Cherry MX Blue MX2A vs Kailh BOX Jade
The Cherry MX Blue MX2A and the Kailh BOX Jade are both clicky, but they do not click the same way, and that is where the whole difference lives. Our switch library links the two to each other for that reason. Play the A/B bursts below to hear them back to back, match the volumes, then read the spec table and the verdict.
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 | Cherry MX Blue MX2A | Kailh BOX Jade |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Clicky | Clicky |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 50 g | 50 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | 65 g (our estimate) |
| Pre-travel | 2.2 mm | 1.8 mm |
| Total travel | 4 mm | 3.6 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | No |
| Factory lubed | No | No |
| MX-compatible stem | Yes | Yes |
| Price tier | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Cherry 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. What actuation force actually measures .
Verdict
This is clicky against clicky with a catch, because the Cherry MX Blue MX2A and the Kailh BOX Jade make their click in different ways. They also click differently: a click jacket sliding down the stem on the Cherry MX Blue MX2A against a click bar snapping inside the housing on the Kailh BOX Jade. Weight is hard to separate here: each is rated 50 g at actuation, and that is the only measuring point with a published figure for each. Where we land: the Kailh BOX Jade for gaming, the Cherry MX Blue MX2A for typing and a shared office. Read that office call as relative: the Cherry MX Blue MX2A clicks too, just less insistently.
- Gaming pick
- Kailh BOX Jade
- Typing pick
- Cherry MX Blue MX2A
- Office pick
- Cherry MX Blue MX2A
Force curves
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.
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.
Cherry MX Blue MX2A or Kailh BOX Jade: the long answer
This one is decided by sound before anything mechanical. Two different voices: high-pitched two-part click with a faint upstroke rattle on the Cherry MX Blue MX2A, loud, crunchy, metallic double click; unapologetic on the Kailh BOX Jade. They do not even click the same way: a click jacket sliding down the stem on the Cherry MX Blue MX2A against a click bar snapping inside the housing on the Kailh BOX Jade, 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. 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.
Now the part the spec table measures. Travel differs at both ends, with the Kailh BOX Jade registering first at 1.8 mm and the Cherry MX Blue MX2A running deepest at 4.0 mm. Both are clickies either way, so both stack a click mechanism on a bump you already feel. They land on the same 50 g at actuation. That is the only measuring point with a figure for each of them, and bottom-out is exactly where two switches matched at actuation tend to separate. Kailh publishes no bottom-out figure, so treat that 65 g as our estimate. Nothing here is decisive on its own, which is why the sound comparison matters more than usual on this pair.
On cost and convenience, both are mid priced. Lube is on you with both of these, which is a real cost in time whichever one you order.
Who buys which, then? Gaming goes to the Kailh BOX Jade, because the honest answer is that either would do, and it wins on a margin too small to feel. Writing goes to the Cherry MX Blue MX2A, since the click is a metronome for a long draft, which some writers will not give up. A shared room goes to the Cherry MX Blue MX2A, 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.
For either one on its own terms, read the Cherry MX Blue MX2A 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
Is the Cherry MX Blue MX2A or the Kailh BOX Jade the better gaming switch?
We pick the Kailh BOX Jade for gaming. Honestly either is fine here. It takes the nod once the scoring is added up, and only just.
Which is quieter, the Cherry MX Blue MX2A or the Kailh BOX Jade?
Neither, honestly. Both are clicky switches that announce every keystroke, so neither belongs in a quiet shared space. If noise is the deciding factor, a silent tactile is the better direction entirely.
Which has the heavier spring, the Cherry MX Blue MX2A or the Kailh BOX Jade?
Neither, as far as the published numbers go: both are rated 50 g at actuation, the only measuring point with a published figure for each. Bottom-out is where two switches matched at actuation often diverge, but neither switch here has a published bottom-out figure at all. Treat this as a tie on the spec sheet rather than a proven match in the hand.
More comparisons
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