[UPDATE] Check out our newest 2016 Winter Survey here. More than 1000 responses!
With so much popularity from our best gaming mechanical keyboards buying guide and best keyboards under $100, we decided to gauge the community so we could provide better buying guides in the future.
Last week, we made a call for responses to our Mechanical Keyboard Summer Survey and received over 500 responses from keyboard enthusiasts around the world! Check out the infographic below, and some additional comments after.
Favorite Mechanical Keyboard
The [easyazon_link identifier=”B00OFM5AC2″ locale=”US” tag=”xxaxle-20″]Pok3r[/easyazon_link] was the most heavily favorited in a sea of different mechanical keyboards, with no single keyboard taking in over 10%. The runner-up is the [easyazon_link identifier=”B01D8H09TS” locale=”US” tag=”xxaxle-20″]Corsair K70[/easyazon_link], which is a great mechanical keyboard for gaming as well as all around tasks.
Pok3r is a longtime favorite for hardcore MK fans, so we’re not too surprised. Another thing is the amount of differentiation among mechanical keyboard lovers. With so many options to choose from, I’m also not overly surprised at this either. Check out our 2016 Pok3r RGB review here.
Mechanical Keyboard Purchasing
We found that the respondents spent an average of $411 on mechanical keyboard products over the past year. The favorite store of choice is Amazon.com, then local stores, then online communities (forums like geekhack, /r/MechMarket, etc.).
Again, not too surprised by the results. Many people that I know from the MK industry love to either sell or buy from Amazon. The main reason is competitive prices and for sellers, logistics. Amazon will store and deal with all of the logistics for many small businesses, making the workload easier.
That being said, there could be better places to buy mechanical keyboards. NewEgg and other more underground PC marketplaces usually have great prices, very competitive to Amazon.
Favorite Mechanical Keyboard Switches
A bit of a surprise, we saw Cherry MX Brown and Blue switches appear in each of the 3 favorite keyboard switch categories. Cherry MX Clear switches show up in the best Typing and All Purpose lists, which is a bit of a surprise since Clears aren’t used in many mainstream keyboards.
For those who don’t know, Cherry MX’s are considered the gold standard of keyboard switches. They’re touted as the most tactile and comfortable to use. With its various different colors, it also provides a lot of versatility.
For future surveys, we’ll add more switch choices as that was one of the main complaints. Many people actually preferred non-Chery MX’s due to their price differences (and sometimes sound differences as well).
Favorite Mechanical Keyboard Manufacturers
Vortex, Ducky, and custom builds dominate the Overall and Compact keyboard lists. When it comes to gaming keyboards, Corsair and CoolerMaster led the poll.
On the subject of least favorite, people strongly disliked Razer. The likely cause for the hate is Razer’s use of proprietary mechanical switches which aren’t Cherry MX.
Keys, Keys, Keys
When asked about artisan keycaps, the majority said they don’t purchase any. Of those that do, the vast majority prefer Bro Caps.
92% of our respondents use the QWERTY layout, and most prefer some form of compact layout. 34% favor tenkeyless, and 30% like the 60% form factor.
Sadly, 63% of the respondents haven’t found the magic of the flipped spacebar.
And that wraps up our first-ever mechanical keyboard survey! Feel free to use the infographic, credits are appreciated.
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