Keyboard Builders' Digest / Switch trends
Best-selling keyboard switches of October, 2024
In this month's overview of community-favorite mechanical switches, here are October's top picks, based on real sales data provided by vendors and manufacturers.
Published November 7, 2024
Hey fellow switch enthusiasts! All those colorful and shiny switches (they even come with gold flakes now?! ::facepalm::) are a big part of the hobby, so let's continue our series featuring the actual community favorite switch models – this time listing October's best-selling switches.
The article is quite long, featuring 11 14 vendors, feel free to jump to the aggregated list, the detailed results by shops, or to the aggregation rules used by the algorithm.
PSA
- The collection of all the monthly switch compilations is available too, e.g. the previous, September top list as a reference.
- In addition, the still WIP switch database with all the models mentioned in this series – with specs, vendors, prices, price conversion, etc.
- Finally, as already spoiled, there's an aggregated top list now – for the first time!
Contributors
Many thanks to all the shops who contributed this month! Half of the vendors sent me detailed statistics with sales volumes so they deserve a little celebration. Thanks a lot for your confidence, we all know how sensitive this data is. Clicking the links (listed by the scope of data provision and in the order the data was received) takes you to their top lists:
- BeaverKeys (CA), Chosfox (CN), UniKeys (CN), Mechanical Keyboards (US), AKKO EU (CN), pkkeyboards (US), Kinetic Labs (US), CandyKeys (DE), SerpentKeys (UK), DIYKEY (CN), Coffeekeys (IT), MonacoKeys (DE), Mechboards (UK), Deskhero (CA).
You can find the disclaimer at the bottom of the article, let's jump right in the lists and numbers!
Results
October's Top 10 – aggregated
Let me just drop the list here without much ado—you can read about the ranking algorithm later if you're interested. (Briefly: switch models appearing in multiple shop lists are prioritized over high sales in a single shop. Rankings that lack hard sales numbers are also factored in, with a smaller weight.)
| 1 |  | Gateron Oil King linear | buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | Wuque Studio WS Morandi linear | buy |
| 3 |  | Cherry Nixie linear | buy |
| 4 |  | Akko Cream Yellow Pro V3 linear | buy |
| 5 |  | HMX Xinhai (heavy) linear | buy |
| 6 |  | Akko Rosewood linear | buy |
| 7 |  | HMX Xinhai (light) linear | buy |
| 8 |  | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro linear | buy |
| 9 |  | Kailh Choc (V1) Pro Pink linear | buy |
| 10 |  | Unikeys x BSUN Waves (rail bottom-out) linear | buy |
Some quick stats
In the 11 top lists from 11 vendors, 94 different switch models are mentioned, with 34 of them being listed for the first time (added to the database as new entries). Sales data, coming from about half of the shops, is about approximately half a million switches sold. That said, there are hardly any repetitions in the lists, so it's no surprise that the few well-known recurring models made it into the list above.
Well, this is pretty boring, right? Let's take a look at the more interesting individual lists below.
Chosfox (CN) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
We are excited about the continued popularity of the Kailh Choc series, especially the Choc Pink model. We've seen a growing trend toward silent and tactile switches, which aligns with consumer preferences for quieter typing experiences. Our recent collaboration with Kailh for the Arctic Fox switch has generated positive feedback, and we're looking forward to more partnerships in the future – Robin.
| 1 | | Kailh Choc (V1) Pro Pink linear | new | $0.55 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | Kailh Choc (V1) Black linear | new | $0.48 | buy |
| 3 |  | Kailh Choc (V1) Brown tactile | new | $0.48 | buy |
| 4 |  | Chosfox x Kailh Arctic Fox clicky | - | $0.60 | buy |
| 5 |  | Chosfox Voyager V2 tactile | 3 | $0.55 | buy |
| 6 |  | Chosfox&Outemu Yichu silent linear | 1 | $0.25 | buy |
| 7 |  | Outemu Silent Honey Peach V3 silent linear | 3 | $0.24 | buy |
| 8 |  | Chosfox White Fox linear | -5 | $0.30 | buy |
| 9 |  | TTC Frozen V2 Silent (TTC Silent Glacier) linear | - | $0.69 | buy |
| 10 |  | Chosfox Hanami Dango - Pink linear | -4 | $0.50 | buy |
| 11 |  | Chosfox x JWK DD / Jingle linear | - | $0.30 | buy |
BeaverKeys (CA) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
HMX Xinhai still going strong. I think it goes to show that the Xinhais offer a unique experience that will survive the hype cycle. I stocked a bunch of new switches, extending the product lineup with more switches from HMX, Gateron and now also Keygeek! (HMX Cloud, Gateron Quinn, Gateron Mini i. And some nice new budget friendly options manufactured by Keygeek: Keygeek MZ Studio Y3 and Keygeek MZ Studio Y1X – Peter.
