Gateron Baby Kangaroo 2.0 vs Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch)

Gateron Baby Kangaroo 2.0 or Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch): the long answer

Start with what these cost to fill a board, because that is the widest gap between them. The Gateron Baby Kangaroo 2.0 is mid priced, while the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) is premium priced. 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.

Now the part the spec table measures. They register at the same 2.0 mm, then part company on depth: 4.0 mm on the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) against 3.4 mm on the Gateron Baby Kangaroo 2.0. Gateron and Community are both selling you tactiles here, so each one puts a felt event in the middle of the stroke. At actuation they sit 1 g apart, 60 g against 59 g, close enough that lube and housing will decide the feel before the spring does. Nothing here is decisive on its own, which is why the sound comparison matters more than usual on this pair.

Sound decides more of these arguments than force curves do. Through the A/B player above, the Gateron Baby Kangaroo 2.0 comes through as poppy, clacky tactile snap with a lively rebound, while the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) reads as deep rounded thock with a snappy tactile knock. As everywhere on the site, these are simulations built from published specifications and documented character. Accurate enough to compare, not a recording.

The scoring gives up trying to divide this pair: the Gateron Baby Kangaroo 2.0 is our pick for gaming, for typing and for a shared desk. On speed, the two are close enough here that either works, and our scoring gives it the nod by a hair. On typing feel, nothing about it gets tiring by the afternoon, which is the whole test for a writing switch. On noise, it is the quieter of the two once the room is listening. That leaves the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) to anyone who preferred its voice in the player above, which is a good enough reason on its own. The player above is the cheapest part of this decision, so use it before your wallet is involved.

Each of these has a page of its own with the full spec sheet and the sound notes. Start with the Gateron Baby Kangaroo 2.0 page and the Community Holy Panda (Original Frankenswitch) page. If you are here to check the board you already own, use our free keyboard tester.

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