To start this off, I'd like to think I have more in depth grasp of linear switches after the past few months. Moving forward, my posts will be more focused on stock switches, and tests on the stock profile of a switch, instead of custom lube. My rationale is, I don't want all my opinions on the switches based on 205g0, and I think all the switches felt somewhat the same after lubing. Besides, I don't really film my switches, so what's the point anyway. I'll still lube my switches, but will my opinion on lubed switches out of the post, unless there are huge difference when the switches are lubed.
The victim of my butter fingers this month is the Prime Keyboard Alpaca switches, or I'd like call the "CNM" switches. #nmsl
Jokes aside, the Alpacas are manufactured by Durock. Based on what I read the ones I bought is consider the v2 batch. Apparently, Prime Keyboard doesn't provide any differentiation between v1 and v2. It'll be interesting to compare v1 and v2, if I managed to get hold of v1, but I think that'll be a huge hassle, and I'd probably need to find them on secondhand markets.
I really like the color of the Alpacas. They have dark gray housing (might be a bit hard to differentiate from the photo) and light pink stems, and they looked really good. Having said that, this means the backlight will not pass through the switches. As I mentioned previously, I don't use backlight on my keyboards, so this isn't an issue to me, but RGB fanbois should take note of that.
The Alpacas are lubed at stock, and opening up a switch, the lube seems to well applied with just the appropriate amount. This means, for those who don't lube their switches, they feel great out from factory. From my week long usage, they feel indeed smooth. In fact, I think these are the smoothest switches I've tested so far. Without a doubt, the typing experience is just an absolute joy.
However, compared to switches I've tested previously, the Alpacas has some wobbliness issue. Although I prefer my linear switches to be less wobbly, but coming from a person who uses wobbly clicky switches most of the time, uh, I think I can overlook this.
The sound profile on the Alpacas are another huge point for me. There are no noise from scratch and spring ping. They have a deep bottoming out sound, a bit muted compared to other linear switches. There is a silent variant, which I think will make bottoming out more muted, but I think these are just fine. In fact, I'd prefer some sound over fully muted switches. Here's a sound test video:
With so many switches on the market nowadays, I'm genuinely impressed at how well they turned out. I might be overhyping them, but I think my experience with the switches justifies it - they are just THAT good. At the moment, the Alpacas stand at number 1 among all linear switches for me. Try them out, you won't regret it.
> cancerous cunt's impression: 4.5/5 * caonimas 🦙
