Innovation in the world of mechanical keyboards continues to grow with various manufacturers creating or developing their products consistently. Inside a mechanical keyboard, there is a component called a switch. Currently, there are two types of switches on the market based on their working methods, namely Mechanical Switches and Optical Switches.
Mechanical switches use springs to produce their actuations and Optical switches use infrared light for each actuation. Currently, there are quite a number of manufacturers who make the fastest switches that can produce very fast actuation.
The following are the fastest switches on the market today:
1. OmniPoint Adjustable Switches
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.2 – 0.7ms | Optical |
OmniPoint is the fastest switch that you can find on keyboards made by Steelseries such as SteelSeries Apex Pro and SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL which are 2 gaming keyboards that are very popular in the market today.
The OmniPoint Switch has a white stem design with a white top housing and black bottom housing. The spring has a wide design. What makes this switch capable of fast actuation is the advanced PCB used in the SteelSeries keyboard as well as software optimization that can adjust the speed of actuation on the OmniPoint Switch.
2. Razer Red Optical Switch
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.2ms | Optical |
The Razer Red Optical Switch is one of the fastest switches on the market today.
Razer Red Optical Switch is an optical type switch that utilizes infrared for its actuation. When the infrared lamp is closed, there is the time of its actuation.
The Razer Red Optical Switch has a red stem design with a square stem design like the Kailh BOX switch. Both the top housing and bottom housing are black.
Here are some keyboards that use the Razer Red Optical Switch:
3. Corsair OPX RGB Optical Switch
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.2ms | Optical |
Corsair OPX RGB Optical Switch is an optical type switch that utilizes infrared for its actuation. Corsair OPX RGB Optical Switch can easily achieve 0.2ms response time which is a very fast actuation.
The Corsair OPX RGB Optical Switch also has only 1.0mm of actuation distance which also makes this switch able to produce very instant actuation. Its operation is also very light because you only need about 45g to 55g actuation force.
The Corsair OPX RGB Optical Switch is one of the fastest switches on the market today that can give you extremely fast and instant actuation. You can own this switch by purchasing a Corsair K100 RGB.
4. LK Optical Clicky Switches
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.2ms | Optical |
The LK Optical Clicky Switches are one of the fastest switches available today.
LK Optical Clicky Switches have a white stem design with the entire switch housing black. LK Optical Clicky Switches also have an actuation distance of about 1.5mm which is a very short actuation distance that makes this switch able to produce very fast and instant actuation.
To operate, LK Optical Clicky Switches only need about 50g actuation force which I think is quite light. LK Optical Clicky Switches are also quite smooth, because this switch is a clicky type switch, so you will get quite bumpy typing feedback and produce a loud typing sound.
You can find LK Optical Clicky Switches on the EVGA Z20 RGB and B930 TKL Tenkeyless.
5. Gateron Optical Yellow
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.2ms | Optical |
Gateron Optical Yellow is one of the fastest switches on the market today. Gateron Optical Yellow is an optical type switch that utilizes infrared for its actuation. Gateron Optical Yellow can also easily achieve 0.2ms response time.
Gateron Optical Yellow has a yellow stem design with a transparent top housing and black bottom housing.
Gateron Optical Yellow has a very short actuation distance of 1.0mm which makes this switch able to produce very fast and instant actuation. For operation, Gateron Optical Yellow only requires about 35g to 40g actuation force, which means this switch is very light to operate.
Here are some of the best keyboards that use Gateron Optical Yellow:
6. Cherry MX Speed Silver
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.24ms | Mechanical |
Cherry MX Speed Silver is one of the fastest switches on the market today and is quite widely used in mechanical keyboards because apart from you being able to buy it separately you can also find Cherry MX Speed Silver used on various brands of keyboards sold in the market today.
Cherry MX Speed Silver is a mechanical switch that can produce very fast actuation and can achieve 0.24ms response time which is a very fast response time number for a mechanical switch.
Cherry MX Speed Silver has a silver stem design with a white bottom housing and a transparent top housing.
Cherry MX Speed Silver has an actuation distance of 1.2mm which is a short actuation distance that makes this switch capable of fast actuation. For operation, Cherry MX Speed Silver which is a linear type switch only requires 45g actuation force, which means this switch is very light to operate.
The following are the best keyboards that use Cherry MX Speed Silver:
- Corsair K100 RGB
- Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Rapidfire
- Corsair K95 RGB Platinum XT
- Durgod Taurus K320 TKL
- Corsair K65 RGB MINI
7. Kailh Speed Silver
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.24ms | Mechanical |
Kailh Speed Silver has a silver stem design, white bottom housing, and transparent top housing.
Kailh Speed Silver is a linear type switch that also has a 1.1m actuation distance, which means this switch has a very short actuation distance so it can produce very fast actuation. For operation, Kailh Speed Silver only requires about 40g of actuation force, which means this switch is very light to operate.
One of the popular gaming keyboards that use Kailh Speed Silver is the EVGA Z15.
8. Kailh Speed Cooper
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.24ms | Mechanical |
Kailh Speed Cooper is one of the mechanical switches that can produce very fast actuation.
The Kailh Speed Cooper has a brown stem design with a transparent top housing, and a white bottom housing.
Kailh Speed Cooper has a short actuation distance of about 1.0mm which is a short actuation distance so that this switch can produce very fast actuation.
The Kailh Speed Cooper is also light enough to operate because it only requires 50g of actuation force to operate.
To date, the only Ducky One 2 Mini available in the market is a keyboard with the Kailh Speed Cooper option.
9. Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch
| Response Time | Switch Type |
| 0.25ms | Mechanical |
The Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch is the fastest mechanical switch you’ll find on a Razer keyboard. Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch is one of the fastest mechanical switches that can produce fast actuation and can achieve 0.25ms response time.
The Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch has a yellow stem design and the entire Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch housing is black.
Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch has an actuation point distance of 1.2mm which is a short actuation distance so this switch can produce very fast actuation.
The Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch also only requires around 40g to 55g of actuation force to operate. This switch is also known to provide a smooth and quiet typing experience.
- Razer BlackWidow V3 Mini HyperSpeed
- Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro
- Razer BlackWidow TE Chroma v2 TKL
- Razer BlackWidow V3
Fastest Mechanical Switch
The following is a list of the fastest mechanical switches on the market today:
- Cherry MX Speed Silver
- Kailh Speed Silver
- Kailh Speed Cooper
- Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch
Fastest Optical Switch
The following is an order of the fastest Optical Switches on the market today:
- OmniPoint Adjustable Switches
- Razer Red Optical Switch
- Corsair OPX RGB Optical Switch
- LK Optical Clicky Switches
- Gateron Optical Yellow
Conclusion
- OmniPoint Adjustable Switches
- Razer Red Optical Switch
- Corsair OPX RGB Optical Switch
- LK Optical Clicky Switches
- Gateron Optical Yellow
- Cherry MX Speed Silver
- Kailh Speed Silver
- Kailh Speed Cooper
- Razer™ Yellow Mechanical Switch