| 1 | | HMX Xinhai (light) linear | new | 0.50CAD | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | | HMX Xinhai (heavy) linear | -1 | 0.50CAD | buy |
| 3 | | Gateron Oil King linear | -1 | 0.87CAD | buy |
| 4 |  | Aflion Blue Sky linear | - | 0.70CAD | buy |
| 5 |  | Durock Ice King Tactile tactile | 4 | 0.75CAD | buy |
| 6 |  | KTT Vanilla Ice Cream linear | new | 0.70CAD | buy |
| 7 |  | Keygeek x MZ Y1X linear | new | 0.37CAD | buy |
| 8 |  | Akko Fairy (silent) linear | new | 0.44CAD | buy |
| 9 |  | Durock POM Sunflower tactile | new | 0.75CAD | buy |
| 10 |  | BSUN Spring linear | -3 | 0.65CAD | buy |
UniKeys (CN) [7% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
| 1 | | Unikeys x BSUN Waves (rail bottom-out) linear | new | $0.40 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | KEYGEEK X MZ Y3 linear | 1 | $0.23 | buy |
| 3 |  | Unikeys x BSUN Udon linear | new | $0.40 | buy |
| 4 |  | HMX Cloud (42g) linear | 4 | $0.35 | buy |
| 5 |  | KEYGEEK X UNIKEYS PURPLE DAWN linear | -3 | $0.25 | buy |
| 6 |  | Kailh BCP Black Cherry Pie linear | new | $0.50 | buy |
| 7 |  | HMX | Sillyworks Hyacinth V2 linear | new | $0.25 | buy |
| 8 |  | HMX EVA linear | new | $0.27 | buy |
| 9 |  | HMX | Sillyworks Hyacinth V2U linear | -4 | $0.28 | buy |
| 10 |  | HMX YG Macchiato linear | -6 | $0.35 | buy |
Mechanical Keyboards (US)
| 1 | | Cherry Nixie linear | new | $0.42 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | Cherry MX2A Silent Red (PCB-mount RGB) linear | -1 | $0.40 | buy |
| 3 |  | TTC Bluish White (V2) Silent tactile | 1 | $0.60 | buy |
| 4 |  | Gateron Jupiter Banana tactile | -1 | $0.28 | buy |
| 5 |  | Kailh BOX V2 White (PCB mount) clicky | - | $0.35 | buy |
| 6 |  | Cherry MX2A Brown tactile | 2 | $0.40 | buy |
| 7 |  | Zeal PC Clickiez (40g) convertible | new | $1.50 | buy |
| 8 |  | Cherry MX Silent Red linear | new | $0.40 | buy |
| 9 | | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro linear | new | $0.26 | buy |
| 10 |  | Cherry MX2A Blue clicky | -8 | $0.40 | buy |
AKKO EU [10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
| 1 | | Akko Cream Yellow Pro V3 linear | - | €0.24 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | | Akko Rosewood linear | - | €0.37 | buy |
| 3 |  | Akko Lavender Purple Pro V3 tactile | 2 | €0.26 | buy |
| 4 |  | Akko Penguin Silent tactile | -1 | €0.37 | buy |
| 5 | | Akko Fairy (silent) linear | -1 | €0.37 | buy |
| 6 |  | Akko Cream Blue Pro V3 tactile | - | €0.24 | buy |
| 7 |  | Akko Creamy Purple Pro V3 tactile | - | €0.26 | buy |
| 8 |  | Akko Silver Pro V3 linear | - | €0.37 | buy |
| 9 |  | Akko Dracula linear | 1 | €0.36 | buy |
| 10 |  | Akko Cream Black Pro V3 linear | new | €0.32 | buy |
| 11 |  | Akko Piano Pro linear | -2 | €0.37 | buy |
pkkeyboards (US) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
We got two new switches coming in from OWLAB, the Azure linear and the Oat linear. I am pretty sure we are the only vendor atm carrying these switches besides qwertykeys/owlab atm. Also doing a small batch restock of their popular neon switches – Tai.
