Are mechanical keyboards supposed to feel mushy?

[AutonomousRedux]

Good evening, all. I just bought my first "mechanical" keyboard after years of membrane use. To be quite honest, I'm not very thrilled with it.

 

I bought a G915 with GL Tactile switches. I feel that they're...mushier? than the previous keyboard I used which was a K800 with a membrane. I was fully expecting them to feel different, but I don't know. It just feels weird. The K800 pressed down smooth and easy with a noticeable bump. The G9115 feels kind of like pressing down on a spring that hasn't been oiled in a while or is too stiff. I'm missing keystrokes because it feels like I activated the switch but in reality I just mushed the key. I dropped from 87 wpm to 59 in a test and it just doesn't feel quite right.

 

With that being said, would anybody be willing to validate what I'm saying or was my choice in keyboard incorrect? I was looking for an ultrathin, wireless, full-size mechanical keyboard with back lighting and the G915 ticked all my checkmarks.

[Bombastinator]

14 minutes ago, AutonomousRedux said:

Good evening, all. I just bought my first "mechanical" keyboard after years of membrane use. To be quite honest, I'm not very thrilled with it.

 

I bought a G915 with GL Tactile switches. I feel that they're...mushier? than the previous keyboard I used which was a K800 with a membrane. I was fully expecting them to feel different, but I don't know. It just feels weird. The K800 pressed down smooth and easy with a noticeable bump. The G9115 feels kind of like pressing down on a spring that hasn't been oiled in a while or is too stiff. I'm missing keystrokes because it feels like I activated the switch but in reality I just mushed the key. I dropped from 87 wpm to 59 in a test and it just doesn't feel quite right.

 

With that being said, would anybody be willing to validate what I'm saying or was my choice in keyboard incorrect? I was looking for an ultrathin, wireless, full-size mechanical keyboard with back lighting and the G915 ticked all my checkmarks.

You bought it blind?  Like a whole keyboard through the mail?  Yep some are because some people like keyboards that way.  Others (apparently including you) don’t.  That’s why there are a bunch of different key types.  Try before you buy with mechanical keyboards.   You need to know what key caps you want.  It’s one major reason they’re changeable and replacable.  This one doesn’t surprise me.

[NotSoEpicMods]

I would give it a couple days before you write off the keyboard. Unfortunately, keyboard preference is a very personal thing. I myself tried switching from a Corsair Keyboard with MX Brown switches to a Razer with their Orange switches and I just couldn't get used to it and ended up switching back to another Corsair with brown switches. If you're really not into it within a week I would say return it because you're not satisfied and try another type of switch.

[Bombastinator]

If the switches are removable and it was the keyboard base that was what did it for you and nothing else did if your pockets are deep enough you can order a few keys of various types and swap them in till you find some you like and get a whole set of those.  Won’t be cheap.  @NotSoEpicMods might very well have the best solution.  Repetitive buy and return till you get keys you like.

[Jurrunio]

That depends on the key switch and keyboard you chose, and indeed not all mechanical key switches are supposed to have a clear bottom-out point. 

 

Logitech key switches seems to all be mushy for me, my Logitech keyboard has Cherry Blues so not a problem

[AutonomousRedux]

28 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

You bought it blind?  Like a whole keyboard through the mail?  Yep some are because some people like keyboards that way.  Others (apparently including you) don’t.  That’s why there are a bunch of different key types.  Try before you buy with mechanical keyboards.   You need to know what key caps you want.  It’s one major reason they’re changeable and replacable.  This one doesn’t surprise me.

The reason why I selected the tactiles was because I was hearing tactiles are basically clickies without the sound. And I figured clickies felt like linears with a bump so I thought it would be just like my old keyboard only better. Iounno, man.

 

From this vid:

 

[Bombastinator]

9 minutes ago, AutonomousRedux said:

The reason why I selected the tactiles was because I was hearing tactiles are basically clickies without the sound. And I figured clickies felt like linears with a bump so I thought it would be just like my old keyboard only better. Iounno, man.

 

From this vid:

 

Oh it’s logical, it’s just that most times things that exist in the marketplace for a long time do it for a reason.  There are three types of LCD panel not one because each is best at a specific role. If they weren’t there would be only one type of LCD monitor available.  There are dozens of different types of key switches these days.  What sucks for you isn’t going to suck for someone else.  It’s the way of things.

[Enderman]

Your WPM dropped because it's a different keyboard.

It will take a few days or weeks of practice to get faster as your hands adjust.

[AutonomousRedux]

Essentially I'm looking for a clean, easy key press that doesn't feel muddled and has a tactile bump. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to go with a different switch, I can't find anything like the G915. I'm thinking about returning it for a new K800.

[FezBoy]

53 minutes ago, AutonomousRedux said:

Essentially I'm looking for a clean, easy key press that doesn't feel muddled and has a tactile bump. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to go with a different switch, I can't find anything like the G915. I'm thinking about returning it for a new K800.

If you are comfortable with soldering and like the G915's layout and stuff, you could replace the switches with kailh choc whites.  These are the same switches as in the "GX Clicky" model, logitech just rebrands them.  If you look at the force curves on logitech's website you'll notice that the tactility on the brown is far more stretched out than on the white, and that the top of the tactile bump is ~0.75mm before actuation, which i would assume is why they feel muddy and you are missing characters.

 

       

Brown (tactile)                                                                          White (clicky)

(The vertical axis is force, the horizontal axis is how far the key is pressed; the first blue dot is the tactile point)

You can buy switches at https://novelkeys.xyz/products/kailh-low-profile-switches, they cost $0.60 per switch, so reswitching your board would cost ~$66-$72

 

If you just want to get a new keyboard instead of changing this one, I would recommend that you order one or multiple different switch testers to find a switch that suits how you like to type.

[AutonomousRedux]

14 hours ago, FezBoy said:

If you are comfortable with soldering and like the G915's layout and stuff, you could replace the switches with kailh choc whites.  These are the same switches as in the "GX Clicky" model, logitech just rebrands them.  If you look at the force curves on logitech's website you'll notice that the tactility on the brown is far more stretched out than on the white, and that the top of the tactile bump is ~0.75mm before actuation, which i would assume is why they feel muddy and you are missing characters.

 

       

Brown (tactile)                                                                          White (clicky)

(The vertical axis is force, the horizontal axis is how far the key is pressed; the first blue dot is the tactile point)

You can buy switches at https://novelkeys.xyz/products/kailh-low-profile-switches, they cost $0.60 per switch, so reswitching your board would cost ~$66-$72

 

If you just want to get a new keyboard instead of changing this one, I would recommend that you order one or multiple different switch testers to find a switch that suits how you like to type.

I'll look in to that. I may just ask for a swap to get a GL Clicky version and see if that suits my tastes. Best Buy is pretty good about swaps last I checked. 

[AutonomousRedux]

On 4/21/2020 at 10:44 PM, FezBoy said:

...

So, you were right. The clickies are waaaaay less mushy. They feel pretty damn great, if just a tad stiff. And loud. Other than that, I fucking love it. Thank you for the recommendation.

[SenKa]

1 hour ago, AutonomousRedux said:

So, you were right. The clickies are waaaaay less mushy. They feel pretty damn great, if just a tad stiff. And loud. Other than that, I fucking love it. Thank you for the recommendation.

The stiffness will settle in a bit, keyboards have a break in period. Loudness not so much, but such are clicky switches.

[FezBoy]

2 hours ago, AutonomousRedux said:

So, you were right. The clickies are waaaaay less mushy. They feel pretty damn great, if just a tad stiff. And loud. Other than that, I fucking love it. Thank you for the recommendation.

Np dude