
40 |
In general, the specs of Kailh vs Cherry mechanical switches are nearly similar in terms of travel distance and actuation force. However, Kailh Red requires 5gf more force and it is also more rigid.
Regarding the typing performance, Kailh is quite scratchy and less consistent than Cherry so it will feel less satisfying.
Between Cherry and Kailh Speed Silver switches, Kailh has a shorter travel distance and lighter weight so, in theory, it is slightly faster. But, we think they both have alike performances and are suitable for competing in games.
Overall, after comparing Kailh vs Cherry MX linear, we think Kailh products are not impressive, but they’re still a good choice at that price.
| Cherry Brown | Kailh Brown | Cherry Blue | Kailh
Blue |
|
|
Travel Distance (mm) |
2 - 4 | 2 - 4 | 2 - 4 |
2 - 4 |
| Actuation Force (gf) | 45 | 50 | 60 |
50 |
Basically, the travel distances of Kailh vs Cherry are the same. On the other hand, the weights are not identical as Cherry Brown and Kailh Blue is somehow lighter.
How do those figures of Cherry vs Kailh perform in reality? Well, the answer is not much different.
Deserved the fame of the best Cherry clones, Kailh Brown shares a similar bump and low sound but is somewhat softer and less defined.
The Kailh Blue does exactly what you want from a clicky type as a Cherry MX dupe. But, it is boring compared to other Kailh clicky products.
Moreover, both the Kailh Blue and Brown are under the scratchy problem that something you need to trade with lesser coins.
Anyway, unlike Cherry MX, it has tactile options in the Speed and Silent lineups.
Before closing the competition between Cherry vs Kailh, we should sneak peek at the Kailh original designs.
We believe by creating their own products, Kailh genuinely boosts the company’s competitive edge. Kailh BOX lineups like the original BOX switches and Kailh Silent BOX switches are far exceeding other Cherry MX clones out there.
They introduce an outer box that covers the stem and an inside box that protects the metal leaf. Thanks to that, those switches are much more stable than the first clone version and not scratchy at all.
Furthermore, the box protects them against harmful dust and moisture, resulting in a longer lifetime. Another plus point, Kailh BOX has the widest range of weight forces for you.
And, the feels of your fingertips? Excellent. No wobble, no mushy-squishy, no irritated. There is only instant robust feedback that is a great pleasure. Thus, we highly recommend the BOX line for everyone.
If you can pay a little bit more and want something that is of the top quality, we think Cherry MX is definitely what you should go for.
But, if you want to save money, look for good tactile switches, and have particular weight taste, how about considering Kailh BOX switches.
Still, there are more options apart from Cherry MX or Kailh switches, you can find our article here that thoroughly compares Cherry MX with other switch brands.
Kailh and Cherry MX have truly awesome mechanical switches but of course, the clones cannot win over the original. In short, we think the Cherry dupes from Kailh are nice given the price but not special enough to put Cherry and its clones on hold.
Nevertheless, Kailh BOX switches are a different matter. With good prices and superb quality, you should put them on your list. We truly mean it.
This long journey of Cherry MX vs Kailh is finally closed. Have you picked up your right one yet?
Cherry MX is a brand from Germany.
Kailh is from China, by an electronic company.
Yes, they are as they share the same stem design. But, the Kailh BOX switches are not due to their covering box.
No, they are not since Cherry MX has a better build, resulting in stability, durability, longevity and is the first-rate in the mechanical switch market.
Yes, they are. The regular lineup with Red, Brown, Blue, and Black switches has an identical build, especially the cross-shaped stem and similar technical data.
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