While most people use the stock membrane keyboard that ships with their computer from the factory, whether it’s a laptop’s built-in keyboard or an external one that ships with a desktop, an increasing number of people are choosing to buy or build custom keyboards that suit their unique typing style and preference for responsiveness.
Mechanical keyboards are the most ubiquitous example of customizable keyboards, but there are now several newer players in the game today worth discussing. In this piece, we’ll discuss the different types of keyboards, their switches, and whether you might want to consider buying a pre-built keyboard or building your own.
Types of keyboards
There are at least three significant options in today’s market when it comes to choosing the type of custom keyboard you want. Those include:
- Mechanical keyboards
- Hall effect keyboards
- Optical keyboards
The differences in these are simple:
A mechanical keyboard uses a type of keyboard key switch that requires mechanical contact between specific points in the switch to complete an electrical circuit. At the time of this metal-on-metal contact, the completed electrical circuit sends a signal to the logic board, letting your computer see that you’re entering keyboard input. Mechanical keyboard switches come in clicky, linear, and tactile varieties for different feedback options.
A hall effect keyboard uses a type of keyboard key switch that utilizes a magnet and a sensor that detects magnetic force. You can configure these sensors to be as sensitive to magnetic force as you want them to be such that even the slightest touch of the key registers as a key press. Hall effect switches are contactless, as no part of the switch mechanism contacts another.
An optical keyboard uses a type of keyboard key switch that relies on the obstruction of a small beam of light. When a key is pressed, an obstruction built into the stem of the switch blocks or interrupts the beam of light and registers a key press. Optical switches are also considered contactless, as no part of the switch mechanism contacts another.
Yes, there are more keyboard switch options out there, but they’re substantially less common and you probably won’t ever purchase or build one. So, we’ll stick with the basics.
Pros and cons of mechanical switches
Mechanical keyboard switches have been around for a very long time, and they are perhaps the most tried and true of all three switch types. As a result of their ubiquitous nature, mechanical keyboards are often the least expensive, as are the individual keyboard switches in the event of customizations or repairs.
Because mechanical keyboard switches come in different varieties, including clicky, linear, and tactile, their biggest pro is they offer the greatest personalization in the typing experience. Clicky switches give off a loud and audible click when pressed, linear switches have a smooth and consistent keypress all the way through, and tactile switches have a mild bump partway through the keypress without the noise from clicky switches.
A con of mechanical keyboards compared to the alternatives in today’s market is that there is a latency between the time it takes to press a keyboard key and the electrical contacts in the key touching one another. For this reason, while mechanical keyboards are popular in the gaming community today, more competitive gamers are switching to either hall effect or optical switch-equipped keyboards instead.
Mechanical keyboards are best used for typing experiences like emailing, essay writing, and web browsing, among other things. In these applications, key latency doesn’t matter because you’re not on any strict time regimen between key presses – at least not like gaming, where milliseconds in response time could spell the difference between winning or losing.
Pros and cons of hall effect switches
Hall effect switches became popular just over a decade ago and only continue to rise in popularity because of just how customizable their magnetic keypress experience can be.
Because hall effect switches use a magnet and a sensor that detects magnetic fields, you get to configure via software just how sensitive those sensors will be to actuating force. This is a serious pro that means you can opt for a hair-trigger keyboard that detects actuations when you just barely touch a key, or you can opt for a less sensitive keyboard that requires a modest push of the key to detect an actuation.
Because of the sensitivity customization, hall effect keyboards became very popular in the competitive gaming space in recent years, as this can often result in the difference between winning and losing when playing against others who have mechanical keyboards or another type of keyboard that struggles with higher amounts of input latency.
And then we come to the con of hall effect keyboards, which is that some offer a rapid trigger feature in their proprietary software known as “Snap Tap” or “Rappy Tappy” that allows for quick switching between movement directions for an arguably unfair advantage against other players. Many games, such as Counter Strike 2, are cracking down on use of these features and have started issuing bans for using them.
Hall effect switches, with their lack of contact-on-contact during keypresses, mean they’re loved by users because of several advantages, like longer lifespans and consistent keypresses. Sadly, they’re a newer technology with a higher cost, so you’ll pay a pretty penny for one of these keyboards, as well as for replacement switches.
While hall effect switches are most commonly linear because of their design, some companies have come out with clicky and tactile options as well. These are less common, but again, more expensive than traditional hall effect switches, which were already a step above the rest from the start.
Pros and cons of optical switches
Optical keyboard switches are some of the newest of the bunch, having just drummed up popularity within the past decade or so.
The most substantial pro of optical keyboards is that light travels very quickly, so there’s the least amount of latency between key presses and registering the key press. This also equates to higher key press input precision, even compared to hall effect switches.
Moreover, optical switches don’t have any physical contact points, as the stem merely blocks a light beam when pressed, so they’re highly durable and can withstand many more physical presses than mechanical keyboard keys, inside of which the metal contact points can wear out over time.
But let’s not consider optical key switches the silver bullet of keyboarding just yet – they do have some notable cons, such as the less tactile feel of keyboards built with them don’t always feel as satisfying and the fact that there are fewer customization options available for these types of keyboards.
Keyboard switch customization
Almost all forms of custom keyboards come in one of two flavors: hot-swappable or solderable.
Hot-swappable means that you can easily pull the keyboard switches out of the keyboard and press a new one in its place, while solderable means that you must manually desolder an old switch from the keyboard and solder a new one in its place.
Hot-swappable keyboards are becoming more popular because they make it easy for end users to modify their keyboard and change the typing experience – especially in the case of mechanical switches, where each keypress can give off a clicky, linear, or tactile typing experience. But even some hall effect and optical switch keyboards offer hot-swappable switches, making repairs effortless when one appears to stop working.
Solderable keyboards are still extremely popular among enthusiast who enjoy the sport of building their own keyboards, but they’re less approachable by novices. Many enthusiasts say that solderable keyboards last longer and that the switch connections are less likely to vibrate loose than on hot-swappable keyboards since they’re soldered in place.
Another thing worth considering is that constant hot-swapping of keyboard switches on hot-swappable boards is prone to eventually damage the fragile connectors in the board itself. This has happened to me countless times, and while I’ve been fortunate enough to use a very fine pair of tweezers to return those connections to their rightful place and use my keyboard as normal again, the complexity varies by manufacturer.
Building or buying?
If you’re brand new to the keyboard market, I would strongly recommend buying a pre-built keyboard, preferably hot-swappable, and then customizing the switches later. On the other hand, if you’re more advanced in the keyboard customization world, then you can source all your own parts and build a keyboard completely from scratch.
Buying a pre-built keyboard, especially a hot-swappable one, reduces the risk of user error during assembly. These keyboards are designed for customization and don’t require any expensive tools – just a key puller and a switch puller, which are often included with the keyboard out of the box. Hot swappable keyboards will often take any compatible key profile, just make sure that you count the number of stems on the bottom of your key switch before ramming a new one in to make sure it’s the same.
Building a keyboard from scratch, especially one that you solder together yourself, can be an exhilarating experience. Not only do you challenge your knowledge and skills, but when the product comes together, you’ll be that much happier because it will have everything you wanted. On the other hand, this requires a lot of research to find compatible parts and a skill level with certain tools, including a soldering iron.
Wrapping up
The custom keyboard space is a fun way to customize your interaction with your computer, whether you’re a typist, a gamer, or something in between. Some people enjoy loud and clicky keystrokes, while others prefer a silent and precise keystroke. Regardless of which camp you fall in, there are a lot of options out there worth considering.