Cherry MX Brown MX2A vs Gateron Brown
The Cherry MX Brown MX2A and the Gateron Brown are separated mostly by spring weight, 10 g of it at actuation, with the Gateron Brown the firmer press and the Cherry MX Brown MX2A 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 | Cherry MX Brown MX2A | Gateron Brown |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Tactile | Tactile |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 45 g | 55 g |
| Bottom-out force | 60 g (our estimate) | not published |
| Pre-travel | 2 mm | 2 mm |
| Total travel | 4 mm | 4 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | No |
| Factory lubed | Yes | No |
| MX-compatible stem | Yes | Yes |
| Price tier | Mid-range | Budget |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Both makers rate these at actuation, which is the one case where the advertised numbers compare directly. Every other force row still has to be matched basis to basis. The figure marked "our estimate" is our own derivation and not a manufacturer number, because Cherry publishes no bottom-out figure for the Cherry MX Brown MX2A. How that derivation works .
Verdict
The Cherry MX Brown MX2A and the Gateron Brown are both tactiles, so nothing separates them at the fingertip until you look at springs and acoustics. There is a real weight gap too: 55 g against 45 g at actuation, so the Gateron Brown asks noticeably more of your fingers over a long session. The Gateron Brown is the cheaper board to fill by a full bracket, budget friendly against mid priced. The Cherry MX Brown MX2A comes out ahead of the Gateron Brown for gaming and for typing, and it is the one that carries less across a room, so this comparison has one answer instead of a set of them.
- Overall pick
- Cherry MX Brown MX2A
Gaming, typing and a shared office all point at the Cherry MX Brown MX2A, so printing the same name three times would tell you nothing. One pick it is.
Force curves
Cherry MX Brown MX2A
Cherry publishes no bottom-out force for this switch, so the 60 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.
Gateron Brown
Gateron 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 Brown MX2A or Gateron Brown: the long answer
The table above already holds the answer. Here is what it means under a finger. Springs split them by 10 g at actuation: 55 g for the Gateron Brown, 45 g for the Cherry MX Brown MX2A. Type is not in play. Both are tactiles, and both raise a bump close to the point the press registers. The two stroke depths are identical, 2.0 mm to actuation inside 4.0 mm of total travel. Same stroke character, so the spring is the fact to weigh.
The ears usually get the last word here. Put them through the player above and the Cherry MX Brown MX2A lands as soft, slightly sandy mid-pitch tap where the Gateron Brown lands as soft mid-pitch tap, slightly rounder than MX Brown. Both packs are synthesized rather than recorded, so read the comparison as a faithful sketch of each voice and not as a measurement of it.
On price and practicality, the Cherry MX Brown MX2A is mid priced, while the Gateron Brown is budget friendly. One of them has already been lubed for you and one has not, which is worth more than the price gap if you were not planning to open 70 switches.
So who should buy which? The same switch wins every way we score it: the Cherry MX Brown MX2A is our pick for gaming, for typing and for a shared desk. On speed, the honest answer is that either would do, and it wins on a margin too small to feel. On typing feel, its keystroke stays consistent and comfortable across a full day of writing. On noise, it makes the least fuss of the pair in a shared space. That leaves the Gateron Brown to anyone who preferred its voice in the player above, which is a good enough reason on its own. None of this beats hearing them yourself, which the player above lets you do in about a minute.
There is more on both than a head-to-head can carry. Start with the Cherry MX Brown MX2A page and the Gateron Brown page, or test how your current keyboard performs with our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
For gaming, should I buy the Cherry MX Brown MX2A or the Gateron Brown?
We pick the Cherry MX Brown 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 Cherry MX Brown MX2A and the Gateron Brown 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 Cherry MX Brown MX2A reading as soft, slightly sandy mid-pitch tap against soft mid-pitch tap, slightly rounder than MX Brown from the Gateron Brown.
Is the Cherry MX Brown MX2A heavier than the Gateron Brown?
The Gateron Brown, and the comparison is clean: actuation on both sides, 55 g to 45 g.
Which is cheaper to fill a board with, the Cherry MX Brown MX2A or the Gateron Brown?
The Gateron Brown sits in the budget friendly bracket and the Cherry MX Brown MX2A in the mid 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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