Gateron Milky Yellow Pro vs NovelKeys NK Cream
Money is the honest first difference between the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro and the NovelKeys NK Cream: one is budget friendly and the other premium priced, multiplied by a full board. Our full switch library links the two to each other for that reason. Play the A/B bursts below to hear them back to back, match the volumes, then read the spec 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 Milky Yellow Pro | NovelKeys NK Cream |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Linear | Linear |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 50 g | 55 g |
| Bottom-out force | 62 g (our estimate) | 70 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 | Budget | Premium |
| 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. The figure marked "our estimate" is our own derivation and not a manufacturer number, because Gateron publishes no bottom-out figure for the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro. How that derivation works .
Verdict
The Gateron Milky Yellow Pro and the NovelKeys NK Cream are both linears, so nothing separates them at the fingertip until you look at springs and acoustics. The Gateron Milky Yellow Pro is the cheaper board to fill by a full bracket, budget friendly against premium priced. Their springs sit close together, just 5 g apart at actuation, with the NovelKeys NK Cream the marginally firmer press. We land on the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro for every use we score, and it is the one that carries less across a room, so the NovelKeys NK Cream makes sense only if you preferred its voice in the player above.
- Overall pick
- Gateron Milky Yellow Pro
Our three scores agree on this pair. The Gateron Milky Yellow Pro takes all of them, which is why there is a single card above instead of three.
Force curves
Gateron Milky Yellow Pro
Gateron publishes no bottom-out force for this switch, so the 62 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.
NovelKeys NK Cream
Gateron Milky Yellow Pro or NovelKeys NK Cream: the long answer
Start with what these cost to fill a board, because that is the widest gap between them. The Gateron Milky Yellow Pro is budget friendly, while the NovelKeys NK Cream 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.
That leaves the stroke itself. Springs split them by 5 g at actuation: 55 g for the NovelKeys NK Cream, 50 g for the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro. Gateron and NovelKeys are both selling you linears here, so both give you spring resistance and nothing else. Travel is a straight match, 2.0 mm of pre-travel and 4.0 mm in full on both. Same family of stroke, so read the detail rather than the headline.
What the table cannot tell you is how either one lands in a room. Put them through the player above and the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro lands as deeper, muted, creamy bottom-out from the milky nylon housing where the NovelKeys NK Cream lands as unique rounded POM clack-thock, deep and resonant. These demos are synthesized from published specs and documented character rather than studio recordings, which every player on the site says plainly.
The scoring gives up trying to divide this pair: the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro 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, nothing about it gets tiring by the afternoon, which is the whole test for a writing switch. On noise, it is the one of these two you would not apologize for. That leaves the NovelKeys NK Cream to anyone who preferred its voice in the player above, which is a good enough reason on its own. 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 Milky Yellow Pro page and the NovelKeys NK Cream page. If you are here to check the board you already own, use our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
For gaming, should I buy the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro or the NovelKeys NK Cream?
We pick the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro for gaming. This is close to a coin toss. The scoring hands it over by a margin you would not feel in a match.
Gateron Milky Yellow Pro or NovelKeys NK Cream: which one is quieter?
They are close. Neither is a silent switch and neither clicks, so loudness depends mostly on how hard you bottom out and the board they sit in. Their character differs though: the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro leans toward deeper, muted, creamy bottom-out from the milky nylon housing, while the NovelKeys NK Cream is unique rounded POM clack-thock, deep and resonant.
Which has the heavier spring, the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro or the NovelKeys NK Cream?
The NovelKeys NK Cream is heavier: 55 g against 50 g, both measured at actuation, so this is a fair like-for-like comparison.
Which is cheaper to fill a board with, the Gateron Milky Yellow Pro or the NovelKeys NK Cream?
The Gateron Milky Yellow Pro sits in the budget friendly bracket and the NovelKeys NK Cream in the premium priced one. We do not hold a reliable per-switch price for both, so the bracket is the honest answer rather than a total.
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