Buy a durable peripheral at the beginning of school, reviews of commercially available optical axis mechanical keyboards

I believe that friends who learned computers with 7080 have experienced the era of tens of thousands of codes in the early years. The codes mentioned here are not codes but input methods. The earliest Chinese character input method is the telegraph code in the late 1970s. Four digits from 0 to 9 are combined to form a Chinese character, also known as the area code. The early bank commissioners need to learn, which can be said to be the input method with the highest recognition rate. Since 1981, we have Pinyin input method and Wangma Wubi input method, and then Shuangpin, Jianbi code, Xinyin code, phenotype code, Wan code, Zheng code, and natural code. In the end, there are basically only two input methods left: Pinyin and Wubi, which are the masters of phonetic code and graphic code respectively. Among them, Wubi is suitable for accurate input when the pronunciation is uncertain; Pinyin is more suitable for association, phrase or even entire sentence input.

The mechanical keyboard that many digital hipsters are talking about now has actually experienced an era of tens of thousands of axes. In the earliest period, the German cherry axes almost dominated the rivers and lakes. However, due to the surge in demand and the pirate ship's attempt to monopolize the cherry axes, the incident of "one gasification and three cleanups" of the axis body was intensified.

Of course, it’s just nonsense, but because of the problem of monopolizing the supply of goods, Razer and Kaihua cooperated to produce a green Razer shaft. Later, Razer and Kaihua went to their own wonderful things; Logitech and Omron Cooperation, to come up with an Omron G-axis that is not compatible with MX-axis keycaps, and the hatchback eventually dislikes it; the last one is the innovative optical axis developed by the domestic manufacturer Ruiyi Shark.

Naturally, the Razer switch is exclusively for Razer, the Omron switch is almost only used by Logitech, and the optical switch is basically used by both domestic and foreign brands.

Basically, the current axis body is the same as the input method, basically there are two poles left. The two poles of the Chinese input method are Pinyin and Wubi, and the two poles of the shaft body are MX-like shafts, that is, the shaft body uses metal deformation as the trigger principle, including cherries, Kaihua, TTC, and Jiadalong, which imitate cherries, and other domestic excellent switch manufacturers. The other pole is the optical axis dominated by the Raywing Shark.

Let’s take a look at the triggering principle of the MX axis first. The MX axis is full of things with a metal structure, and the signal is generated by pressing the keycap. The keycap introduces pressure into the interior through the axis core, so that the internal metal sheet generates Deformation produces a signal.

As for the optical axis, it is obvious that the signal is generated by cutting off or turning on the optical signal. Although there are also mechanical components, the dependence on metal characteristics is greatly reduced.

Metal oxidation and metal fatigue are unavoidable characteristics of metals.

Friends who have used mechanical keyboards with pluggable shafts know that our common shafts have two pins, and these two pins correspond to the moving film and the static film. The moving piece is responsible for deformation to generate signals, while the static piece is the signal conduction. Obviously, the moving piece is more affected by the metal characteristics. Simply put, if the moving piece is useless, the shaft will be useless.

In contrast, the dependence of the optical axis on the characteristics of the metal is greatly reduced. Compared with metal sheets, springs are much more difficult to damage, and the MX shaft also has springs.

Due to the substantial improvement of the structure, the optical axis has more advantages that the MX axis does not have. For example, better waterproof and dustproof performance, quieter, lifespan of 100 million times, and 0.2ms response speed.

Magnetic power may not be too well-known in the consumer market, but it is a frequent visitor to the Internet cafe industry and belongs to a brand with high cost performance. CK500 is a product with full optical axis. It adopts rainbow mixed light backlight and comes with a huge hand rest. It is a bit retro in appearance, but it is quite good in terms of user experience.

The full key has no impact, and the metal cover is a floating keycap, which is a quite satisfactory product.

In terms of brands that use more optical axes, Dimo ​​is also very representative. Almost all models of Dimo ​​mechanical keyboards are available in cherry switch and optical switch versions.

Interestingly, in 2018, Dimo ​​also carried out Dimo ​​2.0 activities. Specifically, many of its mechanical keyboards can provide a two-year warranty, but most of them are mechanical keyboards with optical axes. This is because the optical axis is inherently better than the MX axis in terms of lifespan and waterproof and dustproof.

Dimo F1 adopts the mainstream compact and simple design, and the four frames are all ultra-narrow frames, which not only makes it more tidy and capable, but also saves a lot of space on the desktop.

