Cherry’s new mechanical switch is based off an 11-year-old forum post
Enlarge / Cherry announced its community-inspired MX Ergo Clear mechanical switches this week. (credit: Cherry)
For the happily obsessed mechanical keyboard enthusiast, there's no detail too minor on the journey to the perfect switch. Perfect key feel is worth poring over switch specs or even splicing parts from one mechanical switch with another to create the ideal Frankenswitch, as they've been named. One particular mod has attracted so much attention since being shared on a forum 11 years ago that Cherry turned it into a real product.
Cherry, the inventor of mechanical switches, announced the Cherry MX Ergo Clear this week, describing it as landing between tactile Brown and Clear switches. All three switches have 4 mm total travel and actuate at 2 mm, but the Ergo Clears require about 55 g of force to actuate, with that required force dropping to about 40 g at the switch's operating point. Clears, on the other hand, require 65 g before dropping to 55 g, while Browns require about 55 g and 45 g, respectively.
Cherry's MX Ergo Clear force curve. [credit: Cherry ]
The idea for the Ergo Clear came from a post on the mechanical keyboard forum Geekhack. A user named "mtl" said Clears felt too heavy for him, "especially on the outer perimeter keys" of the keyboard. Mtl decided to concoct their own switch by combining the spring of a lighter (60 g actuation force) linear switch, the Cherry MX Black, with the stem of a Clear one, creating a "switch that's easier to press than a Cherry Clear, and more tactile than a Cherry Brown," mtl said at the time.