Gateron Blue vs Kailh Blue
Weight is the real gap here: 10 g between the Gateron Blue and the Kailh Blue at actuation, which is enough to change how a long session ends. Our switch library 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 | Gateron Blue | Kailh Blue |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Clicky | Clicky |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 60 g | 50 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | not published |
| Pre-travel | 2.3 mm | 2 mm |
| Total travel | 4 mm | 4 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | No |
| Factory lubed | No | No |
| MX-compatible stem | Yes | Yes |
| Price tier | Budget | 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.
Verdict
Both the Gateron Blue and the Kailh Blue are clickies, so this matchup comes down to weight, travel and sound rather than feel. There is a real weight gap too: 60 g against 50 g at actuation, so the Gateron Blue asks noticeably more of your fingers over a long session. The Kailh Blue also actuates earlier, 2.0 mm of pre-travel against 2.3 mm, which fast players tend to notice. The scoring splits them: the Kailh Blue for gaming, the Gateron Blue for typing and a shared office. Read that office call as relative: the Gateron Blue clicks too, just less insistently.
- Gaming pick
- Kailh Blue
- Typing pick
- Gateron Blue
- Office pick
- Gateron Blue
Force curves
Gateron Blue
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.
Kailh Blue
Kailh 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.
Gateron Blue or Kailh Blue: the long answer
Specs first, since the feel gap is what you notice in the first minute of typing. Springs split them by 10 g at actuation: 60 g for the Gateron Blue, 50 g for the Kailh Blue. Both are clickies either way, so each announces actuation to your finger and to the room at once. The Kailh Blue registers earlier, 2.0 mm against 2.3 mm, inside the same 4.0 mm of total travel. Everything else about them is close enough that the spring is the honest tiebreak.
Sound decides more of these arguments than force curves do. Played back to back, the Gateron Blue is bright, slightly rattly click-jacket snap against bright budget click-jacket rattle from the Kailh Blue. A click you love at your own desk can still be the loudest thing in someone else’s meeting. The usual caveat applies. Nothing here is a studio recording; both packs are synthesized from published specs, and the players say so.
On the practical side, both are budget friendly. Lube is on you with both of these, which is a real cost in time whichever one you order.
Answer the use case and the switch follows. Games point at the Kailh Blue, because a lighter spring at actuation and a shorter distance to actuation go its way. Writing points at the Gateron Blue, since the click is a metronome for a long draft, which some writers will not give up. A shared room points at the Gateron Blue, as neither of these belongs in a quiet shared room, and this is only the less punishing of the two clicks. Do the listening first. It costs nothing and it changes minds more often than a spec table does.
For either one on its own terms, read the Gateron Blue page and the Kailh Blue page. Or leave switches aside for a minute and run your current keyboard through the free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Gateron Blue or Kailh Blue for gaming?
We pick the Kailh Blue for gaming. The scoring gives it a lighter spring at actuation and a shorter distance to actuation against the Gateron Blue, and both of those show up in a fast game.
Which of the Gateron Blue and the Kailh Blue is quieter in a shared room?
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.
Gateron Blue vs Kailh Blue: which one is the heavier press?
The Gateron Blue, and the comparison is clean: actuation on both sides, 60 g to 50 g.
More comparisons
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