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Keyboard Builders' Digest / Switch trends

Best-selling keyboard switches of July, 2024

A monthly overview of community favorite mechanical switches, based on real sales data provided by vendors and manufacturers.

KBD.news
Published August 2, 2024
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Hey fellow switch addicts enthusiasts! Inspired by a recent conversation and request, I decided to resurrect this series featuring the actual community favorite switches for mechanical keyboards – hopefully with a growing number of vendors and manufacturers joining.

The data for these write-ups, listing the best-selling switches of a given month, come from popular online shops. Many thanks for the feedback to:

AKKO EU, Ashkeebs (CA), BeaverKeys (CA), CandyKeys (DE), Coffeekeys (IT), Gateron (CN), Kailh (CN), Keebz N Cables (AU), Loobed Switches (US), Mechboards (UK), Milktooth (US), NovelKeys (US), pkkeyboards (US), Swagkeys (KR)

Previous episodes of the series published in collab with Milktooth can be found here, but I'm trying to extend these overviews to more and more vendors in the future. This means that you can find multiple top lists below, featuring different switch models in different orders just to confuse you to represent more regions and niches.

Disclaimer & Method

Keep in mind that most of the time I'm not in a position to verify the validity and accuracy of the data provided by shop runners. Some of these lists come automatically from their databases, however, some were put together manually. I specifically asked for the numbers of the last 30 days, but whether they reflect the past month, week or any other time-frame may vary and is often a mystery to me. ;) Standardization is in progress.

Pic: Akko Rosewood

Akko Rosewood

As always, take everything with a grain of salt, but I hope this compilation will still hold some value, highlighting trends, giving you some tips, and as a snapshot of the zeitgeist it will be also interesting to look back at on the long run.

Results

Akko EU [10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Akko EU is one of the most responsive shops out there so I went with the EU branch this time, but you can find the same switches in other Akko stores (5% off) too, of course. By the way, Akko is releasing 2 to 3 new switches every month, so this list is really just a snapshot, evolving continuously:

Pic: Akko Cream Yellow and Blue Pros

Akko Cream Yellow and Blue Pros

1Akko Cream Yellow Pro V3linear€0.24buy
2Akko Cream Blue Pro V3tactile€0.24buy
3Akko Penguin Silenttactile€0.37buy
4Akko Fairy (silent)linear€0.37buy
5Akko Lavender Purple Pro V3tactile€0.26buy
6Akko Creamy Purple Pro V3tactile€0.26buy
7Akko Piano Prolinear€0.37buy
8Akko Rosewoodlinear€0.37buy

The above 8 models are our main products on sale. Additionally, it should be noted that Lavender Purple may gradually be discontinued and replaced by Cream Purple – Akko EU.

It's also worth mentioning that the Akko Rosewood is a new linear switch designed specifically to deliver a rich, low-pitched typing experience for the MU01 wooden keyboard I reviewed earlier.

Ashkeebs (CA) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Best-selling thorough the month sometimes also means out of stock at the moment, like in some of these cases. ;)

Pic: HMX Xinhai at Ashkeebs

HMX Xinhai at Ashkeebs

1HMX Xinhai (heavy)linear$0.35buy
2HMX Swift Linearlinear$0.35buy
3Tecsee Zakulinear$0.55buy
4Tecsee Amethysttactile$0.55buy
5Gateron Milky Yellow Prolinear$0.25buy
6Prevail Epsilonlinear$0.65buy
7Geonworks HG Clear 3.5mmlinear$0.33buy
8AEBoards Naevy R1.5tactile$0.58buy
9Gateron CJlinear$0.60buy
10Emogogo Linearlinear$0.65buy

BeaverKeys (CA) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

BeaverKeys, shipping to Canada and the US, is growing fast. That said, they don't sell crazy amounts of switches so a top 5 might be most representative for this month:

Pic: HMX | Sillyworks Hyacinths at BeaverKeys

HMX | Sillyworks Hyacinths at BeaverKeys

1HMX Xinhai (light)linear0.45CADbuy
2KTT Kang White V3linear0.37CADbuy
3Gateron Oil Kinglinear0.87CADbuy
4HMX | Sillyworks Hyacinth V2Ulinear0.45CADbuy
5KTT Vanilla Ice Creamlinear0.70CADbuy

Peter's comment:

My top sellers are pretty stable at the moment as I haven't added many new switches in the past couple months.

