| Switch Type: | Linear |
| Mount Type: | Plate Mount |
| Travel Distance: | 2.5mm Actuation | 4mm Total |
| Force: | 65g Operating | 82g Bottom-out |
| Price: | ~£4.00 (10 pieces) |
The Outemu Black is a medium stiff Cherry MX Black linear switch clone offering an MX Black like performance at an affordable price point. However, according to Haata’s force curves, the Outemu Black is roughly 10g heavier upon actuation and bottom-out. It also actuates later in the travel at 2.5mm instead of the usual 2mm which is something to keep in mind.
Smoothness: 4/10
On-centre keypresses are decently smooth for some switches. However, there are switches that are smoother than others. Inconsistencies are definitely present.
Off-centre keypresses are a mixed bag between very scratchy to extremely horrendous with a few switches exhibiting a small tactile bump at the end of the travel – And mind you, these switches are factory lubed (just barely). Imagine lube was not present. This is a *big oof* as the kids would say.
Outemu Black switches disassembled.
Weighting: 6/10
The switch actuates at 65g at 2.5mm and bottoms out 82g at 4mm. This at first may seem quite normal, but if you take a look at the MX Black you can see that both the actuation force and the bottom out weight are roughly 10g lighter. Also, Outemu Black at 2.5 mm instead of the more traditional 2.5mm which may throw some people off; I got used to it very quickly, but I can’t say the same for some folks.
Now, in the real world, this is actually quite difficult to tell, even with a side-to-side comparison. So, make of that what you will.
Overall, I like the weighting better than any of the ‘Red’ switches as I do like heavier weightings like these. If you’re on an MX Black, give these a try some day.
Sound: 4/10
Sound is quite pingy. Not ‘Pingmaster’ level pingy but it’s distracting enough for you to notice. This will be unpleasant to many typists.
The pingy nature of it somewhat hides some of the scratchiness of the switch when pressed off-centre. Still, it’s not great to listen to. Stay away from this if you’re sensitive to pingy noises.
Typing Performance: 6/10
Typing with headphones on is fine. However, once the headphones come off, the pingy nature of the board really shows itself making for an unpleasant typing experience. Ignoring that aspect, the switch is actually nice to type on; it doesn’t bind, it’s not horrendously scratchy and it’s nicely weighted for my fingers. But that soundtrack… *shudders*.
Gaming Performance: 7/10
This is one the shining moment for the switch!
It’s actually bloody nice to game on. The weighting is practically perfect for bottoming out especially when moving around in an FPS. It’s also surprisingly not that scratchy once you start to get into the groove of things…I like it, apart from when I notice its scratchy nature. It’s pretty good overall.
Final Score = 27/50 (54%)