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As we discussed earlier in the review, the Cherry MX Green switches have a lot in common with the more commonplace MX Blue switches. I always felt the MX Blue switches suited my typing style, as I have big fingers and spent my childhood mashing away on the old IBM keyboards, which were built to withstand serious abuse.
The MX Blue switches were able to recapture the ‘clicky' very Tactile feedback of those old boards.
The MX Black and Red switches have been my least favourite, as I miss the feedback when typing fast and sometimes my speed will drop below 100 wpm.
I was surprised by how different the MX Green switches are – when compared directly to the MX Blue. Both obviously create a lot of noise when you are typing quickly however the green's have a very high actuation force of 80g, compared to the blue's 50g.
If we look at the figures quoted earlier in the review you may have noticed that the green's actuation force is actually the same as the bottom out force of the Cherry MX Black switches. The green switches have a bottom out force of 105g and in reality, there is a lot of play in each key when you press.
Even though I have been using the Blue switches for year now, it took me a little while to adapt to the Green. Initially I was missing out some letters when I was in full flow, having gotten used to the lesser actuation force before my finger would lift to change position.
Obviously as the Green switches take a little more effort due to the travel distance I would imagine a lot of people may have to change their typing style significantly to be successful. The Borg may have said ‘resistance is futile', but I quite like the resistance from the MX green keys.
I spoke to a colleague and he tested the keyboard after moving from his long term Ducky 2 unit, with MX Brown switches. He said he couldn't believe the effort required to actuate each key and as he was typing to me, he was frequently missing out on the letters P and Q. We agreed that his ‘pinky' finger needed to adjust to the weight of each press required.
As a long term touch typist, he had to put a lot of effort into his keystrokes, which slowed him down a little. I joked that only real men could use the MX Green switches, but he didn't seem too amused.
For most people, the MX Green switches are going to prove too much. If you get sore fingers from typing or painful hands at the end of the day, then you most definitely want to be looking at something like the MX Red or Brown instead.
The MX Green Switches are going to exacerbate any RSI or pains in hands/fingers in the space of a couple of hours typing.
The sound of the MX Green switches is certainly not going to suit a confined office environment with a lot of workers. That said, they are ‘tight' sounding clicks, very focused and in a short space of time I didn't even notice I was using it.
Part of the credit has to go to the build quality of the Ducky Shine 3 DK-9008 – the chassis is built to withstand some serious long term abuse and it does seem to isolate the sound a little which would travel below the key cap above.
Lifting the keyboard off the desk and shaking it hard verifies this – nothing rattles or feels loose in place. Just don't drop it on your foot, or you may need a quick visit to the A&E department.
While the sound of a keyboard never annoys me, I know that many office workers have to make do with spongy boards designed on a strict budget, and with cheap internal workings. I always feel this is a false economy because buying a cheap nasty keyboard will reduce workflow significantly.
As a long term user of Cherry MX Blue keyboards I immediately fell in love with the MX Green switches. That said, everyone else I let spend time with this keyboard found the key action too difficult and the effort required over the long term ended up very tiring.
I just wanted to say thank you for this highly informative review. Awesome.
Great write up, but I did find one small error. You said that whites have the same actuation force as greens – this is incorrect. They have an actuation force of 65g, not 80g, but you were right about the click being more quiet than both blue and green.
Many office workers will have to make do?
Allmost all office workers use the keyboard provided by the employer and don’t have a choice in the matter