| 1 | | Gateron Oil King linear | $0.65 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | Gateron Ink Black V2 linear | $0.75 | buy |
| 3 |  | pkkeys Misu linear | $0.50 | buy |
| 4 |  | Gateron Quinn tactile | $0.60 | buy |
| 5 |  | Wuque Studio WS Jade linear | $0.47 | buy |
Kinetic Labs (US)
HMX Latte, HMX Butter, and White Fox V2 were new switches launched in October so there was an uptick in sales for those. Linear switches seem more popular than tactiles. Salmon tactiles are our best selling tactile but are currently OOS, otherwise I suspect they would have made the list – Christian.
| 1 |  | HMX Latte linear | $0.45 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | HMX Butter linear | $0.45 | buy |
| 3 |  | Kinetic Labs Gecko Silent silent linear | $0.60 | buy |
| 4 |  | Tbcats Studio Cloud Water V2 linear linear | $0.60 | buy |
| 5 | | Wuque Studio WS Morandi linear | $0.43 | buy |
| 6 | | Tbcats Studio Cloud Water V2 linear linear | $0.60 | buy |
| 7 | | Chosfox White Fox linear | $0.37 | buy |
| 8 |  | Kinetic Labs Hippo linear | $0.52 | buy |
| 9 |  | Gateron Smoothie linear | $0.30 | buy |
| 10 | | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro linear | $0.23 | buy |
CandyKeys (DE)
Unexpectedly, the Cherry Nixies and Orange were super popular this month which we could not predict. Luckily Gateron EF made it well deserved in the Top 10. We expect the upcoming HMX Joker and Tropical Waters V3 to perform really well in November, let's see how this will turn out – Fabian.
| 1 | | Cherry Nixie linear | 2 | €0.44 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | | Gateron Oil King linear | new | €0.65 | buy |
| 3 |  | Durock Blue Lotus T1 tactile | new | €0.65 | buy |
| 4 | | Gateron Smoothie linear | - | €0.37 | buy |
| 5 |  | HMX Jelly linear | new | €0.39 | buy |
| 6 | | Akko Rosewood linear | - | €0.37 | buy |
| 7 |  | Cherry MX Orange linear | 4 | €0.62 | buy |
| 8 |  | Gateron EverFree Curry linear | new | €0.26 | buy |
| 9 |  | Gateron Lunar Probe linear | new | €0.72 | buy |
| 10 |  | Gateron Melodic clicky | 2 | €0.53 | buy |
| 11 | | HMX EVA linear | new | €0.45 | buy |
| 12 | | HMX YG Macchiato linear | -7 | €0.39 | buy |
| 13 |  | KBDFans x Aflion Roller linear | new | €0.72 | buy |
SerpentKeys (UK) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
Invokeys have yet again hit it out of the park, with their new “Reserve” line of switches, I expect these will stay in the top 10 for the foreseeable future. We’re also still seeing a lot of love for Silent switches here in the UK, Lichicx have done a fantastic job improving the overall quality of silent switches – Ollie.
