My Mechanical Switches: Modified Boba U4s

My first mechanical keyboard, many years ago, had Cherry MX Brown switches. I still remember vividly when I would type on it after a long day of typing on a different keyboard, i.e., a laptop.. It felt like typing in butter with a tiny bit of resistance. It felt heavenly. I sold that keyboard and bought one with Cherry MX Blues, which I ended up hating. I was never able to reproduce the feeling I had with browns and it’s something for which I have been looking for a long time now. I miss that experience.

I have now bought a hot-swap¹ mechanical keyboard in order to scratch my switch itch. Since my previous keyboard was a Varmilo Va88M with Cherry MX Blue switches (yes, it is the clicky kind; they drove me nuts), I wanted a silent switch this time around. After much research I decided on the Gazzew Boba U4s 62 g, which is the lightest available version of these switches. These are tactile and I expected something akin the MX browns. Upon arrival, I immediately noticed that these are way too heavy for me and nothing like the browns. I tried to get used to them for a few weeks but I still hated them, still too fatiguing. I was basically punching the keys in order to actuate them. I decided I needed to find lighter springs to spring-swap them.

I had some Gateron Pro Browns laying around, unused, and decided I would try to add one of Gateron’s springs to the Boba U4s. The final result, a Frankenstein switch, was a Boba U4 with a Gateron Brown spring. I liked it enough that I spent a couple hours opening, with a screw driver, 70 Boba U4s and 70 Gateron switches. By the end of it, my fingers were bleeding.

I was worried that these would not work, since Gateron Pro Browns springs are significantly lighter than Boba U4 springs. As expected, the switches are now lighter but, weirdly enough, not significantly so. That might be due to Gateron’s springs being about 1 mm longer. I was expecting some return issues ². That did not happen, they have no return issues, other than 1 specific (faulty?) switch. Even the spacebar works perfectly, which is heavier and hence more prone to such problems.

These are still not my favorite switch. I plan on trying some other in the future. I find Boba U4s (even with my modification) a bit too “linear”. The tactile event is either right at the top, so you don’t really feel it or the whole keypress is a bump, which makes it so you don’t really feel it either. You just have to slightly “punch” the key at the very start of the actuation and then the switch is a boring journey all the way through. Even now with the lighter spring, I find that I still have to punch my way through the keypresses. I can’t glide. I am looking for something like the MX Brown, but silent, heavier and with a much more pronounced tactile event.

For now, I will have to make due with these modified Boba U4s. I don’t want to spend more on the keyboard. My next switch, however, will be Aliaz 60 g. Hopefully these will be that for which I am looking.

EDIT: After having typed in these modded switches for a few days, I have to say that I love them. They are very smooth, and not at all fatiguing. I would still prefer 2 grams lighter but they are good enough as is. Very satisfying to type on them.