I popped a key cap off of the Corsair K70 RGB Rapidfire keyboard that had just arrived on my doorstep: Gray. The switches were gray. (Maybe silver.) These are Cherry’s new MX Speed switches that are designed to let you click and clack even faster than ever before.

Simply, it appears that the actuation point on these linear switches is shorter than on Cherry MX Reds--1.2mm compared to 2mm, respectively.

Image 1 of 2 Image 2 of 2

That may sound like a significant reduction, and percentage-wise it is, but note well that we’re talking about a distance of less than a millimeter. Add in the fact that the manufacturing tolerances for switches is several tenths of a millimeter, and you’re looking at an extremely minimal change here switch-to-switch, on average, from Reds to Speeds. They have the same 45g actuation force, too.



The Cherry MX Speed switches are mounted on a trio of new Corsair keyboards--new K70, K70 RGB and K65 RGB (the TKL version) models. Now, Corsair has multiple models of each product family, all with various Cherry MX switch types.

K70 K70 RGB K65 RGB Cherry MX Red Cherry MX Red Cherry MX Red Cherry MX Brown Cherry MX Brown -- Cherry MX Blue -- -- Cherry MX Red (w/blue backlighting) -- -- Cherry MX Speed (gray) Cherry MX Speed (gray) Cherry MX Speed (gray) $129.99 $169.99 $149.99 (Red) $139.99 (Gray)

Also note that although the K70 Rapidfire ($129.99) and K70 RGB Rapidfire ($169.99) come in at the same price as their K70 and K70 RGB counterparts, the K65 RGB Rapidfire with MX Speed switches costs $10 less than the MX Red version, at $139.99.



Cherry MX Speed Silver Force Curve

Cherry MX Speed (Silver) Cherry MX Red Type Linear Linear Actuation Point 1.2 mm (+/-0.4 mm) 2 mm (+/-0.4 mm) Actuation Force 45g 45g Lifespan 50 million strokes 50 million strokes Total Travel 3.4 mm 4 mm

Update, 4/21/16, 6:58am PT: Based on additional information we received from Cherry after publishing this article, we've added more information.

Update, 4/22/16, 8am PT: Fixed typo.

Seth Colaner is the News Director for Tom's Hardware. Follow him on Twitter @SethColaner. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.