Alps SKCM Blue vs Kailh BOX Jade
The Alps SKCM Blue and the Kailh BOX Jade do not fit the same keyboard, so this comparison starts with what you already own rather than with how either one sounds. Our switch library cross-links them because this matchup keeps coming up. Start with the A/B bursts below, then take the spec table and the picks in order.
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 | Alps SKCM Blue | Kailh BOX Jade |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Clicky | Clicky |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 70 g | 50 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | 65 g (our estimate) |
| Pre-travel | 1.7 mm | 1.8 mm |
| Total travel | 3.5 mm | 3.6 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | No |
| Factory lubed | No | No |
| MX-compatible stem | No | Yes |
| Price tier | Premium | Mid-range |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Alps and Kailh both advertise an actuation force, so the two headline figures in this table are measured at the same point and can be read against each other. Kailh publishes no bottom-out figure for the Kailh BOX Jade, so the figure marked "our estimate" is our own derivation from the forces that are published rather than a rating. How that derivation works .
Verdict
Both the Alps SKCM Blue and the Kailh BOX Jade are clickies, but they are not the same click: the two use different mechanisms, and that is where most of the difference lives. Check your board first: the Alps SKCM Blue does not use an MX style stem, so the two are not interchangeable in the same keyboard. Weight separates them clearly: measured at actuation, the Alps SKCM Blue is 20 g heavier than the Kailh BOX Jade, which changes both fatigue and sound. By use case, then: the Kailh BOX Jade for gaming and typing, the Alps SKCM Blue for a shared office. Read that office call as relative: the Alps SKCM Blue clicks too, just less insistently.
- Gaming pick
- Kailh BOX Jade
- Typing pick
- Kailh BOX Jade
- Office pick
- Alps SKCM Blue
Force curves
Alps SKCM Blue
Alps 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.
Kailh BOX Jade
Kailh publishes no bottom-out force for this switch, so the 65 g at the end of the stroke is our estimate and the run into it is dashed. Everything up to actuation comes from the published numbers. How we derive it.
Alps SKCM Blue or Kailh BOX Jade: the long answer
This pair has a fit problem to clear before feel or sound matter. The Alps SKCM Blue does not use an MX style stem, so it will not drop into a standard hot-swap board or accept ordinary MX keycaps. The Alps SKCM Blue is premium priced, while the Kailh BOX Jade is mid priced. Neither is factory lubed, so enthusiasts often hand lube both for the smoothest result.
On to the mechanical side. Weight is the loud fact here. At actuation the Alps SKCM Blue takes 70 g where the Kailh BOX Jade takes 50 g, and 20 g is enough to change how the third hour feels. The stroke itself is shared: both stack a click mechanism on a bump you already feel. Travel differs at both ends, with the Alps SKCM Blue registering first at 1.7 mm and the Kailh BOX Jade running deepest at 3.6 mm. Everything else about them is close enough that the spring is the honest tiebreak.
What the table cannot tell you is how either one lands in a room. Put them through the player above and the Alps SKCM Blue lands as full-bodied vintage click, crisp leaf snap with body where the Kailh BOX Jade lands as loud, crunchy, metallic double click; unapologetic. They do not even click the same way: a leaf-driven Alps click on the Alps SKCM Blue against a click bar snapping inside the housing on the Kailh BOX Jade, which is most of the tonal difference you are hearing. A click you love at your own desk can still be the loudest thing in someone else’s meeting. One caveat we repeat wherever a player appears: no studio recording sits behind either of these. They are built from what each maker publishes and what the community reports.
Where we land: the Kailh BOX Jade unless noise is the deciding factor. On speed, the scoring hands it a lighter spring at actuation. On a long draft, the click keeps a long session in rhythm, assuming nobody nearby objects. When other people are listening, the Alps SKCM Blue instead, as neither of these belongs in a quiet shared room, and this is only the less punishing of the two clicks. The player above is the cheapest part of this decision, so use it before your wallet is involved.
Each of these has a page of its own with the full spec sheet and the sound notes. Start with the Alps SKCM Blue page and the Kailh BOX Jade page. If you are here to check the board you already own, use our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
For gaming, should I buy the Alps SKCM Blue or the Kailh BOX Jade?
We pick the Kailh BOX Jade for gaming. The scoring gives it a lighter spring at actuation against the Alps SKCM Blue, and both of those show up in a fast game.
Alps SKCM Blue or Kailh BOX Jade: which one is quieter?
Neither is quiet. Two click mechanisms means two switches that broadcast every press, and picking between them will not save your colleagues. If noise decides this, look at a silent tactile instead.
Which switch is heavier, the Alps SKCM Blue or the Kailh BOX Jade?
The Alps SKCM Blue, by 20 g. Both figures are published at actuation, 70 g against 50 g, so they are measured at the same point and can be read straight.
Can the Alps SKCM Blue and the Kailh BOX Jade go in the same keyboard?
No. The Alps SKCM Blue does not use an MX style stem, so it needs a board built for it and will not take ordinary MX keycaps, while the Kailh BOX Jade is a standard MX switch. Whichever you pick decides the keyboard, not the other way round.
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