Gateron Blue vs Kailh BOX White
The Gateron Blue and the Kailh BOX White are both clicky, but they do not click the same way, and that is where the whole difference lives. Our library of every switch we simulate 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 | Gateron Blue | Kailh BOX White |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Clicky | Clicky |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 60 g | 45 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | 60 g (our estimate) |
| Pre-travel | 2.3 mm | 1.8 mm |
| Total travel | 4 mm | 3.6 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | No |
| Factory lubed | No | No |
| MX-compatible stem | Yes | Yes |
| Price tier | Budget | Mid-range |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Gateron and Kailh 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. The figure marked "our estimate" is our own derivation and not a manufacturer number, because Kailh publishes no bottom-out figure for the Kailh BOX White. How that derivation works .
Verdict
This is clicky against clicky with a catch, because the Gateron Blue and the Kailh BOX White make their click in different ways. They also click differently: a click jacket sliding down the stem on the Gateron Blue against a click bar snapping inside the housing on the Kailh BOX White. There is a real weight gap too: 60 g against 45 g at actuation, so the Gateron Blue asks noticeably more of your fingers over a long session. The scoring splits them: the Kailh BOX White for gaming and typing, the Gateron Blue for a shared office. Read that office call as relative: the Gateron Blue clicks too, just less insistently.
- Gaming pick
- Kailh BOX White
- Typing pick
- Kailh BOX White
- 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 BOX White
Kailh 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 Blue or Kailh BOX White: the long answer
Noise is the headline on this pair, so start there. Two different voices: bright, slightly rattly click-jacket snap on the Gateron Blue, sharp, clean tick-tick; click bar snapping on press and release on the Kailh BOX White. They do not even click the same way: a click jacket sliding down the stem on the Gateron Blue against a click bar snapping inside the housing on the Kailh BOX White, which is most of the tonal difference you are hearing. A click you love at your own desk can still be the loudest thing in someone else’s meeting. These demos are synthesized from published specs and documented character rather than studio recordings, which every player on the site says plainly.
Back to the mechanical side. The spread at actuation is 15 g, 60 g on the Gateron Blue against 45 g on the Kailh BOX White, which puts them in different weight brackets rather than two shades of one. Travel differs at both ends, with the Kailh BOX White registering first at 1.8 mm and the Gateron Blue running deepest at 4.0 mm. The stroke itself is shared: both fire an audible click alongside the bump. Same stroke character, so the spring is the fact to weigh.
On price and practicality, the Gateron Blue is budget friendly, while the Kailh BOX White is mid priced. Lube is on you with both of these, which is a real cost in time whichever one you order.
Who buys which, then? Everything except noise points at the Kailh BOX White. For fast inputs, the scoring hands it a lighter spring at actuation and a shorter distance to actuation. Across a long writing session, the click is a metronome for a long draft, which some writers will not give up. Noise points the other way, to the Gateron Blue, as neither of these belongs in a quiet shared room, and this is only the less punishing of the two clicks. None of this beats hearing them yourself, which the player above lets you do in about a minute.
For either one on its own terms, read the Gateron Blue page and the Kailh BOX White page. If you are here to check the board you already own, use our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Gateron Blue or Kailh BOX White for gaming?
We pick the Kailh BOX White for gaming. Of the two it has the quicker, less intrusive stroke, winning on a lighter spring at actuation and a shorter distance to actuation.
Is the Gateron Blue quieter than the Kailh BOX White?
Neither is quiet. Two click mechanisms means two switches that broadcast every press, and picking between them will not save your colleagues. If noise decides this, look at a silent tactile instead.
Which has the heavier spring, the Gateron Blue or the Kailh BOX White?
The Gateron Blue. Both brands publish at actuation, which makes 60 g against 45 g an honest 15 g rather than two numbers from different rulers.
Which is cheaper to fill a board with, the Gateron Blue or the Kailh BOX White?
The Gateron Blue sits in the budget friendly bracket and the Kailh BOX White 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
More vs Gateron Blue
More vs Kailh BOX White
Or browse every switch comparison on the site.