Topre 45g Electrocapacitive vs Topre 55g Electrocapacitive
The Topre 45g Electrocapacitive and the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive are separated mostly by spring weight, 10 g of it at actuation, with the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive the firmer press and the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive the easier one to hold down. Our switch library cross-links them because this matchup keeps coming up. Start with the A/B bursts below, then take the spec table and the picks in order.
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 | Topre 45g Electrocapacitive | Topre 55g Electrocapacitive |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Tactile | Tactile |
| Brand rates force at | actuation | actuation |
| Actuation force | 45 g | 55 g |
| Bottom-out force | not published | not published |
| Pre-travel | 2.2 mm | 2.2 mm |
| Total travel | 4 mm | 4 mm |
| Silent (dampened) | No | No |
| Factory lubed | Yes | Yes |
| MX-compatible stem | No | No |
| Price tier | Premium | Premium |
| Street price | varies | varies |
Topre advertises an actuation force for both of these, so the two headline figures in this table are measured at the same point and can be read against each other.
Verdict
This is a tactile versus tactile contest: the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive and the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive share the same stroke character, which makes the smaller spec gaps decisive. There is a real weight gap too: 55 g against 45 g at actuation, so the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive asks noticeably more of your fingers over a long session. With the numbers this close, the honest tiebreak is the voice: the iconic HHKB thock: deep 'toc' with a pillowy landing on the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive, deeper, firmer thock with authority on the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive. We land on the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive for every use we score, and it is the safer of the two in a shared room, so the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive makes sense only if you preferred its voice in the player above.
- Overall pick
- Topre 45g Electrocapacitive
Our three scores agree on this pair. The Topre 45g Electrocapacitive takes all of them, which is why there is a single card above instead of three.
Force curves
Topre 45g Electrocapacitive
Topre 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.
Topre 55g Electrocapacitive
Topre 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.
Topre 45g Electrocapacitive or Topre 55g Electrocapacitive: the long answer
Specs first, since the feel gap is what you notice in the first minute of typing. At actuation the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive is the firmer press, 55 g against 45 g, a difference you notice after a paragraph rather than on the first keystroke. Both are tactiles either way, so each one puts a felt event in the middle of the stroke. Travel is a straight match, 2.2 mm of pre-travel and 4.0 mm in full on both. With the stroke shared, that spring gap does most of the deciding here.
Sound is where most people finally pick a side. The Topre 45g Electrocapacitive sits at the iconic HHKB thock: deep 'toc' with a pillowy landing; the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive answers with deeper, firmer thock with authority. 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 cost and convenience, both are premium priced. Both come factory lubed, so neither needs work out of the box. Worth knowing before you order: neither of these uses an MX style stem, so neither will drop into a standard hot-swap board or accept ordinary MX keycaps, and they do not share a mount with each other either.
The scoring gives up trying to divide this pair: the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive 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, it holds the same feel from the first hour of writing to the last. On noise, it is the quieter of the two once the room is listening. That leaves the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive 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 Topre 45g Electrocapacitive page and the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive page, or test how your current keyboard performs with our free keyboard tester.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better for gaming, the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive or the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive?
We pick the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive for gaming. The two are close enough for gaming that either works; our scoring defaults to it by a small margin.
Which of the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive and the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive is quieter in a shared room?
Nothing in either one is built to reduce noise, so on raw volume this is a tie decided by your keyboard rather than your switch. What you will actually hear is a difference of pitch and texture, which the player above shows better than a sentence can.
Which has the heavier spring, the Topre 45g Electrocapacitive or the Topre 55g Electrocapacitive?
The Topre 55g Electrocapacitive is heavier: 55 g against 45 g, both measured at actuation, so this is a fair like-for-like comparison.
More comparisons
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