Your keyboard is the thread that connects you to your computer. The way a keyboard feels—from the sensations of each key pressing down and resetting to the build of the board’s chassis—has a direct impact on your typing experience, affecting accuracy, speed, and fatigue.
We’ve dug into the joys of quality keyboards and the thrills of customization at Ars Technica before. But what really makes one type of keyboard feel better than another? People say membrane keyboards feel mushy, but why? And what about keyboards with cult-like followings? What makes decades-old IBM keyboards or expensive Topres so special?
In this guide, we’ll look at how some of the most popular keyboard categories work and how their differences impact typing feel.
Mechanical keyboards
Many people consider mechanical keyboards to be the king of keyboards. Mechanical keyboards are generally very tactile, as their keys offer distinct feedback with each press. Customization options that impact feel, appearance, and sound mean that mechanical keyboards are also great for users who want to tweak individual parts to get the precise feel they're looking for.
So why do they feel so good to type on? Let's take a look.
The switch under each mechanical keyboard key has more components, moving parts, and travel compared to a membrane keyboard, making button presses feel more substantial. Pressing a mechanical switch sends its plastic stem downward, while the spring provides resistance. As the plastic stem moves downward, it allows the switch's two metal leaves to make physical contact, closing a circuit and sending a signal to the keyboard’s printed circuit board, or PCB. (Check out this article from Kinetic Labs for an overview of the basics of mechanical keyboard PCBs). Depending on the stem's design, the keypress might go down smoothly (in linear switches), with a discernible bump along the way (tactile switches), or with a bump and a click sound (clicky switches).