Why we chose Kailh Choc V2 over Cherry MX

Building a high-end mechanical keyboard inevitably leads to the question of switches. The enthusiast market strongly favors standard MX-style switches (Cherry, Gateron, etc.). We evaluated them extensively, but ultimately designed BoardHand around Kailh Choc V2 low-profile switches. Here is why.

Vertical Travel vs. Optical Stability

Standard MX switches have roughly 4.0mm of total travel. When your fingers are resting on the keys and you type, your hands are moving up and down within a 4mm vertical plane.

Because our IR tracking volume begins roughly 10mm above the keycaps (to establish a physical deadzone), large vertical typing motions introduce noise. The DSP has to work harder to filter out an "accidental" high keystroke from an intentional tracking gesture.

The Low-Profile Advantage

Kailh Choc V2 switches have a total travel of only 3.2mm, and their overall height above the PCB is significantly lower. This tighter physical constraint forces a more controlled typing posture. The hands stay flatter, and the Z-axis variance during rapid typing is reduced by nearly 30%.

This cleaner baseline data allows our optical DSP to respond much faster the moment a finger breaks the 10mm lift-off threshold, resulting in lower latency for cursor engagement.