You know, many professional FPS e-sports masters in the early days put their keyboards at an angle. On the one hand, the tables in early Internet cafes were too small, and on the other hand, it was to free up more space for the right hand to control the gaming mouse.

104-key full keyboard, and 104-key full-key programmable. That is to say, each button can be macro defined. You must know that some FPS games now have a lot of buttons, and when we play games, only the left hand controls the keyboard. If you want to optimize the buttons, customizing is still very interesting.

In terms of backlight, the keyboard area adopts the mainstream rainbow mixed light, and there are RGB light strips on the side, which is cool but not directly stimulating, affecting input and operation.

Speaking of the optical axis, the most representative one is of course the ghost of the bloody hand. At that time, Bloody Ghost launched the optical axis mechanical keyboard and optical micro-movement gaming mouse with great momentum.

The B760 uses the second-generation optical axis. Compared with the first-generation, it has a clear sense of paragraph and crisp feedback sound. There are actually two versions of the optical switch, one is the clang version with a crisp sound, which is similar to the classic MX blue switch; the other is the silent soft version, which is similar to the classic MX brown switch. However, what is seen on the market is basically the former, and the latter is basically not seen.

In fact, the interval between the second-generation optical axis and the first-generation is very short. It can be said that the second-generation optical axis is basically the second-generation optical axis on the market.

The popularity of mechanical keyboards with optical axis and compact design is essentially more suitable for Internet cafes and high-intensity gamers in terms of lifespan and feel.

The optical axis mechanical keyboard product line of Bloody Ghost can be said to be the most comprehensive. The first first-generation optical axis mechanical keyboard, the first second-generation optical axis mechanical keyboard, and the first third-generation optical axis mechanical keyboard are all from Blood hand ghost. As early as 2018, Bloody Ghost launched the third-generation mechanical keyboard B975 with optical switches.

Interestingly, after launching the B975 third-generation optical switch mechanical keyboard, Bloody Ghost launched the B770 second-generation optical switch product.

At present, the second-generation optical axis and the third-generation optical axis coexist in the market, and the latter is a mid-to-high-end product.

In terms of appearance, the most significant change of the third-generation optical axis is that an additional metal balance bar is added to the axis body to ensure that each press is straight up and down, thereby maintaining the consistency of the feel.

The feel and response speed have not changed much, but the stroke is slightly longer than that of the second-generation optical axis.

The B975 also provides a detachable hand rest, but due to the relatively early release time, this hand rest is not magnetic.

Among foreign brands, Razer also has mechanical keyboards with optical axes. Light Factory's optical axis mechanical keyboard is divided into segment optical axis and linear optical axis, among which the purple one is the segment axis, and the red one is the linear axis.

Purple axis (paragraph): optical trigger, total stroke: 3.5mm, trigger stroke: 1.5mm, trigger pressure: 45g

Red axis (linear): optical trigger, total stroke: 3.5mm, trigger stroke: 1.2mm, trigger pressure: 48g

There is a clear difference in the feel of the two, but this is a more subjective issue. Basically, friends who are used to the paragraph axis will need a certain period of adaptation when they first come into contact with the linear axis.

The keyboard uses a set of UV-coated ABS keycaps, which are warm to the touch. But easier to oil. The font is the standard font for Razer’s new generation of keyboards. Compared with the previous non-mainstream style, this set of fonts is more restrained and slender, and the keycaps have a good light transmission effect.

The Hunting Light Spider Elite Edition also has a detachable hand rest, and the hand rest feels good on the skin. The multi-function media key can play a lot of fun with Leiyun. The multi-media knob uses a mechanical encoder with a damping feel, which feels good in the hand. The upper cover adopts a metal panel with metallic paint and fine matte texture, which feels good and heavy.

The era of mechanical keyboards is no longer dominated by foreign companies. Thanks to the rapid development of domestic switch factories, we not only have substitutes but also entered the overtaking lane. Compared with MX-like switches, optical switches are more innovative. At the same time, many friends have doubts about this. Is the optical switch a mechanical switch? From the perspective of metal structure, the optical shaft has indeed subverted the tradition, but from the broad physical definition, the optical shaft still belongs to the category of mechanical structure.

The commercially available optical switch mechanical keyboard has long been the fifth option after black tea and black. Compared with the classic MX switch, the optical switch's lifespan and advantages in waterproof and dustproof also give us more choices.