What Some Switch Marketing Terms Really Mean

As I’ve personally discovered over the last 7 or so years of collecting primarily MX-style keyboard switches, there’s uh… quite a few of them that exist out there. While I would like to think that I can remember each and every one of them by name in my collection, the weird naming schemes and patterns that have popped up over the years make that not really all that feasible. Part of this is due to the fact that the vast majority of switch production takes place in China, where switches are often birthed with non-English names long before getting ones for Western audiences.

Another, arguably much larger part of these weird naming conventions is companies coming up with all sorts of fancy marketing terms in an effort to make their switches stand out from everyone else in the field. Now if those practices can confuse even someone like me who loves to pick apart those kinds of nuances for fun, I can only imagine how foreign it must feel to the average person just now getting into mechanical keyboards. In order to hopefully clear up some of the confusion regarding these naming practices with switches, here’s a brief clarification of some of the less obvious and, more often than not, misunderstood switch marketing terms you’ll encounter.

"Box" Switches

If I had a dollar for every single time I saw someone incorrectly refer to a switch as a “Box” switch; I could probably retire at age 30 comfortably somewhere on my own private island. If I added another dollar to that retirement fund for how many times I’ve seen people incorrectly explain what a Box switch is, then I’d have already been on that island years ago. These mistakes usually intersect with the assumption that the term “Box” refers to the dustproof walls that partially or fully surround the keycap mounting posts on some switches. The term “Box” has absolutely nothing to do with switch stems.

While it’s true that “Box” switches do often have fully enclosed dustproof style stems that look box-like, this term actually refers to a specific style of Kailh-exclusive switches that have a special internal box mechanism. As can be seen below in the image of the Kailh Box Speed Ultimate, this box mechanism is an enclosed space within the switch where the metal PCB pins are located and interacted with via a lever that sticks out and contacts the stem of the switch. This internal structure, as well as the weird stem shape that is required to interact with it, is also why you can’t frankenswitch most MX-style switches with Kailh Box switches

"Speed" switches

"Speed" is an adjective slapped onto the front of a switch name by companies that are trying to generally market their switches more towards the gaming-focused parts of the custom keyboard world. Often times switches which are called this, will be accompanied by marketing points that boast them as having faster response times and better for those high stakes, round-clutching gaming situations. While this claim is true on the most technical of terms, the switches themselves are not “faster” insofar that they have a different latency than other MX-style switches out there.

Instead, “Speed” is the modifier used to refer to switches that have actuation points that are higher up in the downstroke and thus can be reached in a shorter travel distance of pushing a switch in. While this does, in fact, mean that you can register a keystroke quicker with Speed switches than non-Speed ones at identical typing speeds, know that this difference in actuation location is often fractions of a millimeter at most. The chances that one or two-tenths of a millimeter will make the difference in a gaming scenario is likely slim to none, though some people will still seek out switches as such in order to get any edge that they can.

"Long Pole" Switches

The most recent of the marketing terms sweeping across the custom keyboard community is that of describing switches as being “long pole”. On the surface, this is the most truthful and accurate of the terms listed in this article here, as it is most literally used to describe switches that have stems that are noticeably longer than the average. Irrespective of the fact that there is not an agreed-upon metric or length that truly qualifies a switch’s stem as being ‘long’ or not, the reason that this phrase is included here is that it often carries with it an implied connotation of a performance difference. Switches that are marketed as being “long pole” often heavily lean into the idea that the switches reach their bottoming out sooner than normal MX-style switches.

While it does make sense in theory that longer stem poles would have to travel a shorter distance to reach the bottom of the switch, the problem lies in the fact that the point of bottoming out in any switch is a function of both the stems and the bottom housings. If a “long pole” stem is used in a deep bottom housing, you can still end up with the same 4.00 mm travel distance as a short stem being used in a switch with a shallow bottom housing. As well, this is why frankenswitching long stem poles into other housings than what they originally came in may not actually make for a switch with a shortened bottom out. So, if you’re seeking out switches with a truly shorter distance to bottom out, and hopefully not confusing bottom out with actuation point, consider checking out if the actual travel distance listed in their specs is less than a traditional 4.00 mm length if they are being marketed as being “long pole.”

Hopefully this short article will help in dispelling any misinformation that you may have come across in your hunt for your first (or maybe even dozenth) set of mechanical keyboard switches. All the terms, phrases, and points to look out for can be a bit overwhelming for those not used to it quite yet, and nothing sucks quite like getting something at your doorstep for a build that ends up being wildly different than your expectations. While I personally have bought switches from Kinetic Labs many times over the years, specifically because of their top-tier transparency and information on their switch listings, you could also just stick around to check out some other articles I’ve written here for them that will deepen your switch knowledge. Consider learning about how “Linear Switches Aren’t All the Same!” or why “You’re Not Trying Enough Keyboard Switches”!