Durock Koala vs Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch)
One of these is ready out of the bag and one is a project: the Durock Koala comes factory lubed, the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) does not. Our full 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 | Durock Koala | Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Tactile | Tactile |
| Brand rates force at | bottom-out | bottom-out |
| Actuation force | 55 g | 60 g |
| Bottom-out force | 67 g | 67 g |
| 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 | Premium | Premium |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Durock and Community both advertise a bottom-out force, so the two headline figures in this table are measured at the same point and can be read against each other.
Verdict
The Durock Koala and the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) are both tactiles, so nothing separates them at the fingertip until you look at springs and acoustics. One of them is ready out of the bag: the Durock Koala is lubed at the factory and the other is not. Weight is nearly even at actuation: 60 g for the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) against 55 g, a gap most fingers will barely register. Split by use: the Durock Koala for gaming and a shared office, the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) for typing.
- Gaming pick
- Durock Koala
- Typing pick
- Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch)
- Office pick
- Durock Koala
Force curves
Durock Koala
Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch)
Durock Koala or Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch): the long answer
Start with what you will have to do to them, not with how they feel. Both are premium priced. Only the Durock Koala comes factory lubed, so the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) asks for either an evening with a brush or tolerance of a drier stroke.
The specs are the smaller half of this pair, but they are not nothing. The Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) is nominally firmer at actuation, 60 g to 55 g, but 5 g is not a gap you buy a switch for. Type is not in play. Both are tactiles, and both raise a bump close to the point the press registers. Travel is a straight match, 2.0 mm of pre-travel and 4.0 mm in full on both. Neither one out-feels the other on type, so the small differences in the table are where the decision lives.
The ears usually get the last word here. Played back to back, the Durock Koala is thocky rounded tap, T1-family bump against deep rounded thock with a snappy tactile knock from the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch). 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.
The picks split by use. Take the Durock Koala if games come first, because the honest answer is that either would do, and it wins on a margin too small to feel. Take the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) if the board is mostly a writing tool, since nothing about it gets tiring by the afternoon, which is the whole test for a writing switch. Take the Durock Koala if other people have to sit near it, as it is the quieter of the two once the room is listening. Before you order either, match the volume trims above and hear them back to back.
Want the full story on either switch? Read the dedicated Durock Koala page and the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) page, or test how your current keyboard performs with our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better for gaming, the Durock Koala or the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch)?
We pick the Durock Koala for gaming. The two are close enough for gaming that either works; our scoring defaults to it by a small margin.
Durock Koala or Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch): which one is quieter?
Neither is dampened, so volume comes down to your board and your typing force. The one audible difference on the spec sheet is lube: the Durock Koala is lubed at the factory, which takes out spring ping and scratch rather than loudness.
Is the Durock Koala heavier than the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch)?
The Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch), by 5 g. Both figures are published at actuation, 60 g against 55 g, so they are measured at the same point and can be read straight.
Do the Durock Koala and the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) need lubing?
The Durock Koala arrives lubed from the factory, so it is usable straight out of the bag. The Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) does not, and on a full board that is an evening of work if you want it at its smoothest. Plenty of people run unlubed switches happily; it is a question of whether a slightly drier stroke bothers you.
More comparisons
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Or browse every switch comparison on the site.