CandyKeys (DE)

There is a new KBDDIGEST discount code (5%) beside the good old KBDNEWS one (0-4%). Merging in progress. You may try both:

Pic:

1HMX Game 1989linear€0.43buy
2Gateron Oil Kinglinear€0.65buy
3HMX Retro KD200linear€0.42buy
4Gateron Milky Yellow Prolinear€0.34buy
5Cherry MX Orangelinear€0.62buy
6HMX Macchiatolinear€0.39buy
7HMX Cloud (42g)linear€0.42buy
8Cherry Nixielinear€0.44buy

Currently we are looking into expanding further with our already 140+ available switches with our in depth filter system, which allows customers to filter with very detailed attributes of a switch. Top sellers are being replaced by switches with hype, depending on the season – David.

The HMX sell very quick due to their nature of marketing and hype. Especially the Game1989 were a pretty good hype-switch also because of the novelty box. They won't really be the same next month, while Gaterons and Cherrys here are more like an everygreen of switches with more stability in sales. Especially the Milky Yellow and Oil Kings are a good example of a slow and steady popular switch. We think the new EF Curry Switch could also become such a good long living switch – Fabian.

CoffeeKeys (IT)

Pic: WS Moradis at Coffeekeys

WS Moradis at Coffeekeys

1Wuque Studio WS Morandilinear€0.39buy
2Gateron Oil Kinglinear€0.69buy
3Gateron Quinntactile€0.57buy
4Wuque Studio WS Silent Tactiletactile€0.34buy
5Wuque Studio WS Heavytactile€0.34buy
6Wuque Studio WS Browntactile€0.34buy
7Wuque Studio WS DashHall-effect€0.78buy
8Wuque Studio WS Silent Linearlinear€0.34buy

Gateron (CN)

Pic:

1Gateron Magnetic JadeHall-effect$0.80buy
2Gateron Milky Yellow Prolinear$0.26buy
3Gateron G Pro 3.0 Yellowlinear$0.28buy
4Gateron Baby Kangaroo (V2)tactile$0.60buy
5Gateron Smoothielinear$0.30buy
6Gateron Melodicclicky$0.65buy
7Gateron Lunar Probelinear$0.59buy
8Gateron Oil Kinglinear$0.64buy
9Gateron Quinntactile$0.60buy
10Gateron KS-33 Low Profile 2.0 Chocolatetactile$0.35buy

Kailh (CN)

The list I received from Kailh contains mostly switch series/families, rather than individual switch models. Eg. the all-POM element series and the Kailh@Lofree shadow series, right at the top, come in linear, tactile and clicky flavors. Not sure handling these as one item makes much sense, but Kailh being one of the giant manufacturers out there, it's an interesting insight anyway:

Low-profile switches in the top spots of the list.

Pic:

1The Elements Series, Kailh all-POM low-profile switchbuy
2Kailh*Lofree Customized Full POM Shadow Series, low profilebuy
3Kailh Deep Sea silent mini low profilebuy
4Kailh HUSH Deep Sea Probuy
5Kailh Box Marshmallowbuy
6Kailh Source Series magnetic switchbuy
7Kailh Box Night Fireflybuy
8Kailh Box Jellyfish Probuy
9Kailh Box Aurora Ice Creambuy
10Kailh Box Crackle Icebuy

Keebz N Cables (AU)

Jason's comment on the community and industry trends he perceives:

The current trend seems to be the move back to rail bottom out switches. HMX has spoilt the market with their budget friendly switches that are completely usable stock without the need to lube in many cases – Jason.

