Cherry's new VIOLA key switches aim to make mechanical keyboards cheaper - CES 2020
Expect cheaper switches from Cherry
Published: 10th January 2020 | Source: Cherry |
Cherry's new VIOLA key switches aim to make mechanical keyboards cheaper - CES 2020
Cherry's MX series of mechanical key switches are a staple of keyboard warriors everywhere, coming with variants that are designed for a clicky feel, quiet operation, gaming speed or a rainbow of different coloured attributes.
The only problem with Cherry MX keys is their cost, which is why keyboard manufacturers from around the world have attempted to emulate Cherry's designs. Now, Cherry has announced a new key switch that promises to make mechanical keyboards more affordable.
Meet Chery's VIOLA key switch, a fully-mechanical (not a mechanical membrane key hybrid) linear key switch design that's will allow cherry to create more affordable mechanical keyboards. RGB fans will be glad to know that cherry has already integrated RGB lighting support into their switch designs.
Cherry's VIOLA key switches are designed to sit in a new category which Cherry calls "CrossLinear", which means that 45cN of force is required to actuate the key to activate the switch. While this switch offers a design that's very different to Cherry's existing MX series switches, their VIOLA key designs can support today's cross-stem keycaps, a factor which will allow these new switches to support existing keycap designs.
The only problem with Cherry MX keys is their cost, which is why keyboard manufacturers from around the world have attempted to emulate Cherry's designs. Now, Cherry has announced a new key switch that promises to make mechanical keyboards more affordable.
Meet Chery's VIOLA key switch, a fully-mechanical (not a mechanical membrane key hybrid) linear key switch design that's will allow cherry to create more affordable mechanical keyboards. RGB fans will be glad to know that cherry has already integrated RGB lighting support into their switch designs.
Cherry's VIOLA key switches are designed to sit in a new category which Cherry calls "CrossLinear", which means that 45cN of force is required to actuate the key to activate the switch. While this switch offers a design that's very different to Cherry's existing MX series switches, their VIOLA key designs can support today's cross-stem keycaps, a factor which will allow these new switches to support existing keycap designs.
Cherry's VIOLA key switches are designed to enable RGB mechanical keyboard designs for well under $100, which means that these switch designs have the potential to shake up the £40-75 keyboard market thoroughly.
Cherry has also announced that new Cherry MX keys will feature a reliability rating of over 100 million actuations, doubling their reliability. This design change will impact all MX switch types and maintain MX as Cherry's premium keycap line.
You can join the discussion on Cherry's new VIOLA series of key switches on the OC3D Forums.
Most Recent Comments
About time. It is unbelievable how expensive they are. Mechanical keyboards used to be so cheap until they stuck the word gaming on everything.Quote
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Originally Posted by NeverBackDown
About time. It is unbelievable how expensive they are. Mechanical keyboards used to be so cheap until they stuck the word gaming on everything.
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Its like the go faster stripes people put on their cars. Add gaming to a product and then you instantly push the value up $50Quote
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Originally Posted by Warchild
This comment should be in the "what made you LOL today" because its so damn true.
Its like the go faster stripes people put on their cars. Add gaming to a product and then you instantly push the value up $50 |
30 year old mechanical keyboard: *loud clack and click noises* "Golly gee I remember when I was purchased for $10! WTH is this RGB crap?!"Quote
Quote:
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Originally Posted by NeverBackDown
About time. It is unbelievable how expensive they are. Mechanical keyboards used to be so cheap until they stuck the word gaming on everything.
|
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Warchild
This comment should be in the "what made you LOL today" because its so damn true.
Its like the go faster stripes people put on their cars. Add gaming to a product and then you instantly push the value up $50 |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by NeverBackDown
Greedy company: "So this technology is super expensive to manufacture. Unfortunately there's not many ways to make it much cheaper. However after millions of dollars spent on R&D we were able to make it just a little cheaper. So there you go consumers $20 cheaper keyboards for everyone! Don't worry with RGB integrated we expect the new wave of keyboards to be $70 "
30 year old mechanical keyboard: *loud clack and click noises* "Golly gee I remember when I was purchased for $10! WTH is this RGB crap?!" |
Why blame Cherry then? The keyboard price mark-up isn't caused by Cherry's "incredibly expensive" switches. You could personally buy the switches for around 35 bucks for 90 switches for the 'regular stuff' like the normal reds/blues/browns etc, and 61 for whites/speed silvers and such on KBDFans, and let's say you're a company like Corsair or HyperX or Cougar or others that buy in bulk directly from Cherry, it'll cost them nothing compared to the actual price of the keyboards, so that means that even after R&D and software and extras that you get for the keyboard, you do end up getting a mark up of some sort.
The thing is simple - for a mechanical switch to actually be mechanical, you need a spring, a contact leaf of some sort and the plastics around, then some kind of lube to keep it working in a reasonable order for the amount of clicks they say it can last. You end up with probably around 10-20 cents per switch actual build cost because of machinery operation cost and manufacturing faults (That are calculated ahead obviously and probably cost you around a hundredth of a cent per switch you have in your keyboard).
You might end up paying around 40 cents at the end of the day per Cherry switch on your keyboard, and that's probably like the most that any company would ever claim the switches cost to them.
Thing is - the actual build, there's really not too many ways to make it cheaper, so Cherry can try lowering costs of production via trying different production machines or design a new stem that could be cheaper to produce or rather cost the same but be more reliable in terms of production so that less stems are branded as faulty, but not much more.
The debate over "normal" gaming/mechanical keyboards is so hot that everyone's forgetting that people lock their wallets in a safe to save up for 90 Zilents that cost like 1.2USD per switch.
The gamers of the world know nothing of expensive keyboards
My "basic enthusiast" GK64 filled with Kailh Box Royals and Maxkey SA Miami Night cost more than the Corsair K95 platinum which has twice as many keys. However it does look much better and feel much better than any Cherry switch I've ever tried so... Worth it.Quote
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