| Switch Type: Tactile | Mount: Plate Mount (3-pin) | Spring: Single Stage | Top Housing: PC | Bottom Housing: Nylon | Stem: POM | Factory Lubed: Yes |
| Actuation Point (mm): | 1.6 ± 0.3 | Actuation Point (mm): | 1.62 |
| Actuation Force (gf): | 42 ± 10 | Actuation Force (gf): | 40.8 |
| Total Travel (mm): | 2.8 ± 0.25 | Total Travel (mm): | 2.90 |
| Peak Tactile Point (mm): | 0.6 | Peak Tactile Point (mm): | 0.45 |
| Peak Tactile Force (gf): | 55 ± 10 | Peak Tactile Force (gf): | 53.5 |
| Reset Point (mm): | 1.6 | Reset Point (mm): | 1.61 |
| Bottom-out Force (gf): | 65 | Bottom-out Force (gf): | 55.4 |
| Stem Length (mm): | 8.75 | ||
DISCLAIMER | Please Read:
These switches were sent by Akko for review and testing purposes. No one paid me to write this review, and impartiality will always be a top priority here at KeebWorks.
TL;DR
Not a lot of low-profile, tactile, mechanical switches exist on the market. So, your choices will be very limited. Sadly, these are on the little on the scratchy side, and I just can’t recommend them. It’s interesting because they’re factory lubed, but somehow that isn’t enough to make them feel as smooth as I think they should be.
Smoothness: 6/10
On-centre keypresses are slightly scratchy and inconsistent at slow keypresses.
Off-centre keypresses are also slightly scratchy and inconsistent at slow keypresses.
Overall, they perform better than average. It’s probably a good thing they’re factory lubed, but I still wouldn’t recommend them at their current state.
Kailh Drift switch disassembled.
Weighting: 4/10
Now, according to Kailh these switches have a peak tactile force of 55g at 0.6mm, actuation force of 42g at 1.6mm and a bottom-out force of 65g at 2.8mm.
Kailh Drift force curve.
As you can see from the force curve above, the Kailh Drift is on spec apart from its bottom out force. On my test, the bottom out force was 55.4g, well under the 65g Kailh claims.
Kailh Drift consistency force curve.
As you can see above, the switches aren’t very consistent with each other. Additionally, all their bottom-out force is well below the 65g Kailh claims.
Kailh Drift vs. Cherry MX Brown force curve.
The force curve above shows the comparison between the Kailh Drift and the Cherry MX Brown. Even though the MX Brown is a full-travel switch, they both have a very similar peak tactile force. In fact, their tactile profile is almost identical, albeit in different distances.
Kailh Drift vs. Kailh Brown force curve.
The force curve above shows the comparison between the Kailh Drift and the Kailh Brown. Much like the MX Brown, the Kailh Brown also has a similar tactile profile to the Kailh Drift. Although, the Kailh Brown is noticeably heavier throughout.
Overall, these are lightly weighted, tactile switches with noticeable inconsistencies. There’s lots of room for improvement here, but given the market for these isn’t huge, I can only assume that Kailh has their priorities elsewhere.
Sound: 6/10
These have a fairly quiet and thocky sound signature. This is a switch you can use in an open office without modifications given how quiet they already are.
I’m usually not a fan of thocky sounding switches, but I quite like these. Sure, in a really quiet room, you can hear hints of scratchiness, but they’re barely noticeable in everyday use.
Overall, you should probably look elsewhere if sound is a big priority for you. But, if not, these sound pretty good. I’m sure if properly lubed, they would sound even better.
The Kailh Drift stem length is 8.75mm.
Typing Performance: 5/10
They were moderately scratchy at first. I’d say they have a break-in period of around 2-3 days. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still quite scratchy after two weeks, but they’ve now slightly smoothed out making them a bit more usable for everyday typing sessions.
Additionally, I’m not the biggest fan of low-profile switches given their shorter travel, but these have performed moderately well even with their light weighting and inconsistency issues. I didn’t find myself making too many typos which surprised me a little.
Overall, they’re just fine. If you need a low-profile, tactile switch and don’t mind a few compromises or are willing to make modifications to improve them, these will probably serve you well.
Gaming Performance: 7/10
Even though these are noticeably scratchy, they’re gaming performance is acceptable. They performed well in both slow and fast-paced games.
I could feel their tactility in slower-paced games which is great, but they also aren’t the most accurate due to their inconsistencies.
They performed noticeably better in faster-paced games. And even with the paced picked up, I could still rely on their tactility, but as with many tactile switches, their tactility “disappeared” – still, it’s much better compared to other lightly weighted tactile switches.
Overall, while I personally wouldn’t use these as my primary gaming switch, they’re still pretty good. Just as long as you’re not expecting top-tier level smoothness and accuracy.
Final Score = 28/50 (56%)