Alps SKCM White vs Cherry MX Blue MX2A
The Alps SKCM White and the Cherry MX Blue MX2A do not fit the same keyboard, so this comparison starts with what you already own rather than with how either one sounds. Our library of every switch we simulate 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 White | Cherry MX Blue MX2A |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Clicky | Clicky |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 70 g | 50 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | not published |
| Pre-travel | 1.7 mm | 2.2 mm |
| Total travel | 3.5 mm | 4 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 Cherry 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.
Verdict
The type row says clicky twice, which undersells it: these two clicks are produced by different mechanisms. Check your board first: the Alps SKCM White does not use an MX style stem, so the two are not interchangeable in the same keyboard. There is a real weight gap too: 70 g against 50 g at actuation, so the Alps SKCM White asks noticeably more of your fingers over a long session. Split by use: the Cherry MX Blue MX2A for gaming and typing, the Alps SKCM White for a shared office. Read that office call as relative: the Alps SKCM White clicks too, just less insistently.
- Gaming pick
- Cherry MX Blue MX2A
- Typing pick
- Cherry MX Blue MX2A
- Office pick
- Alps SKCM White
Force curves
Alps SKCM White
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.
Cherry MX Blue MX2A
Cherry 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.
Alps SKCM White or Cherry MX Blue MX2A: the long answer
Before anything else, check that both of these will go into the board you own. The Alps SKCM White 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 White is premium priced, while the Cherry MX Blue MX2A is mid priced. Neither is factory lubed, so enthusiasts often hand lube both for the smoothest result.
The specs are the smaller half of this pair, but they are not nothing. The spread at actuation is 20 g, 70 g on the Alps SKCM White against 50 g on the Cherry MX Blue MX2A, which puts them in different weight brackets rather than two shades of one. Travel differs at both ends, with the Alps SKCM White registering first at 1.7 mm and the Cherry MX Blue MX2A running deepest at 4.0 mm. Type is not in play. Both are clickies, and both stack a click mechanism on a bump you already feel. With the stroke shared, that spring gap does most of the deciding here.
Now the part spec sheets cannot carry: the voice. Put them through the player above and the Alps SKCM White lands as bright vintage click, slightly softer than Blue where the Cherry MX Blue MX2A lands as high-pitched two-part click with a faint upstroke rattle. They do not even click the same way: a leaf-driven Alps click on the Alps SKCM White against a click jacket sliding down the stem on the Cherry MX Blue MX2A, which is most of the tonal difference you are hearing. Either way, both of these are heard by everyone in the room, so the choice between them is a choice of tone and not of volume. These demos are synthesized from published specs and documented character rather than studio recordings, which every player on the site says plainly.
Two of the three questions have the same answer. The Cherry MX Blue MX2A takes gaming, because the honest answer is that either would do, and it wins on a margin too small to feel, and typing, because the click turns a long writing session into a rhythm, if your room allows it. Only the shared-room question goes to the Alps SKCM White, as neither of these belongs in a quiet shared room, and this is only the less punishing of the two clicks. Do the listening first. It costs nothing and it changes minds more often than a spec table does.
Want the full story on either switch? Read the dedicated Alps SKCM White page and the Cherry MX Blue MX2A page. If you are here to check the board you already own, use our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Alps SKCM White or Cherry MX Blue MX2A for gaming?
We pick the Cherry MX Blue MX2A for gaming. The two are close enough for gaming that either works; our scoring defaults to it by a small margin.
Which of the Alps SKCM White and the Cherry MX Blue MX2A is quieter in a shared room?
Both are loud, so choosing between them is choosing a tone and not a volume. If the room is the constraint, neither of these is the answer and a silent tactile is.
Is the Alps SKCM White heavier than the Cherry MX Blue MX2A?
The Alps SKCM White, and the comparison is clean: actuation on both sides, 70 g to 50 g.
Can the Alps SKCM White and the Cherry MX Blue MX2A go in the same keyboard?
No. The Alps SKCM White does not use an MX style stem, so it needs a board built for it and will not take ordinary MX keycaps, while the Cherry MX Blue MX2A is a standard MX switch. Whichever you pick decides the keyboard, not the other way round.
More comparisons
More vs Alps SKCM White
More vs Cherry MX Blue MX2A
Or browse every switch comparison on the site.