Cherry is best known for its MX mechanical switches and while it does have a new one of those at CES this year, it also debuted a new keyboard. Known as the MX Board Silent, it has quieter mechanical switches under the hood, so it shouldn’t annoy those around you quite as much as you tap away.
Working in an office, the tapping of keyboard keys is never far away. While some of us may love mechanical boards though, there is no denying that they are a lot noisier than their rubber-dome counterparts — there’s a reason blue switches are the keyboard equivalent of being persona non grata.
So the idea that we could have the best of both worlds is rather exciting, and perhaps the best company to take a stab at making that a reality is Cherry. The developer of many of the world’s favorite mechanical switches for several decades, Cherry has now built a board that uses its own Cherry MX Silent switches, which in turn use a mix of rubber pads and a different switch stem to reduce noise on the down and upward stroke.
Depending on your preference of switch actuation strength, you can opt for a Cherry MX Red Silent or Black Silent, with their respective required forces relating to their corresponding Red/Black namesakes: 45 and 60 centinewtons, respectively.
The board also features 14-key N-key rollover, which lets you press more at the same time than you will ever need — though it is handy for hotseating two players on the same keyboard. There are no dedicated macro switches and the look of the board is quite bare-bones, but that will be a style that appeals to some, no doubt.
It’s certainly a far cry from the usual gaming keyboards we see, with all of their RGB LEDs and extra keys. The Cherry price doesn’t necessarily reflect that though, as this board will set you back $150 when it becomes available in the near future.
