Thoughts on Switches Part 12: Kailh HUSH switches

I’ve been wanting to test a newer set of silent switches as the last ones I tried were Cherry Silent Red switches. I liked how quiet they were, but they were also very scratchy and not that great an experience when compared to newer, smoother linear switches. That brings me to now having used the Kailh HUSH switches.

They’re a more expensive switch, at $0.70 each, compared to a lot of the newer switch options that have hit the market. However, as silent switches they are largely in line with other silent switches as they do carry a premium due to the increased complexity in production and that they are more niche in demand compared to the sheer plethora of linear options that have come to market. They feature Kailh’s box switch design and an enclosed, circular stem. The top housing is blue transparent polycarbonate, and the bottom is a periwinkle-grey nylon. The stem is transparent plastic which isn’t specified in the documentation provided by Kailh, simply labeled as transparent plastic. An interesting note here is that there is another variant of this switch which uses a white stem made of POM. So, what variant of the switch you get will depend on where you source yours from. In my case I got mine from Kono but I saw Ali Express and Banggood both offer the POM stem variant. I’ve seen situations like this where an older version of a switch is sold until stock is cleared and that may be the case here as well.

Back to the switch design, they have rubber dampeners on the bottom housing and top housing to reduce the sound of the switches bottoming out and returning. This gives the switches a naturally soft feeling when typing with them. When bottoming them out there is a gentle tapping sound which is muted. When the switches return, they are also very quiet with the loudest sounds coming from the larger keys with stabilizers, most noticeably with the spacebar. Even with the spacebar the sound is relatively soft but distinctly thocky. Higher profile keycaps will provide a larger chamber for sound reflection so lower profile caps, such as Cherry profile, are the quietest.

Helping with the smoothness and silence is that the switches are factory lubricated. They are evenly covered leading to decent uniformity and a smooth feeling when using them. They don’t have a particularly noticeable ping which aids in their quietness. Interestingly, they do feature a longer stem leading to them bottoming out at 3.6mm rather than the typical 4mm. The actuation point is at 1.8mm and features a modest 50g actuation. The internal box around the switch mechanism gives the switches an IP54 dust and water resistance rating and should help the switches maintain the feeling and sound longer but that obviously would be measured in months to years, beyond the scope of this article. 

They are also three-pin switches, lacking the 5-pin design often seen. That may made installation easier, or more difficult depending on your experience and the board. I found them ever so slightly more prone to a north-south misalignment when installing them without the plastic pins for guidance but not all that much more than with any other switches. They also feature a clear plastic light pipe for LED passthrough which reduces the blue tinge that might have otherwise been prominent from the color of the top housing. So, if you use backlighting these will be excellent switches for passing through that light. They also should have fewer clearance issues with low profile keycaps because of the housing design not having the back hump that is common to more traditional MX switches.

The feel of the switches is tight and clean. There’s minimal movement between the top and bottom housing and the stem itself has low lateral motion. As with many enclosed stem designs, they have relatively little north-south nor east-west wobble, with the strongest being in the north-south direction. This also helps keep the sound lower for these switches. One note is that Kailh does claim that this design results in less than 35db of sound from the switches in use and if you are a careful typist and avoid bottoming out, I can certainly attest to their silent nature. Having said that though, switches aren’t the only factor for keyboard sound and if the quietest typing is your goal, these are a great choice toward that goal, with good stabilizers, keycaps, and plenty of case dampening to really give you the most.

The elephant in the room, however, is that silent switches will never feel as sharp and clean as non-dampened switches. That’s simply inherent to using rubber dampeners to absorb the impact of the stems as you type. Again, if you don’t bottom out that’s a bit of a moot point but it’s unlikely that you’ll never bottom out meaning you will feel that softness when typing. For me, I enjoy it as a different experience. I like testing out different switches and keycaps to see how the tactile nature of the keyboard changes with those. In the case of silent switches, they feel pillowy to my fingers. I don’t find them unpleasant to type on. Combined with their smoothness and they are genuinely a pleasant typing experience for me. However, I can also see how many people wouldn’t like the feeling. It does feel “off” from a typical mechanical keyboard and can feel muted or mushy, especially if you like sharper tactility.

In that regard, it’s a bit of a challenge to recommend one way or another for people who haven’t used silent switches. Sure, they’re quieter. They do exactly as they say on the tin. But they also feel completely unlike other switches and there is still sound involved when typing. Again, by far the loudest is the spacebar as it is the most difficult key to mute. If you are searching for quietest sound, you may find dampening the inside of the spacebar would dramatically improve the sound. There are foam dampening kits for spacebars, and you might want to look into those, or doing your own design, to help make the experience even more cohesive and silent. If, however, your goal is simply to dramatically reduce the sound because you want to reduce keyboard sound for your partner or family a set of silent switches like the Kailh HUSH switches could be perfect for you. Honestly, I have thoroughly enjoyed these as they are well-balanced for what they do. They are smooth, quiet, and aren’t too overly mushy. They will absolutely remain in my switch rotation for the future, and I full heartedly recommend them as a reasonably priced silent switch option.