Akko CS Lavender Purple

The Akko CS (Custom Series) Lavender Purple is a light to medium stiff tactile switch in the budget segment. At the time of writing, they can be had between £0.25 – £0.30 per switch – rivalling budget MX clone switches from Gateron, Outemu, Kailh and Greetech.

Smoothness: 8/10

On-centre keypresses are very smooth with minor, but barely noticeable inconsistencies. Though, they were pretty much 9/10 in smoothness when I first used them.

Off-centre keypresses are also very smooth, with minor inconsistencies; the inconsistencies are little more noticeable, but it can’t be felt when typing normally. However, during the first few days of testing, the switch installed in my Backspace key kept sticking down which could be due to a weak spring, but it was fine after a few days.

Overall, they are really smooth (and this is without lube). I can recommend this as an affordable, smooth tactile switch.

Akko CS Lavender Purple switch disassembled.

Weighting: 8/10

According to the manufacturer force curve, the Lavender Purple has a peak tactile force of 50g at 0.2mm, an actuation force of 36g at roughly 1.8mm and a bottom-out force of roughly 55g at 3.8mm.

In terms of the actual key feel, it’s on the light side, but since the tactile bump is right at the top of the keypress, the switch feels heavier than what the force curve suggests. I was quite surprised to see the switch actuated at 36g and bottom-out under 60g; it definitely feels heavier than that.

For some comparison, these switches feel lighter than the Durock T1 and the Cherry MX Clear, but they’re much heavier than the Cherry MX Brown (and its clones). I would say they’re close to the SP-Star Purple, but these switches feel “more tactile” to me, anyway.

Overall, I like the weighting of these switches. They are still a little on the light side for me, but these were at least very enjoyable and usable to type on. Massive props to Akko!

Akko CS Lavender Purple’s “18mm Extention Spring” (Left) vs Cherry MX Brown spring (Right).

Sound: 7/10

Sound is fantastic. It’s up there on the thocc spectrum for sure, even as a stock switch. I think they will sound even better with some modifications, but I’ll leave that up to you.

Overall, it’s a solid sounding switch, better than most switches above its price point, so if sound is your priority in a switch, you have to take a look at these.

Typing Performance: 8/10

Typing on these was a very pleasant experience. The switches are snappy and responsive even though its specs don’t mention anything special. It also beats a couple of switches above its price point such the Cherry MX Clear and the Zealio 67g (V1) which is outstanding.

However, they aren’t perfect. I still would’ve preferred a switch that was a little heavier and more tactile. Perhaps, Akko can make that happen it the future because I’d want to see it.

Overall, they are very nice switches to type on. It’s certainly designed to meet the requirements of most people and Akko pretty much nailed it with these.

Gaming Performance: 7/10

Gaming wasn’t too bad with these, they’re on par with the Cherry MX Clear and the Zealio 67 (V1), so above average, but they do have a big flaw.

Occasionally, (and this has become less and less of an issue over time) the switches installed in my WASD and its surrounding keys tended “stick” down when pressed for a significant amount of time (3 -5 seconds). It seems like the spring is sometimes too weak to push the stem back up. Additionally, I also thought the tactility was just “okay”. It would’ve been nice if it was more tactile.

Apart from the issue mentioned above (which I believe is an isolated case). I think this is still a good switch for gaming. Is it top tier? No, but is it good enough for most folks? Absolutely.

Overall, it’s a great value switch for gaming. I highly recommend them, especially if you prefer tactiles over linears.

Final Score = 38/50 (76%)

Places to purchase this switch:

AliExpress | Akko | Amazon

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