Many people who have just entered the mechanical keyboard market have a doubt that they do not know how to choose from various mechanical keyboards. Especially when facing various shafts and heights, don’t know where their differences are. Today, let’s start with the height of the mechanical keyboard keycap and give you a simple reference.
There are many types of keycap heights for mechanical keyboards. The most common ones are Cherry, OEM, SA, DSA, VSA, and so on. In addition, the color of the keycap can be customized, replaced, dyed, and disassembled. Different users will have different usage habits. So today, let’s take a look at the differences in the height of mechanical keyboard keycaps.
Mechanical Keyboard Keycap Height Comparison
The biggest characteristic of a mechanical keyboard is its good feel, and the key cap is one of the factors that affect the feel. Today, the height of the key cap not only affects the overall height of the keyboard, but also changes the height and strength of the finger tapping. Therefore, everyone should first make a reference when choosing, because the differences in each height are also very different.
1. Original/Cherry
Refers to Cherry, produced in Germany (Cherry is a brand of mechanical keyboard). Original factory height refers to the height consistent with the commonly used key cap height of the Cherry keyboard.
2. OEM
OEM is an abbreviation for OEM, which means the height of key caps not produced outside the original factory. The OEM is 1-2mm higher than the original factory height, and others are similar.
Cherry Vs OEM Keycaps
Regardless of the original height or OEM height, these two types of mechanical keyboards with a cap height are also different in each row, which is often referred to as R1-R4, or R5 height. From a side view, we can see that the overall height is curved, which is also a manifestation of ergonomic design. R1 usually refers to the bottom two rows of the keyboard, R4 refers to the top two rows, and the remaining R2 and R3 are in the middle, which are also the lowest.
3. SA
As the name suggests, the SA keycap is very high, without obvious ergonomic curves. However, since the SA key cap is basically the highest of all mechanical keyboards, it must be used with the help of a hand holder for better use.
4. DSA
As the name suggests, is a ball cap that is relatively short in height. From the perspective of name, it is related to SA. It is a converged SA, but shorter than the OEM keycap, and has no R1-R4 difference, with the same height.
5. VSA
Similar to DSA height, it is a new type of keycap. Compared to DSA short keycaps, the contact area of the fingers is larger than DSA, and the concave arc is shallow. It is suitable for players who prefer DSA height and have thicker fingers, making it a very good choice.
The above is basically the height of the keycap that is common in our daily use, and each height has a different experience. Whether you are playing games or working, you should be able to choose the most suitable one for yourself.