Razer churning out their own mechanical switches

Most of the high quality mechanical keyboards use switches from Cherry. Well, Razer's getting into the game with their own gamer tested switches.

From the sounds of it, a lot of research and development went into making these switches gamer specific. They are talking down to a fraction of a millimeter in terms of accuracy. Each switch is rated for 60 million presses so you know they'll last a long time.

While the switches are manufactured elsewhere, Razer did have their own QA person on the floor to make sure things were good. That's some dedication to place someone they hired to make sure these switches were manufactured with the highest of standards.

Two types of switches were developed. Green switches feature that nice clicky sound that might annoy those around you. Orange ones are silent and require less force to actuate.

The Razer BlackWidow keyboard will be the recipients of these new switches. I've been using the BlackWidow for a few years now as my main keyboard so I'm interested to see how the new switches stack up. 

RAZER LAUNCHES WORLD'S FIRST KEYBOARD MECHANICAL SWITCH DESIGNED FOR GAMING

Tested by top eSports athletes globally, the all-new Razer™ Mechanical Switch has been designed and engineered in-house from the ground up for gaming vs. traditional mechanical keyboard switches designed for typing

For Release March 6, 2014

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Razer™, the world leader in entertainment devices and software, today announced the launch of the world’s first mechanical switch designed by Razer specifically for gaming – the Razer Mechanical Switch.

While traditional mechanical switches were originally designed for typing, the all-new Razer Mechanical Switches have been designed and engineered from the ground up for gaming. In order to achieve that, Razer decided to go back to the drawing board to completely re-engineer the traditional mechanical switch. 

After extensive research, Razer’s multi-award winning engineers identified the optimal actuation distance for a gaming switch to a fraction of a millimeter and reduced the distance between the actuation and reset point by almost half to allow for faster, more precise gaming commands when compared to standard mechanical switches. Furthermore, the all-new Razer Mechanical Switches are made using an ultra-precise manufacturing technique that, along with gold plated contact points, result in a lifespan of up to 60 million key strokes.

While Razer scientists and engineers designed the new Razer Mechanical Switch from ground up, mass production was done by a third party manufacturer. However, to ensure that each switch met to its demanding specifications, Razer placed its own quality assurance experts on the production floor to make sure each switch meticulously follows the design blueprint and specifications defined by Razer.

Finally, these switches were tested extensively by the world’s most demanding eSports athletes who validated the new Razer Mechanical Switch in some of the most intense professional gaming tournaments.

"The new switches on the Razer BlackWidow have a lighter and smoother feel, allowing me to play at a faster pace than before,” says Jens "Snute" Aasgaard, Team Liquid StarCraft player. “It's comfortable and solid - perfect for long practice sessions and tournaments."

“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,” says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder, CEO and creative director. “Our engineers’ focus for the specification was on speed, accuracy and durability to bring the unfair advantage to gamers worldwide. The new switch makes the most popular gaming keyboard in the world even better.”

The Razer Mechanical switch is available on the new Razer BlackWidow family of mechanical gaming keyboards, and is open to other gaming peripheral makers who wish to manufacture the highest quality gaming-grade mechanical keyboards.

The all new Razer Mechanical Switch comes in two types: The Razer Green switch that is tactile and clicky, requiring a force of 50 g to actuate; and the Razer Orange switch that is tactile yet silent, requiring a force of 45 g to actuate.

For more information about the Razer Mechanical Switches along with the Razer BlackWidow range of gaming keyboards, please visit http://www.razerzone.com/razer-mechanical-switches