Gateron Yellow

The Gateron Yellow is a light linear budget switch widely renowned for its relatively good price to performance ratio.
At the time of writing, there is no Cherry equivalent to the Gateron Yellow making it stand out from the rest of the crowd.

Smoothness: 6/10

On-centre keypresses aren’t the smoothest out there, especially when brand new. However, over time, my sample became quite a touch smoother, but it doesn’t quite get to Gateron Ink levels of smoothness.

Off-centre keypresses are decently scratchy for some switches, although some are also quite smooth. It’s a little inconsistent between the switches which is not unusual for this price point.

Overall, as stock switches, these are just above average, but they have HUGE potential in the custom world.

Gateron Yellow switch disassembled.

Weighting: 5/10

Gateron states that these switches actuate at 50g. However, they feel closer to the Gateron Red in terms of weighting.

In fact, according to Haata’s force curves, they are very similar – almost identical, even. Though, the Gateron Yellow is noticeably smoother on the graphs.

Overall, these switches are little on the light side for me. Also, there are some inconsistencies between the switches, but it’s not noticeable in normal typing. In any case, these aren’t terrible; they just aren’t for me.

Sound: 6/10

It’s better than average, surprisingly. This could be due to the milky housing of the switch, though, I’m not too sure. All I can say is that it sounds better than most switches in its category.

One small downside I want to point out is the switch installed in both “S” and Spacebar keys – the spring crunches when pressed. This happened within the first week of use, and I can’t say if this will happen to other switches.

2 Gateron Yellow variants.

Typing Performance: 6/10

Typing is a nice experience with these switches. They’re on the light side, which I don’t prefer, but they’re reasonably smooth and sound decent. I also didn’t make too many typing mistakes on them unlike other lighter weight switches.

The only real gripe I have about these – and it’s a big one, is the weighting. Sure, it’s also not the smoothest, but to me an unsuitable weighting is more bothersome than a scratchy switch.

Overall, it’s a decent switch for typing. I’d be happy to recommend this to someone looking for a cheaper and better alternative to a Cherry MX Red.

Gaming Performance: 7/10

This is really what you’re buying this switch for. For gaming.

It performs well in both casual and competitive games as the weighting allows for nice and relaxing gaming experience. It’s smooth enough for most gamers and it doesn’t have any distracting pinging either, so you can play without headphones if you prefer.

Overall, if you’re looking for the best gaming switch on a super strict budget, you should be considering Gateron Yellows. These are a great deal.

Final Score = 30/50 (60%)

Places to purchase this switch:

AliExpress | Mechboards | NovelKeys