Yup….they were popping up from all the keyboard vendors at CES 2018. I actually prefer low profile switches, prolonged typing is just much less tiring on the hands.
CHERRY, the market leader and expert in mechanical switches in keyboards, is announcing the MX Low Profile RGB. This shallow switch features a brand-new design and combines the well-known characteristics of the MX switch with a low profile. This allows the implementation of mechanical keys in a much more compact format, making the CHERRY MX Low Profile RGB suitable not only for use in notebooks but also for building unusually thin high-end keyboards.
The CHERRY MX Low Profile RGB is the first truly new development in mechanical switches in more than 30 years. The company’s R&D department has invested a lot of time and effort in achieving a total height of only 11.9 millimeters without compromising on characteristics and quality. The MX Low Profile RGB is about 35 percent shallower than the standard MX switches, and thanks to its unique design it can be used just as easily for mechanical keyboards in high-end notebooks as for unusually thin mechanical desktop keyboards. The new CHERRY switch was fully developed and built in Germany, its the “Made in Germany” seal representing the best product quality and the highest manufacturing precision.
Typical characteristics and Gold-Crosspoint technology
Despite its low height, the CHERRY MX Low Profile RGB offers the same perfect operation feeling that CHERRY’s conventional switches have already established as a gold standard on the market. Although the actuation characteristics remain almost the same, the travel has been reduced from 4.0 to 3.2 millimeters. For a reliable operation, CHERRY has integrated its exclusive, high-precision and long-life Gold-Crosspoint technology. The contacts are self-cleaning and resistant to corrosion, with guarantees over 50 million keystrokes with no loss of quality. This also leads to a shorter bounce time for higher switching frequencies.
Housing with optimization for lighting
The housing for the CHERRY MX Low Profile RGB is transparent and designed for use with SMD LEDs. These compact LEDs sit directly on the PCB to benefit the shallow design of the keyboard. The design of the housing is optimized to ensure a uniform illumination of the entire key cap and to represent all 16.8 million colors of the RGB spectrum accurately.
CHERRY MX Low Profile RGB Red as first variant
The MX Low Profile RGB Red is the first variant that CHERRY will offer. It has the same properties as the regular MX Red variant, such as a linear switching characteristic and an actuation force of 45 centinewtons, making the MX Low Profile RGB Red perfectly suitable for gamers and fast typists.
