Gateron Red vs Kailh BOX Red
Money is the honest first difference between the Gateron Red and the Kailh BOX Red: one is budget friendly and the other mid priced, multiplied by a full board. Our 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 | Gateron Red | Kailh BOX Red |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Linear | Linear |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 45 g | 45 g |
| Bottom-out force | 55 g (our estimate) | 60 g (our estimate) |
| Pre-travel | 2 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. Neither Gateron nor Kailh publishes a bottom-out figure, so the two figures marked "our estimate" are our own derivation from the forces that are published rather than a rating. How we derive a bottom-out figure .
Verdict
Both the Gateron Red and the Kailh BOX Red are linears, so this matchup comes down to weight, travel and sound rather than feel. Price splits them too: the Gateron Red is the budget friendly option while the Kailh BOX Red sits in the mid priced bracket, which adds up across a 70 switch board. Weight is nearly even at bottom-out: 60 g for the Kailh BOX Red against 55 g, a gap most fingers will barely register. Neither Gateron nor Kailh publishes a bottom-out figure, so both of those are our estimates. The scoring splits them: the Kailh BOX Red for gaming, the Gateron Red for typing and a shared office.
- Gaming pick
- Kailh BOX Red
- Typing pick
- Gateron Red
- Office pick
- Gateron Red
Force curves
Gateron Red
Gateron publishes no bottom-out force for this switch, so the 55 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.
Kailh BOX Red
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 Red or Kailh BOX Red: the long answer
Money separates these two more cleanly than any spec does. The Gateron Red is budget friendly, while the Kailh BOX Red is mid priced. Neither ships lubed, so budget an evening with a brush if you want either at its best.
The specs are the smaller half of this pair, but they are not nothing. Spring weight barely separates them, 5 g at bottom-out with the Kailh BOX Red on the firmer side, which most fingers will not register. Neither Gateron nor Kailh publishes a bottom-out figure, so both of those are our estimates. Type is not in play. Both are linears, and neither one puts a bump or a click in the way of the press. Neither the trigger point nor the depth matches: 1.8 mm to actuation on the Kailh BOX Red against 2.0 mm, and 3.6 mm of total travel on the Kailh BOX Red against 4.0 mm. None of these gaps is large. Stack them up and they still point somewhere, but gently.
Now the part spec sheets cannot carry: the voice. Put them through the player above and the Gateron Red lands as smooth, light clack with minimal scratch where the Kailh BOX Red lands as clean, slightly hollow clack; tight and consistent. One caveat we repeat wherever a player appears: no studio recording sits behind either of these. They are built from what each maker publishes and what the community reports.
This one genuinely splits. The Kailh BOX Red for games, because the two are close enough here that either works, and our scoring gives it the nod by a hair. The Gateron Red for writing, since it holds the same feel from the first hour of writing to the last. The Gateron Red for an office, as it is the quieter of the two once the room is listening. Whichever way you land, listen to both above with the volume trims matched before you spend anything.
There is more on both than a head-to-head can carry. Start with the Gateron Red page and the Kailh BOX Red page. Or leave switches aside for a minute and run your current keyboard through the free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
For gaming, should I buy the Gateron Red or the Kailh BOX Red?
We pick the Kailh BOX Red for gaming. This is close to a coin toss. The scoring hands it over by a margin you would not feel in a match.
Which of the Gateron Red and the Kailh BOX Red is quieter in a shared room?
Volume is roughly a wash: no dampening and no click mechanism on either, so your typing force and your case decide the level. The character is not a wash, with the Gateron Red reading as smooth, light clack with minimal scratch against clean, slightly hollow clack; tight and consistent from the Kailh BOX Red.
Gateron Red vs Kailh BOX Red: which one is the heavier press?
The Kailh BOX Red, on the numbers we have: 60 g against 55 g at bottom-out. Read that as a guide rather than a like-for-like manufacturer comparison, because neither Gateron nor Kailh publishes a bottom-out figure, so both of those numbers are our own derivation from the forces they do publish.
Which is cheaper to fill a board with, the Gateron Red or the Kailh BOX Red?
The Gateron Red sits in the budget friendly bracket and the Kailh BOX Red 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.
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