Cherry MX Red vs. Brown

[Tesel]

Hello all forum users,

 

I've been looking into mechanical keyboards recently and noticed some deals on Black Friday. I've likely narrowed my list down to these two:

Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Brown and Corsair Vengeance K65 Compact Cherry MX Red

 

Now the K65 is currently 49.99 vs 69.99, and I prefer the aesthetics of the K65 tbh.

Would the Reds be bad for my usage, as someone who does both gaming and homework, and would the Browns be enough to make up the price difference?

What are your opinions of Reds for general use including gaming?

[Guest]

See for yourself

[Bananasplit_00]

i love my browns, reds are booring because you dont feel them and blues are too heavy IMO so browns are perfect  

[Techicolors]

Reds are a linear switch with no feedback, but have the same actuation as browns. Reds are the lighter version of blacks 

 

Browns are tactile so you feel a bump. that's where the actuation point is, thus the key is registered. Browns are a nice balance between typing and gaming, IMO. there are subjectively better switches out there, but most go for the browns 

[Tesel]

1 minute ago, deXxterlab97 said:

See for yourself

<snip>

Believe me, I've done my research which showed that browns would probably best. The question is whether it's worth the extra cost.

1 minute ago, Bananasplit_00 said:

i love my browns, reds are booring because you dont feel them and blues are too heavy IMO so browns are perfect  

How much of actual tactile feedback is there and how noticeable is it? The only thing I've heard is that some people don't find the browns to be very different from the reds, with only a little feedback.

[Guest]

Just now, Technicolors said:

Reds are a linear switch with no feedback, but have the same actuation as browns. Reds are the lighter version of blacks 

 

Browns are tactile so you feel a bump. that's where the actuation point is, thus the key is registered. Browns are a nice balance between typing and gaming, IMO. there are subjectively better switches out there, but most go for the browns 

I go for non mechanical cause I'm poor

[Bananasplit_00]

Just now, Tesel said:

Believe me, I've done my research which showed that browns would probably best. The question is whether it's worth the extra cost.

How much of actual tactile feedback is there and how noticeable is it? The only thing I've heard is that some people don't find the browns to be very different from the reds, with only a little feedback.

i think its noticable, not even close to what blues feel like in terms of tactile feedback but you know when you have pressed the switch VS reds where you have no idea and they just feel horribe IMO. i right now have a K70 with browns and O-rings and i clearly feel the feedback from the switch and its great to type on and when gameing you know if you missed a keypress because the feedback is pretty obvius

 

 

TL;DR

noticable feedback, low noice, clear when you have actuated the switch where as you have no clue unless you look at the screen with reds

[Techicolors]

Just now, Tesel said:

How much of actual tactile feedback is there and how noticeable is it? The only thing I've heard is that some people don't find the browns to be very different from the reds, with only a little feedback.

It is very noticeable. Honestly you have to try it yourself. But it is true that browns feel a little light, but not nearly as light as reds. A heavier version would be clears or greens (which is the heavyweight switch). 

[dizmo]

You should really try and find a place where you can test the different switches, or at the very least order a switch plate with the different types on it so you can see which one you like more. Or, if you have the money, buy both keyboards and return the one you don't like.

Switches are such a personal thing that no guide can tell you which one is going to be best for your use case.

 

6 minutes ago, Tesel said:

Believe me, I've done my research which showed that browns would probably best. The question is whether it's worth the extra cost.

How much of actual tactile feedback is there and how noticeable is it? The only thing I've heard is that some people don't find the browns to be very different from the reds, with only a little feedback.

Research doesn't do anything. I looked at it for a bit, and I should have liked blues or browns. I hate both.
I greatly prefer red, with travel reduction.

 

I find the Browns feel mushy and very shitty. Blues are too loud. I liked Red, or Black best.

Sadly MX Blacks aren't common.

 

6 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

I go for non mechanical cause I'm poor

Honestly you're not missing out on much.

[Tesel]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

You should really try and find a place where you can test the different switches, or at the very least order a switch plate with the different types on it so you can see which one you like more. Or, if you have the money, buy both keyboards and return the one you don't like.

Switches are such a personal thing that no guide can tell you which one is going to be best for your use case.

 

Research doesn't do anything. I looked at it for a bit, and I should have liked blues or browns. I hate both.
I greatly prefer red, with travel reduction.

 

I find the Browns feel mushy and very shitty. Blues are too loud. I liked Red, or Black best.

Sadly MX Blacks aren't common.

 

Honestly you're not missing out on much.

Travel reduction as in o-rings?

[dizmo]

6 minutes ago, Tesel said:

Travel reduction as in o-rings?

Correct.

[sn0re]

 

1 hour ago, Tesel said:

Hello all forum users,

 

I've been looking into mechanical keyboards recently and noticed some deals on Black Friday. I've likely narrowed my list down to these two:

Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Brown and Corsair Vengeance K65 Compact Cherry MX Red

 

Now the K65 is currently 49.99 vs 69.99, and I prefer the aesthetics of the K65 tbh.

Would the Reds be bad for my usage, as someone who does both gaming and homework, and would the Browns be enough to make up the price difference?

What are your opinions of Reds for general use including gaming?

I'm on the same boat as you. I'm trying to switch over from mx blues and I just tested out reds vs browns. For me, the two switches feel very similar with no difference in bump vs no bump (maybe because I have been using blues + o rings for so long?..) and very light compared to the blues I'm used to.

[Tesel]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Correct.

So currently I'm thinking about buying the 49.99 keyboard with reds, since I like the overall keyboard more, I'll return it if the reds don't work out. What type of o-ring would you recommend to go with reds to make them bottom out less? And how do o-rings actually work in that regard?

[dizmo]

40 minutes ago, Tesel said:

So currently I'm thinking about buying the 49.99 keyboard with reds, since I like the overall keyboard more, I'll return it if the reds don't work out. What type of o-ring would you recommend to go with reds to make them bottom out less? And how do o-rings actually work in that regard?

You have to look at the hardness rating of the o ring, there's different types.

If you check a keyboard mod site, it'll say whether they're for sound reduction or travel reduction.

There are also different increments of reduction.

They just slide around the post, thus the key can't be pressed down as far as it could before.