| 1 |  | Invokeys Matcha Reserve linear | new | £0.47 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | Invokeys Hojicha Reserve tactile | new | £0.47 | buy |
| 3 |  | XCJZ Lucy Silent Linear V2 linear | -1 | £0.50 | buy |
| 4 |  | XY Studio BSUN Jade Rosale linear | 3 | £0.52 | buy |
| 5 |  | Invokeys x Alas Nightshade silent linear | new | £0.58 | buy |
| 6 |  | HMX Ice Cendol linear | new | £0.35 | buy |
| 7 |  | HMX DuckDuck (Sunset Gleam) linear | new | £0.33 | buy |
| 8 |  | Lichicx Gentle V2 silent linear | new | £0.50 | buy |
| 9 |  | XLLAB Keygeek Briny linear | new | £0.33 | buy |
| 10 |  | Invokeys x Alas Daydreamer silent tactile | new | £0.58 | buy |
DIYKEY [10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
If you're not familiar with the relatively new diykey.net, they are Kailh in disguise. :)
| 1 |  | Kailh Deep Sea Silent Mini Low-Profile linear | $0.60 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | Kailh Choc V2 Black Cloud low-pro tactile | $0.58 | buy |
| 3 |  | Kailh Box Crackle Ice clicky | $0.60 | buy |
| 4 |  | Kailh Deep Sea PRO Pink Islet Silent silent linear | $0.59 | buy |
| 5 |  | Kailh BOX Prestige Silent Linear silent linear | $0.60 | buy |
| 6 |  | TTC Magneto - King of Magnetic Hall-effect | $1.20 | buy |
| 7 |  | Kailh BOX Taro Ice Cream Pro linear | $0.65 | buy |
| 8 |  | Kailh BOX Aurora Ice Cream linear | $0.65 | buy |
| 9 | | Kailh BCP Black Cherry Pie linear | $0.50 | buy |
| 10 |  | Kailh Box Night Firefly clicky | $0.60 | buy |
Coffeekeys (IT) [10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
At Coffeekeys, a change of ownership took place behind the scenes recently. Please welcome Riccardo, who has provided data for the first time.
We have been operating since October 9th, and we've had a lot of bureaucratic tasks with limited time to focus on discovering new products for our store. As you can see, the WS Morandi is still our best-selling switch, mainly due to its competitive price. On our end, there is growing interest in lower-profile switches. Next month, we’ll be able to provide you with a more detailed analysis – Riccardo.
| 1 | | Wuque Studio WS Morandi linear | - | €0.51 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | Wuque Studio WS Silent Linear linear | new | €0.44 | buy |
| 3 |  | Gateron Baby Kangaroo (V2) tactile | new | €0.77 | buy |
| 4 |  | Wuque Studio WS Silent Tactile silent tactile | new | €0.44 | buy |
| 5 |  | Wuque Studio WS POM+ linear | new | €0.41 | buy |
| 6 | | Wuque Studio WS Jade linear | new | €0.55 | buy |
| 7 |  | Wuque Studio WS Light Tactile tactile | new | €0.41 | buy |
| 8 | | Gateron Quinn tactile | -4 | €0.74 | buy |
| 9 |  | Gateron KS-27 Low Profile Blue clicky | new | €0.24 | buy |
MonacoKeys (DE) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
Generally it is to note that my focus is most likely a bit different from that of other long-standing shops. I.e. I'm trying to reach especially ISO-DE users mainly and also new customers that start out with their new board, so you see a high number of Silent Switches in my Top List all the time and also tactiles being very popular as many office users start out with their first board. The MMD Princess Linears and Tactiles are a very fantastic switch and I try to push them on discord all the time as they are one of my favorites so thats probably also part of why they are in the list up there :D – Michael.
| 1 |  | HMX Snow Crash linear | €0.39 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  | Outemu Cream Yellow Pro silent tactile | €0.31 | buy |
| 3 | | Akko Penguin Silent tactile | €0.42 | buy |
| 4 | | MMD Princess Tactile V4 tactile | €0.36 | buy |
| 5 | | HMX Sakura silent linear | €0.45 | buy |
| 6 | | Huano Caramel Latte V2 linear | €0.45 | buy |
| 7 | | Akko Creamy Purple Pro V3 tactile | €0.35 | buy |
| 8 | | MMD Princess Linear V4 linear | €0.36 | buy |
| 9 | | Outemu Silent Honey Peach V3 silent linear | €0.38 | buy |
| 10 | | Akko Fairy (silent) linear | €0.42 | buy |
Mechboards (UK) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
High quality chocs still remain our best sellers, and this month Milky Yellow Pro takes the top spot for MX. Not surprising as in my opinion they’re still the best bang for your buck for MX switches – Ben.
