Kailh BOX White

Switch Specifications:

Switch Type:	Clicky
Mount Type:	Plate Mount
Travel Distance:	1.8mm Actuation | 3.6mm Total
Force:	45g Operating | 60g Bottom-out
Price:	~£5.00 (10 pieces)

The Kailh BOX White is a light clicky switch in the midrange segment meant to replace the Kailh Blue switch – a Cherry MX Blue clone. It’s also a relatively new design that uses a click bar instead of a click jacket to generate tactility and a click noise.

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Here’s the video review if you prefer watching content:

Smoothness: 7/10

On-centre keypresses are very smooth with only minor inconsistencies between the switches. Nice.

Off-centre keypresses range from very smooth to downright scratchy. Kailhua’s infamous switch inconsistencies are still present. Although, most of the switches in my sample weren’t too bad.

Overall, it’s a pretty smooth switch as a whole. It’s certainly a massive improvement from the switch that came before it (Kailh Blue).

Kailh BOX White switch disassembled.

Weighting: 7/10

According to the manufacturer, the Kailh BOX White has an actuation force of 45g at 1.8mm, a peak tactile force of 55g and a total travel of 3.6mm. For more context, check out this force curve graph measured by Haata.

In terms of the actual key feel, it is light and consistent, supposedly to match the weighting of the both the Cherry MX Blue and the Kailh Blue.

The click feels very crisp. It’s not cheap, plasticky or rattily feeling like most click jacket switches. Although, the tactility is on the light side for me. It’s also sometimes more tactile on the upstroke, especially on off-centre keypresses which isn’t useful in my case.

Overall, whilst on the light side. These are solid switches that I recommend over the Cherry MX Blue or equivalent.

Sound: 7/10

Sound, much like its key feel, is very crisp as there is a metal bar that slams into the housing instead of a plasticky rattily click jacket that you find on MX Blue switches.

Overall, these are definitely much better sounding in my ears compared to any switch with a click jacket. So, if sound is important to you (which should be the case, especially since we’re talking about clicky switches here), then these are a solid choice. It’s time to ditch those MX Blue switches, my dear.

Kailh BOX White click bar in action

Typing Performance: 6/10

This is a win for the BOX White compared to the MX Blue or equivalent. These are simply up another level when it comes to smoothness, weighting and sound. And for a relatively new design, it’s a surprisingly easy win.

A quick note about the tactility. I wouldn’t say these are more or less tactile than the MX Blue or equivalent. I find them to be on an equal level even if they both feel a little different from each other. So, if you’re mainly looking at the tactility of these switches, they aren’t massively different from what you’re probably used to.

However, it does have two big downsides.

Number One: The click. Whilst it is a massive improvement over click jackets. These switches click twice per keystroke – on the way down and on the way up. You personally may not care, but I know some won’t be a fan of this.

Number Two: Mismatched click to actuation. In some cases, you may actuate a key without hearing a click and sometimes you’ll hear a click without any actuation. So, if you rely on a click to signal that a key has been pressed, this will most likely annoy the heck out of you, because it sure annoyed me.

Overall, it has two big downsides weighing it down, but as an MX Blue or equivalent replacement, I’d say it’s well worth it. BOX White > MX Blue. Any day, but that’s just me.

Gaming Performance: 7/10

Another surprising result. Then again, once you know how the switches really work, it’s not that hard to figure out why these make for good gaming switches.

Now, since the click to actuation doesn’t always match, you can sort of treat these as very light tactile switches. Maybe even as linear switches in very fast paced scenarios. I mean, you probably have headphones on, so you probably won’t even hear the switches.

Additionally, the two big advantages I found with these are its decent level of consistency in both smoothness and weighting. Most of the switches are smooth and predictable with only minor issues on off-centre keypresses especially during very intense moments.

Overall, whilst they are on the lighter side, I can easily recommend these to those still using an MX Blue or equivalent for gaming. These would make for solid replacements.

Final Score = 34/50 (68%)

 

Places to purchase this switch:

AliExpress | Mechboards | NovelKeys

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