Mechanical keyboard recommendation around 50-60€

[Aleph256]

Exactly as it says on the title - considering upgrading my SoG PRO-K5 to something a bit fancier.

It's still in perfect working order, mind you - I'd be gifting it to a friend I'm building a budget tower for.

 

Spending lots of time in MMOs, so not ready to go TKL yet (extra keybinds real estate yay).

A few media controls are a must - volume control at the very least. Double-key shortcut like what I have now is fine.

Not biased against membranes since I've never tasted mechanicals before, but it could be the opportunity to try it out.

I'd like it to be pretty quiet since I don't usually wear headphones. I don't mind it being wired, setup accounts for that. Black color scheme to fit the rest of the setup.

 

So far my own research only showed one outlier: the Redragon K618 - especially with the discount it has on at this time. I'd have considered the wired K619, but doesn't ship to France...

Alternatives are, obviously, very welcome.

Thanks for your time.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

For 50-60EUR you are probably better off looking at a membrane keyboard with those requirements. cheap mechanical keyboards nowadays are almost always TKL or smaller, with 65% and 75% being the most trendy ones nowadays. 

For about 100-150 you can get pretty decent full-size ones, but even then most "full-size" are actually 96% or other 'squished' designs or variations on 1800 style keyboards.

 

The Redragon you linked has a few issues I see, not sure if they will matter to you though:

• low profile switches, meaning you also need low-profile keycaps should you ever want to change or replace them
• they also appear to be soldered switches, so apart from the limited compatibility, you also have difficult repairability.

 

[TudorF]

@Aleph256

That K618 looks fine. I'd get it with brown switches.

I have Redragon Anubis TKL K539 RGB (black), I don't think they make this model anymore, and I like it. Been using it for 2 years, no problems so far.

I think its MSRP was around 80 euros and I got it for around 50 on a discount. Very practical tenkeyless wireless mechanical low-profile, with illuminated caps.

But the build does feel cheap, at this price you can't expect anything deluxe.

 

I would not recommend a membrane anymore. I've had a Logitech MX Keys before, the much-acclaimed and praised deluxe membrane from Logitech and it started breaking apart after just one year. Sure, it felt premium the first year, nice features and all. By the time I reached 1 month before the warranty expired it was completely broken, even though I used it very carefully and avoided brutalising it. Several caps fell out completely due to a very brittle bracket mechanism and the left shift was blocked and unusable. I sent it back to Logitech and they gave me the money back ^^. So I don't recommend membranes at all. Always go mechanical, they are more resilient and serviceable, something breaks you can usually replace it, open it and check the parts. A fragile membrane like MX Keys couldn't even be opened.

 

At that price, the K618 looks like an ok pick. Try it and see if it's a good fit. If not, return it.

[TudorF]

1 hour ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

• low profile switches, meaning you also need low-profile keycaps should you ever want to change or replace them
• they also appear to be soldered switches, so apart from the limited compatibility, you also have difficult repairability.

 

You won't need to change the caps. Been using a low-profile Redragon for 2 years, zero issues so far. Can still go strong for a few more years.

The switches can be pulled out with a tool they give you in the package or just use some screwdriver to push them out. They also give you a few spare switches you can use to replace any faulty ones. Never needed one so far.

[Aleph256]

@TudorF

Thanks for the feedback, will wait a few more days to see if further opinions trickle down - I'm away until Friday so wouldn't order before that anyway. I'm not expecting anything premium either - as long as it works, that's good enough for me.

Could you enlighten me about the difference between switches types? My understanding from a quick trip to the G overlord is that reds are supposed to be the silent ones, which would fit my requirements more?

 

@GarlicDeliverySystem

Yeaaaaaah 100+ is way over what I'm willing to spend on a keyboard. I could have stretched to around 70 if there was a compelling option. The 96% squished design wouldn't be a bother. I don't plan on changing keycaps unless they wear out - I care a bit about the overall aesthetic, but I'm more of a "function over form" kinda guy. But thanks for the feedback anyway

[Timme]

If you're not picky about colors, here's one (sea salt, wired), though it won't be silent. You can switch those to silent switches(like these) later.

