Kailh Blue vs Outemu Blue
The Kailh Blue and the Outemu Blue are separated mostly by spring weight, 10 g of it at actuation, with the Outemu Blue the firmer press and the Kailh Blue the easier one to hold down. 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 | Kailh Blue | Outemu Blue |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Clicky | Clicky |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 50 g | 60 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | 65 g |
| Pre-travel | 2 mm | 2.2 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
Stroke character is a tie. Two clickies feel alike under a finger, which pushes the decision onto the rows below the type row. There is a real weight gap too: 60 g against 50 g at actuation, so the Outemu Blue asks noticeably more of your fingers over a long session. The Kailh Blue also actuates earlier, 2.0 mm of pre-travel against 2.2 mm, which fast players tend to notice. Our picks: the Kailh Blue for gaming and a shared office, the Outemu Blue for typing. Read that office call as relative: the Kailh Blue clicks too, just less insistently.
- Gaming pick
- Kailh Blue
- Typing pick
- Outemu Blue
- Office pick
- Kailh Blue
Force curves
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.
Outemu Blue
Kailh Blue or Outemu Blue: the long answer
The table above already holds the answer. Here is what it means under a finger. The Outemu Blue carries the heavier spring at actuation, 60 g to 50 g. That is a real 10 g without being a change of bracket. Type is not in play. Both are clickies, and both fire an audible click alongside the bump. Both run to 4.0 mm, but the Kailh Blue counts the press at 2.0 mm where the Outemu Blue waits until 2.2 mm. Everything else about them is close enough that the spring is the honest tiebreak.
What the table cannot tell you is how either one lands in a room. Through the A/B player above, the Kailh Blue comes through as bright budget click-jacket rattle, while the Outemu Blue reads as harsh, loud, rattly click-jacket snap. A click you love at your own desk can still be the loudest thing in someone else’s meeting. Both packs are synthesized rather than recorded, so read the comparison as a faithful sketch of each voice and not as a measurement of it.
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.
The picks split by use. Take the Kailh Blue if games come first, because the scoring hands it a lighter spring at actuation and a shorter distance to actuation. Take the Outemu Blue if the board is mostly a writing tool, since the click is a metronome for a long draft, which some writers will not give up. Take the Kailh Blue if other people have to sit near it, as neither of these belongs in a quiet shared room, and this is only the less punishing of the two clicks. Whichever way you land, listen to both above with the volume trims matched before you spend anything.
Want the full story on either switch? Read the dedicated Kailh Blue page and the Outemu Blue page. Or leave switches aside for a minute and run your current keyboard through the free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Kailh Blue or Outemu Blue for gaming?
We pick the Kailh Blue for gaming. It takes this one on a lighter spring at actuation and a shorter distance to actuation, which is what a fast repeated press actually cares about.
Which is quieter, the Kailh Blue or the Outemu Blue?
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 Kailh Blue or the Outemu Blue?
The Outemu Blue, and the comparison is clean: actuation on both sides, 60 g to 50 g.
More comparisons
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