| 1 |  | lowprokb Choc (V1) Ambients Twilight silent linear | 1 | £0.95 | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro linear | new | £0.25 | buy |
| 3 |  | Gateron G Pro 3.0 Brown tactile | new | £0.28 | buy |
| 4 | | Kailh Choc (V1) Brown tactile | new | £0.55 | buy |
| 5 | | Gateron Oil King linear | 3 | £0.65 | buy |
| 6 |  | lowprokb Choc (V1) Ambients Nocturnal silent linear | -3 | £0.95 | buy |
| 7 |  | Kailh Choc (V1) Red linear | new | £0.55 | buy |
| 8 | | Gateron Ink Black V2 linear | 2 | £0.75 | buy |
| 9 |  | Alpaca V2 linear | -5 | £0.55 | buy |
| 10 |  | lowprokb Choc (V1) Sunset tactile | -9 | £0.85 | buy |
Deskhero (CA)
Oil Kings still our most reliable seller, with HMX being a close second. We have the new SWK switches ready to launch as well as some new HMX Yogurt and some Haimu – Jerrold.
| 1 | | Gateron Oil King linear | 0.90CAD | buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro linear | 0.35CAD | buy |
| 3 | | Gateron Smoothie linear | 0.58CAD | buy |
| 4 | | Gateron Quinn tactile | 0.89CAD | buy |
| 5 | | HMX | Sillyworks Hyacinth V2U linear | 0.43CAD | buy |
| 6 |  | HMX Pebble linear | 0.45CAD | buy |
| 7 |  | Gateron Mini i tactile | 0.88CAD | buy |
| 8 |  | HMX Game 1989 linear | 0.51CAD | buy |
| 9 |  | Cherry MX Black Hyperglide linear | 1.00CAD | buy |
| 10 |  | KTT Strawberry V2 linear | 0.55CAD | buy |
About the aggregated list and algorithm
I've been working a lot on the standardization/normalization of the sales data and rankings as a backup option out of necessity for an aggregated top list, due to the lack of complete data – until every single contributor sends me exact numbers. ;) The first ideas for standardization came from Pupsino and ProfNugget, thank you guys.
I tried to come up with a system handling the very heterogeneous data, rewarding lists including sales volumes, mitigating scewing the data, while also incorporating simple rankings – of various lenghts… :)
While a great deal of the shops keep sending me detailed sales data, worth of hundreds of thousands of switches sold monthly, publishing an overall switch ranking based on the sheer sales volumes didn't make much sense this far. And the reason for that is: considering numbers, one vendor is on a completely different level, meaning the overall list would be almost if not entirely identical to theirs.
That said, all the data I receive is very heterogeneous: sales numbers, only ranking, or even a bunch of best-selling switch model names in no particular order. :) I ask for a top 10 list, but sometimes it makes sense to include much less (or some more) switches. All in all, to be able to aggregate all this data, some statistical wizardry was needed.
So the current algorithm:
- incorporates sales volume as a percentage – to mitigate the domination of a single huge vendor
- rewards switches present in multiple lists – to compensate the effect of some switches being offered in a single shop only, thus availability
- incorporates lists without sales data, the score deducted from the rank (with a weight of about 50%)
- incorporates previous months with decaying weights – to smooth fluctuations and, primarily, to rank the relatively large number of products that are in a tie.
As with all such statistical methods, if we were to tamper with the algorithm, it would produce completely different results.
Disclaimer
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 asked for the numbers of the previous month.
That said, 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.
Final thoughts
Hey, I hope this write-up was useful for some of you because it took me about 20+ hours to put together this one. Literally. I timed it.
There were a bunch of new switch models debuting in October's lists, 34 to be exact. Again, I learned a lot about vendors and switches in general while compiling this article – and managing the switch database behind the scenes.
Yep, feel free to check out the (still WIP) switch database with all the models mentioned in the top lists above, now listed in order of the overall scores: with specs, data sheets, offers of various vendors, converting and tracking prices (well, still semi-automatically), in-stock info, etc.
Lots of things to fix and features to implement (search, filters, ordering – I know) but it should be already usable.
Thanks for reading this far, see you next month!
Published on Thu 7th Nov 2024. Featured in KBD #178.
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