Blue or red switches?

[AndreiArgeanu]

Hi, I wish to soon buy a mechanical keyboard and I need some advice of wether to get red or blue switches. I did have a feel of the keyboards and all and I personally like blue switches for their tacticile feedback and the sound, but looking at the first topic on this "Mechanical keyboard club" it says that they are not ideal for gaming but good for typing and the reds are linear and membrane like. Now I only have a choice of red or blue due to availability and budget and as I've mentioned before I did have a feel for both kind of keyboards and preffered the blue ones but obviously can't get a feel for long gaming sessions so I need your opinion on this. In your opinion are blue switches suitable for gaming? And do you think red would be a better switch? 

[Raudi_]

9 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Hi, I wish to soon buy a mechanical keyboard and I need some advice of wether to get red or blue switches. I did have a feel of the keyboards and all and I personally like blue switches for their tacticile feedback and the sound, but looking at the first topic on this "Mechanical keyboard club" it says that they are not ideal for gaming but good for typing and the reds are linear and membrane like. Now I only have a choice of red or blue due to availability and budget and as I've mentioned before I did have a feel for both kind of keyboards and preffered the blue ones but obviously can't get a feel for long gaming sessions so I need your opinion on this. In your opinion are blue switches suitable for gaming? And do you think red would be a better switch? 

I use reds, blues, browns, and a massive variety of other switches made for mechanical keyboards. I personally prefer the Blues over the reds for gaming/typing if I had to chose between the 2 switches. Reds I found to light and I was pressing keys I normally rest my fingers on and didn't mean to hit. 

[ELECTRISK]

I am using blue switches and don't regret my decision.

This is largely an opinion based post, and people above and below me may totally disagree, as will articles that make claims about usecases.

You may consider investing in a test kit, like this one from ebay.

You could then try out both the red and blue switches and make your choice based on that.

Hope this helped!

[Noah0302]

Between the two I'd take the Reds, since the clicky switches just annoy me after some point.

But I actually recommend the Speed Silvers over both, not because of the faster activation distance but the general feeling of the switches.

[looking for a keyboard]

I normally use MX blues for gaming and theyre absolutely fine. I dont understand the reasoning behind them being bad for gaming, except the sound might distract you, but then you can always use headphones

[seon123]

14 minutes ago, looking for a keyboard said:

I normally use MX blues for gaming and theyre absolutely fine. I dont understand the reasoning behind them being bad for gaming, except the sound might distract you, but then you can always use headphones

Hysteresis. Can apparently be an issue if you need to repeatedly press a key. 

[JB780]

I have a Corsair K95 which uses MX Red, I love the responsiveness of it and the short travel to activation distance of the keys.

[KenTees]

I personally use Cherry MX Reds because they're pretty light and it doesn't take much effort to press them. I primarily use my Corsair Strafe, but I also have a 2010 Razer Blackwidow stored away beside my computer, so I have access to a Cherry MX Blue keyboard as well. I mainly use my computer late at night so I try not to disturb my family, and with the Corsair Strafe, because of how light the keys are, they still bottom out. With the Blackwidow, the clicking sound of the Cherry MX Blues really don't help me out.

 

So if you prefer a bit of a quieter keyboard, Cherry MX Reds, and if you like the click and the feel of Cherry MX Blues and your family doesn't mind too much, I'd say go for those.

 

If you can go to a computer hardware store, there are usually mechanical switch testers that allow you to test them out, only then will you find your preference. If you like the feel of Cherry MX Blues but you don't like the sound, may I recommend you Cherry MX Browns?

[BigRom]

Been using MX Blues for years now, I naturally hit the keys quite firmly so the higher actuation force isn't a factor for me. The clicky sound and tactile feedback is nice to have, and when I'm typing quickly makes me sound busy