• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Drop Holy Panda X Hand-Lubed Keyboard Mechanical Switch Packs Available for Pre-Order

T0@st

News Editor
Joined
Mar 7, 2023
Messages
2,077 (3.43/day)
Location
South East, UK
An evolution of the original Holy Panda, our Holy Panda X is a fully engineered mechanical switch with unrivaled consistency and authentic-yet-refined tactile feel. Now, we're making it available in hand-lubed packs for peerless performance right out of the box. Meticulously applying Krytox GPL105 on the springs and sides of each housing and stem, we've lent a hand in making the Holy Panda X even holier.

This is just the final step in a long journey, one that started when we departed from the original Holy Panda production process (disassembling two switches and combining their parts), working closely with Gateron and a few familiar faces to recreate the Holy Panda experience through a fully engineered product. With carefully selected components, the Holy Panda X feels incredibly similar to its predecessor, but with greatly reduced stem wobble and improved consistency across the board. Among tactile offerings, it's nothing short of a treasure—and you can only find it here, now hand-lubed for the first time.



DESIGN INTERVENTION
A fan-favorite found on many keyboards, the original Holy Panda switch was community-created by combining housings from the Invyr Panda Linear Switch and the stem of our Drop Halo Switch. The result was an ultra-satisfying tactile feel with a truly unique sound, but the invention was not without flaws. Disassembling two different switches and combining them can lead to a number of consistency issues, especially when the parts aren't fully designed to work together. From this original "Frankenswitch," dozens of unofficial Panda-variants have been created trying to replicate or improve upon the Holy Panda's signature. We took our time to get the build just right. We collaborated with the Holy Panda's original creators to help us refine the typing experience. Finally, we teamed up with a trusted manufacturer, Gateron, to make our designs come to life.



HOLIER-THAN-THOU PERFORMANCE
The Holy Panda X is fully engineered from start to finish. Taking our time to faithfully replicate the Holy Panda feel, we outfitted this smoky-colored successor with a polycarbonate top case, nylon bottom case, and POM stem. Manufactured by Gateron with exacting quality assurance processes, the Holy Panda X easily outstrips its predecessor with improved stem stability, lubrication reliability, and overall consistency. Meet your next tactile switch.

SPECIFICATIONS:
  • Designed by Drop
  • Produced by Gateron
  • Top housing material: Polycarbonate
  • Bottom housing material: Nylon
  • Stem material: POM
  • Spring weight: 60 g
  • MX-compatible
  • Hand-lubricated springs as well as the rails of the housing and stem
  • Lubricant: Krytox GPL105
  • Available in 5-pin and 3-pin options

SHIPPING
Estimated ship date is Aug 2, 2023 PT. Payment will be collected at checkout. Cancellations are accepted up to 2 hours after checkout for in-stock items, or up until pre-order ships.



Note: At checkout, choose a 35-pack of 5-pin or 3-pin switches. 3-pin switches are compatible with Drop CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT Keyboards. 5-pin switches are most commonly used on PCB mount keyboards.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
1,964 (0.44/day)
Location
Netherlands
System Name TheDeeGee's PC
Processor Intel Core i7-11700
Motherboard ASRock Z590 Steel Legend
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S
Memory Crucial Ballistix 3200/C16 32GB
Video Card(s) Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti 12GB
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB / Crucial P3 Plus 2TB / Crucial P3 Plus 4TB
Display(s) EIZO CX240
Case Lian-Li O11 Dynamic Evo XL
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster ZxR / AKG K601 Headphones
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME Fanless TX-700
Mouse Logitech G500s
Keyboard Keychron Q6
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Benchmark Scores None, as long as my games runs smooth.
Lubed switches are so good!

I hand lubed all my Cherry MX Silent Reds, they're dead silent, and with aftermarket 45G springs perfect for gaming.
 
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
3,799 (0.58/day)
Location
Northern Ontario Canada
Processor Ryzen 5700x
Motherboard Gigabyte X570S Aero G R1.1 BiosF5g
Cooling Noctua NH-C12P SE14 w/ NF-A15 HS-PWM Fan 1500rpm
Memory Micron DDR4-3200 2x32GB D.S. D.R. (CT2K32G4DFD832A)
Video Card(s) AMD RX 6800 - Asus Tuf
Storage Kingston KC3000 1TB & 2TB & 4TB Corsair MP600 Pro LPX
Display(s) LG 27UL550-W (27" 4k)
Case Be Quiet Pure Base 600 (no window)
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1220-VB
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex V Gold Pro 850W ATX Ver2.52
Mouse Mionix Naos Pro
Keyboard Corsair Strafe with browns
Software W10 22H2 Pro x64
Lubed switches are so good!

I hand lubed all my Cherry MX Silent Reds, they're dead silent, and with aftermarket 45G springs perfect for gaming.
What kind of lube did you use?
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2014
Messages
1,375 (0.35/day)
Processor i7-4790K 4.6GHz @1.29v
Motherboard ASUS Maximus Hero VII Z97
Cooling Noctua NH-U14S
Memory G. Skill Trident X 2x8GB 2133MHz
Video Card(s) Asus Tuf RTX 3060 V1 FHR (Newegg Shuffle)
Storage OS 120GB Kingston V300, Samsung 850 Pro 512GB , 3TB Hitachi HDD, 2x5TB Toshiba X300, 500GB M.2 @ x2
Display(s) Lenovo y27g 1080p 144Hz
Case Fractal Design Define R4
Audio Device(s) AKG Q701's w/ O2+ODAC (Sounds a little bright)
Power Supply EVGA Supernova G2 850w
Mouse Glorious Model D
Keyboard Rosewill Full Size. Red Switches. Blue Leds. RK-9100xBRE - Hate this. way to big
Software Win10
Benchmark Scores 3DMark FireStrike Score : needs updating

