Razer vs Cherry Mechanical Keyboard Switches
The mechanical keyboard world is wonderful because you have so many great options for mechanical switches. What’s even better is the fact that the market doesn’t stop developing and pushes on with producing new types of switches for you to enjoy.
Today we will talk about a newer trend where a specific brand starts making its own switches (Razer, Logitech, and Roccat), and more specifically about the Razer mechanical keyboard switches and how they compare to the baseline Cherry MX switches.
Limitations and Downsides
Before we even start our comparison it is important to note that neither the Razer switches nor the Cherry MX switches are considered good in the enthusiast community. There are plenty of other awesome options for super nice mechanical keyboard switches that you should research.
Moreover, unlike Cherry MX keyboard switches which can be found practically everywhere, to even experience the Razer mechanical switches, you have to buy an entire Razer keyboard.
This makes recommending Razer mechanical switches very hard since you are not only paying for the switches but for an entire keyboard. Add on the fact that the Razer switches are not necessarily exceptional and you can kind of see the general conclusion of this article.
We are not saying that the Razer mechanical switches are absolutely awful since you can lube/film and apply other mods that can improve the experience by a lot. It is just that you might as well invest the time and money into a switch that actually is worth it.
Razer Green vs Cherry MX Blue
On a more positive note we can confirm that when comparing the Razer Green vs Cherry MX Blue switches, the differences are minimal. Obviously, this can also be interpreted as a complete turn-off since A LOT of people hate the Blue Cherry switches for their obnoxious sound/pinging and extremely loud click.
The similarities make sense since when comparing the traditional Razer switches vs Cherry mechanical switches, you can clearly see that the Razer switches were modeled after the basic Cherry lineup, but with touches here and there.
The Razer Green switch is tactile and clicky with an actuation force of 50G. To hear how the Green switch sounds you can head to the official Razer page and click on the Listen button.
Would we ever use Razer Green switches? Probably not. Does that mean that these switches cannot be used by other gamers? Of course not. Everyone has their preferences and if ruptured eardrums from constant clicking and clacking are your thing then the Razer Green switches just like the Cherry MX Blue switches, will do just fine.
Razer Orange vs Cherry MX Brown
The Razer Orange mechanical switches are a lot more interesting to us than the Green ones because these offer something different from its direct competitor – the Cherry MX Brown switches.
When comparing Razer Orange vs Cherry Brown switches you instantly notice that both of them are tactile switches which makes them a bit quieter and more subdued than a Green/Blue switch while also retaining a fun typing experience.
What gives the Razer Orange switch the edge, in this case, is that it is also silent compared to its Brown counterpart. This feature makes the Orange switch a little bit more desirable, especially when thinking of mods like lubing and filming.
The problem then is once again that you cannot really experiment with these switches since you can only find them in Razer keyboards, and you would have to spend a lot of time desoldering and soldering the switches since Razer has no hot swap keyboards.
If you were contemplating purchasing a keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches or a keyboard with Razer Orange switches, then we would recommend choosing the Orange switches overall.
Razer Yellow vs Cherry MX Red/Silent Red
The last Razer traditional mechanical switch is the Razer Yellow switch, which is a silent linear switch akin to the Cherry MX Silent Red or otherwise known as Pink switches.
The main difference here is that the Razer switches are faster with a travel distance of 3.5mm and an actuation point of 1.2mm. In practice when using both switches the typing experience is similar enough to the point where you won’t care which ones you are using.
Once again, the Yellow switches would greatly benefit from lubing as the process could take away some of the scratchiness in the switch, making it truly smooth.
Razer Mechanical Switches Advantages
The one advantage the Razer mechanical switches can claim over their Cherry counterparts is the fact that currently, Razer uses a box switch, or as Razer describes it, dual sidewalls. This implementation is identical to something like Box Jade switches or any other box switch on the market.
This allows for greater stability and increased life span, but honestly is not big enough of a difference to say that the Razer switches trump the Cherry MX switches.
Razer Opto-Mechanical Keyboard Switches
No, we have not forgotten about the Razer Opto-Mechanical switches. The reason these switches are not included in our comparison is the fact that there is nothing to compare really.
Razer’s opto-mechanical switches use a completely different mechanism (infrared beam instead of metal contact points) therefore there would be no apples-to-apples comparison possible.
If you are interested in the Razer optical switches you can click on this link and read in more detail what kind of switches those are, and why they are so special.
Conclusions
Although switches and the way your keyboard feels is a discussion of pure preference, when looking at the Razer mechanical switches (traditional ones) we can conclude that there is simply not enough to differentiate them from the competition.
These switches are not better in any way, are more expensive, and are overall hard to work with.
The only time we could really recommend you going for Razer switches is when you are planning to buy a full keyboard and want to try something different than regular Cherry MX switches. Otherwise, you should really take another look at our recommended list of mechanical keyboard switches.