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Razer Debuts Green and Orange Switches for Mechanical Gaming Keyboards

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Razer has introduced two new switches for PC gaming.

Razer is calling a "world's first" with the launch of its new keyboard mechanical switch designed for gaming. This switch arrives in two flavors, and is available on the new Razer BlackWidow family of mechanical gaming keyboards. The company is also making the switches available to other gaming peripheral makers who wish to manufacture gaming-grade mechanical keyboards.

Traditional mechanical switches were originally designed for typing. Because of this, Razer set out to completely re-engineer the switch from the ground up with the gaming community in mind. That meant going back to the drawing board and doing a little research to see how modifying the standard switch would be beneficial to a gamer.

The result? Razer's team identified the optimal actuation distance for a gaming switch to a "fraction" of a millimeter. The Razer team also reduced the distance between the actuation and reset point by almost half to allow for faster, more precise gaming commands.

More specifically, a chart provided by Razer shows that the new switch has an actuation point of 1.9 mm, an actuation vs reset point of 0.44 mm and a lifespan of 60 million keystrokes. The standard mechanical switch has an actuation point of 2.2 mm, an actuation vs reset point of 0.7 mm, and a lifespan of up to 20 million keystrokes. That's quite a difference between the two.

"Instead of focusing solely on typing comfort, as traditional mechanical switches have done, we had to completely rethink the conventional approach behind the actuation and reset points of mechanical switches in order to fine-tune them for gaming," said Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director.

Razer reports that although the switches were designed in-house, mass production was done by a third party manufacturer. To make sure each switch met Razer's highest standards, Razer's own quality assurance team was on the production floor. These switches were then tested extensively by the "world's most demanding" eSports athletes.

According to Razer, the two flavors of this new Razer Mechanical Switch line include Razer Green that is tactile and clicky, requiring a force of 50 g to actuate. The other switch is Razer Orange that is tactile and silent, requiring a force of 45 g to actuate.

For more information about these new switches, head here.

35 Comments Comment from the forums
  • robert123_74 06 March 2014 21:32
    "eSports athletes". So this is what nerds, geeks, and losers are calling themselves now lol.
    Reply
  • Trialsking 06 March 2014 21:40
    "eSports athletes". So this is what nerds, geeks, and losers are calling themselves now lol.
    +1Now I love games as much as the next guy and God bless someone who can get paid to play games, but these guys are not athletes.Athele - a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of PHYSICAL EXERCISE.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty 06 March 2014 21:48
    12827215 said:
    "eSports athletes". So this is what nerds, geeks, and losers are calling themselves now lol.
    +1Now I love games as much as the next guy and God bless someone who can get paid to play games, but these guys are not athletes.Athele - a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of PHYSICAL EXERCISE.

    There are plenty of "Sports" that take little to no physical exercise to be proficient in. For example, Golf. I love Golf. Always have since my grandfather took me when I was 6 years old. I am a stick, as you might say, at almost 6'4" and barely 175 pounds yet I can drive the ball as far as some pros easily. If anything the same Pros take away the most physical part of the game, carrying the bag.

    That said, I do agree they are not athletes. They are professional gamers but not athletes.

    As for the switches, they don't look any better than Cherry MX Reds in terms of distance or actuation force (2mm, 45g for Reds) so I don't see the purpose in them really except for Razer to make money off of them possibly since everyone is going to mechanical for gaming these days.
    Reply
  • ohyouknow 06 March 2014 22:50
    Intriguing, but Razer's QC has bitten me to the point of never again.
    Reply
  • hotroderx 06 March 2014 23:19
    I take it we can expect them to fail with in the first 1000-3000 keystrokes? "To make sure each switch met Razer's highest standards, Razer's own quality assurance team was on the production floor." cause we all know thats a joke right there.
    Reply
  • fil1p 06 March 2014 23:42
    From what I have heard, Cherry Corp's patent on their switches has expired. This has caused companies like Thermaltake and Razer to come out with their own switches. I'm sticking to my Mx Browns for now, but its interesting to see some new stuff out there (hopefully quality assurance is good on these).
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty 06 March 2014 23:52
    12828093 said:
    From what I have heard, Cherry Corp's patent on their switches has expired. This has caused companies like Thermaltake and Razer to come out with their own switches. I'm sticking to my Mx Browns for now, but its interesting to see some new stuff out there (hopefully quality assurance is good on these).

    That is a hope for sure. Right now I am very interested in the Corsair Cherry RGB keyboard they are coming out with. I like the idea of being able to choose the color bit not only that you can create patterns and all kinds of things.

    Plus I really like my K90.
    Reply
  • Dexter Kairaiuak 06 March 2014 23:52
    Isn't hitting buttons in rapid succession physical exertion? :)
    Reply
  • UVB076 07 March 2014 01:11
    "To make sure each switch met Razer's lowest standards, Razer's own quality assurance team was on the production floor."FTFY
    Reply
  • Red_Sun 07 March 2014 01:42
    12827215 said:
    "eSports athletes". So this is what nerds, geeks, and losers are calling themselves now lol.
    +1Now I love games as much as the next guy and God bless someone who can get paid to play games, but these guys are not athletes.Athele - a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of PHYSICAL EXERCISE.
    There are plenty of "Sports" that take little to no physical exercise to be proficient in. For example, Golf. I love Golf. Always have since my grandfather took me when I was 6 years old. I am a stick, as you might say, at almost 6'4" and barely 175 pounds yet I can drive the ball as far as some pros easily. If anything the same Pros take away the most physical part of the game, carrying the bag.That said, I do agree they are not athletes. They are professional gamers but not athletes.As for the switches, they don't look any better than Cherry MX Reds in terms of distance or actuation force (2mm, 45g for Reds) so I don't see the purpose in them really except for Razer to make money off of them possibly since everyone is going to mechanical for gaming these days.
    Filco Majestouch-2 NKR 104 ASCII with red switches FTW.
    Reply