Cherry MX Board Silent

[VSG]

The MX Board Silent is Cherry showing the world that it is possible to have mechanical keyboards that are inherently quiet as well. It comes in two color options, two MX Silent switch options, and an all-plastic construction where the lack of typing noise is the main goal.

Show full review

 

[ZeppMan217]

Oof, sub 7? No chill.

 

[VSG]

The review was actually done a while back, and prices have not changed. As of today, it's even worse relative to the market since there are other options available with the MX Silent switches now.

 

[danbert2000]

I have this keyboard and I do not agree with the conclusion. Yes, the build quality is not as good as my Corsair Strafe RGB, as it flexes a bit when twisted, but when the keyboard is set on the desk, it is very stable to type on. Furthermore, this keyboard is for my office, so I appreciate that the thing isn't flashing colors and drawing unneeded attention. Finally, the real miss in this review is not mentioning how loud the spacebar is on other Cherry MX Silent implementations. What's the point of silent switches if the spacebar sounds like hitting a tin can with a spoon? This is especially bad on the Strafe. Any key with a stabilizer bar is loud as hell. At least the Cherry keyboard gets all the actual key quality stuff right. I like this keyboard a lot, but if you don't need the silent switches, there are probably better keyboards out there. If you do need the silent switches, this is the only one that is going to actually be silent and look good on a desk in a corporate office. I hear my coworker's brown switches clicking all the time, but my keyboard is downright polite next to hers even if she doesn't bottom out the keys.

 

[Vanir]

Could have a smaller upper ledge, it looks kinda bulky.

 

[VSG]

I have this keyboard and I do not agree with the conclusion. Yes, the build quality is not as good as my Corsair Strafe RGB, as it flexes a bit when twisted, but when the keyboard is set on the desk, it is very stable to type on. Furthermore, this keyboard is for my office, so I appreciate that the thing isn't flashing colors and drawing unneeded attention. Finally, the real miss in this review is not mentioning how loud the spacebar is on other Cherry MX Silent implementations. What's the point of silent switches if the spacebar sounds like hitting a tin can with a spoon? This is especially bad on the Strafe. Any key with a stabilizer bar is loud as hell. At least the Cherry keyboard gets all the actual key quality stuff right. I like this keyboard a lot, but if you don't need the silent switches, there are probably better keyboards out there. If you do need the silent switches, this is the only one that is going to actually be silent and look good on a desk in a corporate office. I hear my coworker's brown switches clicking all the time, but my keyboard is downright polite next to hers even if she doesn't bottom out the keys.

You realize this has a stabilizer bar as well, don't you? It's located besides the switch, as with other Cherry stabilizers. Also, as mentioned in my previous comment, there are other keyboards available with these switches and not just the Corsair Strafe which, incidentally, also has the same stabilizers and you can also turn the backlighting off

 

[danbert2000]

You realize this has a stabilizer bar as well, don't you? It's located besides the switch, as with other Cherry stabilizers. Also, as mentioned in my previous comment, there are other keyboards available with these switches and not just the Corsair Strafe which, incidentally, also has the same stabilizers and you can also turn the backlighting off

You should know well enough that the visibility of "off" LED keys is much worse than printed keys. You should also know, if you've reviewed keyboards before, that the stabilizer bar implementation between keyboards is not identical. My point was that other keyboards are actively worse than the one I've been using. I have a Strafe with silent switches. Sure the keys are silent. The backspace, space, and enter keys are way too loud. I'm actually pretty disappointed by this review. You did no objective testing of the sound pressure differences between keyboards. Actually, you did no comparison to the other silent keyboards you mentioned beyond a few lines of subjective opinion. You'd think the primary purpose of the review would be to see how quiet the keyboard is compared to others. Sorry, but a sound file that you yourself admit is not standardized against other sound files you've made won't cut it. Overall a subpar review and not something useful for people that are looking to have an actual review of the silence capabilities of the keyboard.

Could have a smaller upper ledge, it looks kinda bulky.

Yes, the keyboard housing is clearly bigger than it has to be. On the other hand, that gives it a cool retro look. Kind of like a modern IBM Model M:

 

[VSG]

You should know well enough that the visibility of "off" LED keys is much worse than printed keys. You should also know, if you've reviewed keyboards before, that the stabilizer bar implementation between keyboards is not identical. My point was that other keyboards are actively worse than the one I've been using. I have a Strafe with silent switches. Sure the keys are silent. The backspace, space, and enter keys are way too loud. I'm actually pretty disappointed by this review. You did no objective testing of the sound pressure differences between keyboards. Actually, you did no comparison to the other silent keyboards you mentioned beyond a few lines of subjective opinion. You'd think the primary purpose of the review would be to see how quiet the keyboard is compared to others. Sorry, but a sound file that you yourself admit is not standardized against other sound files you've made won't cut it. Overall a subpar review and not something useful for people that are looking to have an actual review of the silence capabilities of the keyboard.


