Mechanical keyboard switches, explained simply

Mechanical keyboards are sold on switch colour, and the colours are a convention rather than a standard. Broadly they describe three behaviours.

The three families

Linear (usually red). The key travels straight down with no bump and no click. Smooth, quiet enough for an office, and preferred by most gamers because there is nothing between press and actuation.

Tactile (usually brown). A bump partway down tells your finger the key has registered. No click sound. The default recommendation for typing, and the safest choice if you cannot try before buying.

Clicky (usually blue). The bump plus an audible click. Satisfying alone in a room, and genuinely antisocial in a shared one. Think carefully if anyone else can hear it.

The numbers that matter

Actuation force, in grams, is how hard you press. 45g is light, 60g is firm. Lighter switches are faster and cause fewer sore fingers over a long day; heavier ones cause fewer typos.

Actuation point is how far the key travels before it registers — around 2mm is standard, with "speed" switches at 1.2mm. Shorter is quicker and also easier to trigger by accident.

Hot-swap is the feature worth paying for

A hot-swappable board lets you pull switches out and push different ones in without soldering. Since the switch is the one thing you cannot judge from a product page, being able to change your mind for the price of a £15 switch pack is worth more than most other upgrades on the spec sheet.

What you are paying for above £100

Build, mostly. An aluminium case, better sound damping, a gasket mount that softens the typing feel, PBT keycaps that do not go shiny. These are real improvements and none of them makes you type faster. Below £60 you can have a perfectly good mechanical keyboard; above £150 you are buying refinement.

Buying

Switch testers cost a few pounds and answer the only question that matters. Failing that, brown switches annoy the fewest people. Keyboard prices swing widely and genuine discounts are common out of season — the run-up to Christmas is the worst time to buy one.