The BEST Linear Switches in 2023 (20+ Switch Comparison)

Today we'll be comparing over 20 popular linear switches and giving each a score out of 100 based on the sound and the feel, in the quest to find the best linear switch in 2023.

Chapters:

0:00 Intro

0:15 Gateron Milky Yellow (Stock)
0:21 Gateron Milky Yellow (L+F)

0:27 Cherry "New Nixie" (Stock)
0:34 Cherry "New Nixie" (L+F)

0:42 Akko CS Cream Yellow Pro (Stock)
0:48 Akko CS Cream Yellow Pro (L+F)

0:55 KTT Strawberry (Stock)
1:02 KTT Strawberry (L+F)

1:08 Gateron G Pro Silver 2.0 (Stock)
1:14 Gateron G Pro Silver 2.0 (L+F)

1:20 Gateron China Joy (Stock)
1:27 Gateron China Joy (L+F)

1:33 Durock POM Piano (Stock)
1:40 Durock POM Piano (L+F)

1:46 KTT Kang White (Stock)
1:52 KTT Kang White (L+F)

1:59 TTC Gold Pink (Stock)
2:05 TTC Gold Pink (L+F)

2:11 Akko CS Matcha Green (Stock)
2:16 Akko CS Matcha Green (L+F)

2:22 Wuque Studios Aurora Clear (Stock)
2:28 Wuque Studios Aurora Clear (L+F)

2:34 Gateron Oil King (Stock)
2:40 Gateron Oil King (L+F)

2:47 Gateron Ink Black V2 (Stock)
2:53 Gateron Ink Black V2 (L+F)

2:59 Keyfirst Bling Blue (Stock)
3:05 Keyfirst Bling Blue (L+F)

3:12 Wuque Studios Morandi (Stock)
3:19 Wuque Studios Morandi (L+F)

3:25 Everglide Aqua King (Stock)
3:31 Everglide Aqua King (L+F)

3:38 C3 Equalz Tangerine (Stock)
3:45 C3 Equalz Tangerine (L+F)

3:52 NovelKeys Cream Linear (Stock)
3:58 NovelKeys Cream Linear (L+F)

4:05 JWK Alpaca (Stock)
4:11 JWK Alpaca (L+F)

4:18 Akko CS Jelly Black (Stock)
4:24 Akko CS Jelly Black (L+F)

4:31 Gateron Box Ink Black V2 (Stock)
4:37 Gateron Box Ink Black V2 (L+F)

4:43 Switch Comparison Chart

4:53 Credit to KEKeebs

5:03 Overall Top Picks

What do we use?

Eric
Monitor: Asus VG249Q, AOC 24G2
Mouse: Lamzu Atlantis OG V2 4K
Keyboard: QwertyKeys x Cub Studio Cub65 & Wooting 60HE Burger Mounted
Mousepad: Lethal Gaming Gear Saturn Pro, Lethal Gaming Gear Venus
Microphone: Razer Seiren V2 X
Headset: Corsair HS80 RGB Wireless, Razer Blackshark V2
Webcam: Logitech C920

Devin
Monitor: Gigabyte M27Q
Mouse: Razer Viper V2 Pro
Keyboard(s): SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL
Mousepad: Pulsar ES2
Microphone: Razer Seiren V2 X
Audio: TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero
Webcam: Logitech C920

[TypingOasis-ASMR]

The sound is really good. Thank you for the great video. I will come visit often in the future!!

[生-死]

Best budget (stock) 4:18
Best budget (L+F) 1:52 and 0:21
Best Overall (stock) 3:12 and 0:55
Best overal (L+F) 1:02 and 4:37

[Sliceable_]

The gateron milky yellows are like the ancient budget switch that everyone used to achieve “thock”

[misterhamez]

i have some strarberries arriving tomorrow that i bought on a whim. super keen now after hearing your thoughts. great video man

[ElmoFaz-beefy]

@minemouse 4:47 why would you pick the strawberries over the gold pinks if they are more wobbly and less smooth? Also why did you include the morandie switches even though they are not very smooth and are very wobbly?

[MaybeNathan]

Great video. Would love to see you do this with tactiles

[JustFluxz]

I love how my Alpacas feel but I wish they felt like the Morandi switches. Any suggestions on switches that sound close to the Morandi, are as smooth as the Alpacas, and also have similar or less wobble than the Alpacas? everything seems to have higher pitch or a lot more wobble. I am struggling to find a switch that does all 3...

[Glivpo]

Really good video but next time when you do these types of videos please and the spacebar sound test

[KP-byeu]

you should rate it based on sound pitch, scratchy or not, friction noise or not, spring crunch or not. Things like "overall sound" and "overall feel" are pretty subjective and don't say anything. Someone who prefer clacky switches could rate muted or thocky switches low on overall sound.

[MarbsMusic]

I realize sound is subjective so personally I tend to go for a deeper sound putting the Milky Yellow and Morandi near the top. Sound profile and feeling the Morandi seem to be my favorite and this is coming from a clicky/tactile guy who is learning to love linear. Going to try some Oil Kings if my Neo 65 ever gets here in that as I didn't get RGB. I agree with your stem wobble score, it's truly insane how much wobble there is on the Morandi but I don't notice it much when typing with cheer profile caps however putting them on is extremely apparent. I have Milky Yellow Pros in a couple of boards and while I love the Morandi and I'm excited for the Oil Kings it's dang hard to be the Milky Yellow Pros, factory lube job is insanely good on them and the price is incredible. Thanks for putting this together very informative, going to have to try the strawberry soon!

[ulgmail]

Agreed, the KTT Strawberry switches are my endgame switches for a while now. Also my wallet agrees and is happy that the testing is finally over 😅

[XPISigmaArt]

Thanks for this! I've been leaning forwards G Pro Silver 3.0, so it's nice to see the 2.0 score pretty nicely here. Low actuation force, linear, and nice light diffusion for RGB. But I'm still on the fence.

[starplatinumrqm]

Love this kind of videos, hope you do more

[revakriid]

I know it's a stupid question but how would the Outemu reds stack against anyone on this list? As someone who is buying a prebuilt with outemu reds and want to manage their expectations and what to look for later.

[TeaTehMan]

i skipped alot and i apologise for that, but definitely agree with you with the picks! KTT strawberries and kang whites are my fav linears, though 45g actuation might be a bit too light for me when typing as im used to 60g blue switches lol.. im still trying to find other kind of linear switch with 50g+ act force thats not yellows lol, great one tho, love that ur doing kind of videos other than mices

[BigDomDaddy]

Does filming reduces the stem wobble of WS MORANDIS?

[shePhoenyx]

Hi! Great video, but is there a reason why Gamakay Phoenix switches (silent linear) didn't make the list to get compared to these others? (I'd love to see the Redragon Rose (silent linear) and Stars (silent tactile) be rated and compared by anyone, too, but they're probably not well-known enough.) Maybe you have a separate video for silents? I'll check out your other videos to see what I find. 😀

[mysteques]

Hey, where can I find the Akko Jelly black switches? Are the cream blacks their next iteration?

[equiknox_]

Which one do you think is best for creamy sounding keyboards?? Budget and best overall

[jochang]

With the Gatereon Milky Pro v2 (factory lubed), it might replace the "Best Overall (stock)" considering how much cheaper it is