Pic: Keebz N Cables x BSUN Taro N Sweet Potato

Keebz N Cables x BSUN Taro N Sweet Potato

1Keebz N Cables x BSUN Taro N Sweet Potatolinear$0.50buy
2Keebz N Cables Ice Kachang V2tactile$0.63buy
3HMX Cheeselinear$0.50buy
4HMX Ice Cendollinear$0.37buy
5Gateron Snow Rabbitlinear$0.30buy
6LICHICX XCJZ / JKDK Crimson Red Silenttactile$0.33buy
7HMX Xinhai (heavy)linear$0.37buy
8Keebz N Cables Mountain Kingtactile$0.43buy
9Invokeys Matcha Latte V2linear$0.67buy
10Gateron Milky Yellow Prolinear$0.23buy

Loobed Switches (US) [All switches 15% off!]

Chris added a remark to the Ghost Dragons at the top of his best-seller list: "by far". A report by another shop, with exact sales numbers, seems to lead to the same conclusion: just a few models leading these lists may be responsible for most of the sales, so top10 lists may be misleading.

Pic: Ghost Dragons at Loobed Switches

Ghost Dragons at Loobed Switches

1SW X Captain Sterling SWK Dragon Ghostlinear$0.45buy
2Kailh BCP Black Cherry Pielinear$0.50buy
3Loobed Oaktactile$0.50buy
4Prevail Nebula V2linear$0.53buy

Mechboards (UK)

Pic: Sunsets at Mechboards

Sunsets at Mechboards

1lowprokb Choc (V1) Ambients Twilightsilent linear£0.95buy
2lowprokb Choc (V1) Sunsettactile£0.85buy
3lowprokb Choc (V1) Ambients Nocturnalsilent linear£0.95buy
4Gateron Oil Kinglinear£0.65buy
5Kailh Choc (V1) Whiteclicky£0.55buy
6Gateron Milky Yellow Prolinear£0.25buy
7Silent Alpaca V2silent linear£0.70buy
8Kailh Choc (V1) Redlinear£0.55buy
9Kailh Choc (V1) Browntactile£0.55buy
10Kailh Choc (V1) Pro Pinklinear£0.55buy

Obviously, our Choc switches sell a lot as we sell a lot of Choc kits. Sales aren’t fully reflective of what is most popular, as the most popular switches tend to sell out quickly and are difficult to get back in stock, so end up being OOS for a long time. The one thing that’s clear is that there is definitely demand for higher quality Choc switches! – Ben.

Milktooth (US)

Kevin's list is was always special because of his try-at-home approach: After testing a sample of keyswitches you could buy what you like the most, so it was possible to separate hype from conscious switch choice based on real experiences of customers. His recent list below reflects these educated purchases is a more usual top list now:

1TTC Venuslinear$0.51buy
2Wuque Studio WS Morandilinear$0.39buy
3TCC Frozen (V2) Silentlinear$0.53buy
4TCC Bluish White (V2) Silenttactile$0.46buy
5Everglide Aqua King (V3) 62glinear$0.54buy
6Cherry Nixielinear$0.42buy
7KTT Matchatactile$0.49buy
8Gateron Baby Kangaroo (V2)tactile$0.55buy
9Gateron Quinntactile$0.55buy
10Gateron Milky Yellow Prolinear$0.23buy

NovelKeys

Here is what I received from Mike:

Our best selling switch is still our Cream switch, and now currently followed by our Cream+ switch.

pkkeyboards

Can confirm HMX are moving for us pretty well, especially the Sunset Gleams – Kevin.

SwagKeys (KR)

Pic: SWK Catmint

SWK Catmint

1SwagKeys SWK Catmintlinear$0.35buy
2SW X Captain Sterling SWK Dragon Ghostlinear$0.38buy
3HMX DuckDuck (Sunset Gleam) linear$0.28buy
4Vertex V1linear$0.30buy

Final thoughts

Hey, did you really read this far? Impressive. :) I hope this write-up made at least some sense.

I don't know about you but I discovered some switch models I wasn't aware of and was quite surprised by some of the results and order of lists above.

Anyway, let me know how you'd improve this series (e.g. on reddit or here), the format, what vendors would you like to see here next time, etc. (Obviously, there are some big names missing here. To say the truth, I contacted many more vendors but haven't received feedback from some.)

See you next month!

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Published on Fri 2nd Aug 2024. Featured in KBD #171.


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