Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A vs Gateron Silent Red
The Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A and the Gateron Silent Red are separated mostly by spring weight, 10 g of it at bottom-out, with the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A the firmer press and the Gateron Silent Red the easier one to hold down. Our switch library puts these two on each other's shortlist, and the player below is the fastest way to settle it: match the volumes, then work down through the 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 Silent Red MX2A | Gateron Silent Red |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Linear (silent) | Linear (silent) |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 45 g | 45 g |
| Bottom-out force | 60 g (our estimate) | 50 g |
| Pre-travel | 1.9 mm | 2 mm |
| Total travel | 3.7 mm | 4 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | Yes | Yes |
| Factory lubed | Yes | Yes |
| MX-compatible stem | Yes | Yes |
| Price tier | Mid-range | Mid-range |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Cherry and Gateron 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. Cherry publishes no bottom-out figure for the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A, 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 Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A and the Gateron Silent Red are linears, so this matchup comes down to weight, travel and sound rather than feel. The springs are far apart, with the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A at 60 g bottom-out versus 50 g for the Gateron Silent Red, a gap you feel within a paragraph of typing. Cherry publishes no bottom-out figure, so treat that 60 g as our estimate. The Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A also stops sooner, 3.7 mm of total travel against 4.0 mm. The Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A comes out ahead of the Gateron Silent Red for gaming and for typing, and it is the dampened one, so a shared room is not an argument, so this comparison has one answer instead of a set of them.
- Overall pick
- Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A
This pair does not split by use case: the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A comes out ahead of the Gateron Silent Red on all three, so there is one pick here rather than three.
Force curves
Cherry MX Silent Red 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 Silent Red
Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A or Gateron Silent Red: the long answer
Start with feel, because it settles most switch arguments before sound comes up. Springs split them by 10 g at bottom-out: 60 g for the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A, 50 g for the Gateron Silent Red. Cherry publishes no bottom-out figure, so treat that 60 g as our estimate. Cherry and Gateron are both selling you linears here, so both give you spring resistance and nothing else. Travel differs at both ends, with the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A registering first at 1.9 mm and the Gateron Silent Red running deepest at 4.0 mm. Same stroke character, so the spring is the fact to weigh.
Sound decides more of these arguments than force curves do. Put them through the player above and the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A lands as rubber-cushioned thud, dampened in both directions where the Gateron Silent Red lands as soft dampened patter, both strokes cushioned. Dampening pads are on both, which puts the whole comparison inside a narrow band of volume and moves it onto tone. 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 the practical side, both are mid priced. Factory lube on both, so the smoothness you hear in the player is roughly the smoothness you get.
So who should buy which? The same switch wins every way we score it: the Cherry MX Silent Red 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, it holds the same feel from the first hour of writing to the last. On noise, its dampening keeps the sound from carrying across the room. That leaves the Gateron Silent Red to anyone who preferred its voice in the player above, which is a good enough reason on its own. Match the trims above, play both, and trust whichever one you keep replaying.
For either one on its own terms, read the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A page and the Gateron Silent Red page. Or leave switches aside for a minute and run your current keyboard through the free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
For gaming, should I buy the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A or the Gateron Silent Red?
We pick the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A for gaming. The two are close enough for gaming that either works; our scoring defaults to it by a small margin.
Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A or Gateron Silent Red: which one is quieter?
Neither wins on volume, because both are silenced. What separates them is what is left after the pads: the pitch of the press and how muted the release feels.
Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A vs Gateron Silent Red: which one is the heavier press?
The Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A, on the numbers we have: 60 g against 50 g at bottom-out. Read that as a guide rather than a like-for-like manufacturer comparison, because Cherry publishes no bottom-out figure, so the 60 g we list for the Cherry MX Silent Red MX2A is our own derivation from the forces it does publish rather than a manufacturer rating.
More comparisons
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