Yes, the keyboard housing is clearly bigger than it has to be. On the other hand, that gives it a cool retro look. Kind of like a modern IBM Model M:
View attachment 97761

Both this and the Corsair Strafe use the exact same stabilizers, that's what I have been saying all this time. If you have had a difference in the sound signature, it is because of the lack of a metal plate here- especially if you bottom out. The keycaps are quite similar for all intents and purposes, and the different profile does not impact the sound signature with these switches. As far as objective testing of the sound pressure differences, there's a good reason no one does it- cost, time, and experience. I would love to be more objective, but there is just not enough interest and funding for this in this field.

The purpose of a keyboard review is to test the keyboard as a whole across various parameters, and not just how quiet it is. If your opinion differs, that's fine but that's just how I have been doing it for over an year now.

 

[danbert2000]

I don't think you have the knowledge to proclaim that they have the same stabilizers. It's night and day the difference between the spacebar feel and sound. I doubt that there's any interaction between the baseplate and the stabilizer. Even if they were the "exact same," clearly the result is different. The Strafe spacebar is twice as loud as the keys without stabilizers.

If your review was not focused on the silence aspect, I wonder why you mention in your byline that the keyboard has "an all-plastic construction where the lack of typing noise is the main goal." When Techpowerup does heatsink reviews for "silent" heatsinks like the Noctua range, there's a large focus on the actual dB levels coming out of the CPU cooler. You noted that this keyboard was largely designed for sound dampening and then harped on the construction without addressing whether it did it's job or not, to reduce typing noise. Why not just borrow the kit that Techpowerup uses for CPU coolers and test a sample typing session with different keyboards?

It's just shortsighted to review this keyboard "across various parameters," and not weight the sound performance higher when assigning it a sub-7 score. If you reviewed a low profile cooler and complained that the temps and noise were higher than a tower cooler, while completely ignoring the fact that it's that way because it's supposed to fit in a smaller case, I'd call you on that too. This keyboard is supposed to be a silent mechanical keyboard. Well guess what, it's great at that. It's no louder than a membrane keyboard. Seems like you missed the whole point of the product and reviewed it against a K70 or Das Keyboard instead...

 

[VSG]

I don't think you have the knowledge to proclaim that they have the same stabilizers. It's night and day the difference between the spacebar feel and sound. I doubt that there's any interaction between the baseplate and the stabilizer. Even if they were the "exact same," clearly the result is different. The Strafe spacebar is twice as loud as the keys without stabilizers.

If your review was not focused on the silence aspect, I wonder why you mention in your byline that the keyboard has "an all-plastic construction where the lack of typing noise is the main goal." When Techpowerup does heatsink reviews for "silent" heatsinks like the Noctua range, there's a large focus on the actual dB levels coming out of the CPU cooler. You noted that this keyboard was largely designed for sound dampening and then harped on the construction without addressing whether it did it's job or not, to reduce typing noise. Why not just borrow the kit that Techpowerup uses for CPU coolers and test a sample typing session with different keyboards?

It's just shortsighted to review this keyboard "across various parameters," and not weight the sound performance higher when assigning it a sub-7 score. If you reviewed a low profile cooler and complained that the temps and noise were higher than a tower cooler, while completely ignoring the fact that it's that way because it's supposed to fit in a smaller case, I'd call you on that too. This keyboard is supposed to be a silent mechanical keyboard. Well guess what, it's great at that. It's no louder than a membrane keyboard. Seems like you missed the whole point of the product and reviewed it against a K70 or Das Keyboard instead...

I can tell you that the stabilizers are the exact same- I have confirmed this before with both Cherry and Corsair. I have access to an anechoic chamber and a better testing facility than our CPU reviewer, and I am still not confident about the absolute sound levels from keyboards due to the SNR not meeting a deemed level at ISO ratings. Take it for what you will, I don't put out numbers I don't trust myself. As far as the score, as I brought up before- there are now other keyboards that do a similar job at noise levels, at similar prices but offer overall better build quality and an expanded feature set- the iKBC F series and the MK Fission are two that come to mind right away. This is, as with the other Cherry keyboards reviewed before, priced higher than what it should have been.

 

[danbert2000]

On Amazon, there are also no MX Black silent keyboards I could find, except this one. Searching mechanicalkeyboards.com, I don't see any available MX silent black switch keyboards with numeric keys:
https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/sea...ow_kb=off&show_kb=on&show_acc=off&show_acc=on

That in and of itself should be enough to not say "there are better ones." Plus, the "MX Silent Red" keyboard that MK has is interesting, but I see no warranty information at all. That's got to be a little alarming. Further, I'm telling you again that Corsair Strafe with Silent switches is much louder than this keyboard. And if that's the reason someone is looking to buy this, then from your review they would end up with the worse keyboard for their needs.

The biggest issue is that you have here a completely serviceable keyboard that is comfortable to type on, is available now, and fulfills it's purpose, the most silent mechanical keyboard on the market. Rate it an 8, or a 7.5. Don't give it a garbage rating when there aren't even any other Silent Black switch keyboards that are readily available.

It's actually the worst rating you've ever given a keyboard on this site. It's behind keyboards with trash switches. That's a laugh.

 

[erixx]

The housing is totally identical to my first Cherry keyboard in the early 90's. And it is not of timeless beauty!

 

[las]

Ugly. Looking forward to MX Low Profile boards tho. Tired of tall keys.