Akko CS Lavender Purple vs Drop Holy Panda X Clear
The Akko CS Lavender Purple and the Drop Holy Panda X Clear are separated mostly by spring weight, 24 g of it at actuation, with the Drop Holy Panda X Clear the firmer press and the Akko CS Lavender Purple the easier one to hold down. Our library of every switch we simulate already points each of these at the other. Hear them back to back below with the trims matched before you read a single number.
Hear them back to back
simulated from real specssound loads on your first tapShortcuts: press A or B anywhere outside a text box to fire that burst. Use the volume trims to loudness-match the pair before judging which sounds better.
Spec by spec
| Spec | Akko CS Lavender Purple | Drop Holy Panda X Clear |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Tactile | Tactile |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | bottom-out |
| Actuation force | 36 g | 60 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | 62 g |
| Pre-travel | 1.9 mm | 2 mm |
| Total travel | 4 mm | 3.5 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | No |
| Factory lubed | Yes | Yes |
| MX-compatible stem | Yes | Yes |
| Price tier | Budget | Premium |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Watch the "brand rates force at" row: these two makers do not measure at the same place, actuation for the Akko CS Lavender Purple and bottom-out for the Drop Holy Panda X Clear. Force numbers only compare within a row.
Verdict
This is a tactile versus tactile contest: the Akko CS Lavender Purple and the Drop Holy Panda X Clear share the same stroke character, which makes the smaller spec gaps decisive. The springs are far apart, with the Drop Holy Panda X Clear at 60 g actuation versus 36 g for the Akko CS Lavender Purple, a gap you feel within a paragraph of typing. The Akko CS Lavender Purple is the cheaper board to fill by a full bracket, budget friendly against premium priced. We land on the Akko CS Lavender Purple for every use we score, and it is the one that carries less across a room, so the Drop Holy Panda X Clear makes sense only if you preferred its voice in the player above.
- Overall pick
- Akko CS Lavender Purple
Gaming, typing and a shared office all point at the Akko CS Lavender Purple, so printing the same name three times would tell you nothing. One pick it is.
Force curves
Akko CS Lavender Purple
Akko publishes no bottom-out force for this switch, so the dashed end of the curve is an estimate, not a spec. Everything up to actuation comes from the published numbers.
Drop Holy Panda X Clear
Akko CS Lavender Purple or Drop Holy Panda X Clear: the long answer
Start with feel, because it settles most switch arguments before sound comes up. The springs are a long way apart: 60 g against 36 g at actuation, so the Drop Holy Panda X Clear asks noticeably more of your fingers across a long session. Travel differs at both ends, with the Akko CS Lavender Purple registering first at 1.9 mm and the Akko CS Lavender Purple running deepest at 4.0 mm. The stroke itself is shared: each one puts a felt event in the middle of the stroke. Everything else about them is close enough that the spring is the honest tiebreak.
Sound is where most people finally pick a side. Put them through the player above and the Akko CS Lavender Purple lands as poppy snappy tap with an early bump where the Drop Holy Panda X Clear lands as slightly brighter tap than the standard HPX. The usual caveat applies. Nothing here is a studio recording; both packs are synthesized from published specs, and the players say so.
On price and practicality, the Akko CS Lavender Purple is budget friendly, while the Drop Holy Panda X Clear is premium priced. Factory lube on both, so the smoothness you hear in the player is roughly the smoothness you get.
Who buys which, then? One switch takes every axis we score: the Akko CS Lavender Purple is our pick for gaming, for typing and for a shared desk. On speed, it wins on a lighter spring at actuation and a shorter distance to actuation. On typing feel, nothing about it gets tiring by the afternoon, which is the whole test for a writing switch. On noise, it is the quieter of the two once the room is listening. That leaves the Drop Holy Panda X Clear to anyone who preferred its voice in the player above, which is a good enough reason on its own. Do the listening first. It costs nothing and it changes minds more often than a spec table does.
For either one on its own terms, read the Akko CS Lavender Purple page and the Drop Holy Panda X Clear page. If you are here to check the board you already own, use our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Akko CS Lavender Purple or the Drop Holy Panda X Clear the better gaming switch?
We pick the Akko CS Lavender Purple for gaming. The scoring gives it a lighter spring at actuation and a shorter distance to actuation against the Drop Holy Panda X Clear, and both of those show up in a fast game.
Which of the Akko CS Lavender Purple and the Drop Holy Panda X Clear is quieter in a shared room?
Volume is roughly a wash: no dampening and no click mechanism on either, so your typing force and your case decide the level. The character is not a wash, with the Akko CS Lavender Purple reading as poppy snappy tap with an early bump against slightly brighter tap than the standard HPX from the Drop Holy Panda X Clear.
Which switch is heavier, the Akko CS Lavender Purple or the Drop Holy Panda X Clear?
The Drop Holy Panda X Clear, and the comparison is clean: actuation on both sides, 60 g to 36 g.
Which is cheaper to fill a board with, the Akko CS Lavender Purple or the Drop Holy Panda X Clear?
The Akko CS Lavender Purple sits in the budget friendly bracket and the Drop Holy Panda X Clear in the premium priced one. We do not hold a reliable per-switch price for both, so the bracket is the honest answer rather than a total.
More comparisons
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