 

[TudorF]

@Aleph256

The browns have shorter travel and are still mostly slient, just a bit of bounce.

The reds I think are very silent and don't have any bounce, they're linear.

The blues are clicky and have a bounce and longer travel too.

 

For me, the browns are the best compromise due to being mostly silent and requiring less effort to type.

[TudorF]

@seon123 Did I make a mistake in the short description above?

[seon123]

On 6/16/2025 at 4:21 PM, TudorF said:

The browns have shorter travel and are still mostly slient, just a bit of bounce.

Typically, standard Brown, Red and Blue switches will have the same total travel distance. For Cherry MX specifically (since these are fairly common, and easy to find information on), the total travel is 4.0 mm for all three. The actuation distance is 2.0 mm for both Brown and Red switches, while Blue switches have 2.2mm on the downstroke (since these were originally designed for hysteresis, not for an audible click). 

 

I assume that by "bounce", you mean tactility. The tactile feeling of the switch does not make a major difference on the noise, and for standard Brown type switches, it's unnoticeable. It's just the metal leaf sliding past the stem legs, there's no hard impact to make noise. 

 

On 6/16/2025 at 4:21 PM, TudorF said:

The reds I think are very silent and don't have any bounce, they're linear.

Both Brown and Red switches are loud. They don't produce an audible click upon actuation, but the main source of noise is the bottom out and the return, as this is where there's hard plastic on plastic impact. For a meaningfully quieter switch, one should look at silenced switches, ones that have a rubber dampener for both the downstroke and the upstroke. 

 

This is a quick comparison I just did with silenced tactile switches and regular linear switches. As you can see and hear, it's quite a large difference, and you should not call the second one quiet, let alone silent. 

 

 

 

On 6/15/2025 at 6:39 PM, Aleph256 said:

I'd like it to be pretty quiet since I don't usually wear headphones.

This is going to be quite difficult, given the budget. Typically, lower end keyboards will only give you options for regular switches, not special silenced ones. If silence really is a priority, and you still need a mechanical keyboard, you might be able to get a cheap mechanical keyboard, and then replace the switches with silenced ones, at least your most commonly used ones, mainly the letter and number keys, and the space bar. This might require soldering, depending on the keyboard (just really simple through hole stuff).

 

If silence is a major priority, a rubber dome over membrane keyboard will likely be your best bet. They won't be that quiet, but they should be a lot quieter than regular mechanical switches. 

 

I don't know if you care about the physical layout of the keyboard, but for European language keyboards, they'll use an ISO layout. Most cheap keyboards use an ANSI layout. The difference is that ISO layout keyboards will have a short left shift key, and an L shaped Enter key. The letters printed on the keycaps don't really matter to the computer, and as long as you don't look at your keyboard while typing, they don't affect anything. You can still mostly type on an ANSI layout keyboard, as long as you keep in mind that there is a missing key near the left shift key. 

[Aleph256]

@Timme

I happen to be, so that's gonna be a hard pass. Thanks for offering though!

 

@seon123

Thanks for the insights.

Silence is not *that* much of a priority - I can deal with it, and worse comes to worse, I'd either be wearing my headset more, or upgrade to silenced switches down the line.
Would the dampeners you mention look like this? Because I also read that you can mod switches to make them quieter - would you happen to know how hard that would be? Aside from the tediousness - that I don't mind if I can save a pretty penny.

 

Did a bit more digging around on Redragon and found the K580 might be a better pick (full-size switches with standard manufacturer pinout, thanks to @GarlicDeliverySystem for his earlier remark). That, and it got a pretty good review from Tom's Hardware, which is enough of a deal of quality in my book.

The Pro model, wireless but with Red switches, is currently at about the same price, so I'll buy based on a last question. From your experience, out of the box, which of the three (Red, Brown, Blue) would be quieter? @TudorF already pitched in on that, but other opinions won't hurt.

[Aleph256]

Soooooo.
Ended up getting a Brown thanks to recomendations from the r/homelab folks.
Keyboard arrived today.
Flip side: Feels pretty nice, silent enough.
Downside: ... I'm a dunce and didn't think this far enough - can't swap from an ANSI layout to an ISO layout...

 

In the return pile and back to the drawing board.