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
26,845 (3.83/day)
Location
Alabama
System Name RogueOne
Processor Xeon W9-3495x
Motherboard ASUS w790E Sage SE
Cooling SilverStone XE360-4677
Memory 128gb Gskill Zeta R5 DDR5 RDIMMs
Video Card(s) MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage 1x 2TB WD SN850X | 2x 8TB GAMMIX S70
Display(s) Odyssey OLED G9 (G95SC)
Case Thermaltake Core P3 Pro Snow
Audio Device(s) Moondrop S8's on schitt Modi+ & Valhalla 2
Power Supply Seasonic Prime TX-1600
Mouse Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD Quest 3
Software Windows 11 Pro Workstation
Benchmark Scores I dont have time for that.
I hope these are better. I liked the feel of the invr holy pandas but I had so many issues with missed presses and chattering. Even between different batches on two different boards. I ended up moving on. They did feel nice though.
 

Space Lynx

Astronaut
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
17,051 (4.65/day)
Location
Kepler-186f
just when i thought i knew everything about the mech keyboard hobby, i had no idea lubing your keys was a thing, i have always just used o-rings, though now adays i don't use anything i just use stock.

i really love my cherry mx silver keys at the moment, would not recommend them to most people though. very different feel.
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
1,964 (0.44/day)
Location
Netherlands
System Name TheDeeGee's PC
Processor Intel Core i7-11700
Motherboard ASRock Z590 Steel Legend
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S
Memory Crucial Ballistix 3200/C16 32GB
Video Card(s) Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti 12GB
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB / Crucial P3 Plus 2TB / Crucial P3 Plus 4TB
Display(s) EIZO CX240
Case Lian-Li O11 Dynamic Evo XL
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster ZxR / AKG K601 Headphones
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME Fanless TX-700
Mouse Logitech G500s
Keyboard Keychron Q6
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Benchmark Scores None, as long as my games runs smooth.
What kind of lube did you use?
Krytox 205

Double the silence :eek:?
Silent Reds arn't arn't very silent out of the box and need lube. Without lubing the rubber dampening it tends to stick to upper housing when the keys idle for long periods of time.

The video below isn't mine, but it's what my keyboard (Keychron Q6) sounds like.

 
Last edited:
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
Messages
2,079 (0.29/day)
Location
gehenna
System Name Commercial towing vehicle "Nostromo"
Processor 5800X3D
Motherboard X570 Unify
Cooling EK-AIO 360
Memory 32 GB Fury 3666 MHz
Video Card(s) 4070 Ti Eagle
Storage SN850 NVMe 1TB + Renegade NVMe 2TB + 870 EVO 4TB
Display(s) 25" Legion Y25g-30 360Hz
Case Lian Li LanCool 216 v2
Audio Device(s) Razer Blackshark v2 Hyperspeed / Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e
Power Supply HX1500i
Mouse Harpe Ace Aim Lab Edition
Keyboard Scope II 96 Wireless
Software Windows 11 23H2 / Fedora w. KDE
I use SuperLube - long lasting

SuperLube.png
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Messages
2,671 (1.00/day)
I'm imagining the guy who is doing the lubing for all the caps being like
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2017
Messages
494 (0.18/day)
just when i thought i knew everything about the mech keyboard hobby, i had no idea lubing your keys was a thing, i have always just used o-rings, though now adays i don't use anything i just use stock.

i really love my cherry mx silver keys at the moment, would not recommend them to most people though. very different feel.
I think it's increased in popularity recently.
Krytox 205


Silent Reds arn't arn't very silent out of the box and need lube. Without lubing the rubber dampening it tends to stick to upper housing when the keys idle for long periods of time.

The video below isn't mine, but it's what my keyboard (Keychron Q6) sounds like.

Not bad if that's what you're after. I prefer clicky switches myself.
 
Joined
Aug 2, 2012
Messages
1,964 (0.44/day)
Location
Netherlands
System Name TheDeeGee's PC
Processor Intel Core i7-11700
Motherboard ASRock Z590 Steel Legend
Cooling Noctua NH-D15S
Memory Crucial Ballistix 3200/C16 32GB
Video Card(s) Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti 12GB
Storage Crucial P5 Plus 2TB / Crucial P3 Plus 2TB / Crucial P3 Plus 4TB
Display(s) EIZO CX240
Case Lian-Li O11 Dynamic Evo XL
Audio Device(s) Creative Sound Blaster ZxR / AKG K601 Headphones
Power Supply Seasonic PRIME Fanless TX-700
Mouse Logitech G500s
Keyboard Keychron Q6
Software Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Benchmark Scores None, as long as my games runs smooth.
I think it's increased in popularity recently.

Not bad if that's what you're after. I prefer clicky switches myself.
I had a toolbox for 10 years (Logitech G710+ with Cherry MX Browns), which i did attempt to make quiet.

Last year it was time to spend big bucks on a Keychron Q6 and set it to my hand. I also replaced all stock springs with 45g ones, as the Logitech board had a very light press as well. The Stock 65g was too heavy for FPS gaming and keep WASD pressed down in a relaxed manner. Cost me a fortune with close to €375, but this thing feels like it's gonna last me a lifetime. And everything can be replaced/modded, which is BIG plus. The stabilizers on this keyboard are also superb, after nearly 6 months they still sound same (they came pre-lubed).

(i been told €375 is entry level in the custom keyboard scene)
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2017
Messages
494 (0.18/day)
I had a toolbox for 10 years (Logitech G710+ with Cherry MX Browns), which i did attempt to make quiet.

Last year it was time to spend big bucks on a Keychron Q6 and set it to my hand. I also replaced all stock springs with 45g ones, as the Logitech board had a very light press as well. The Stock 65g was too heavy for FPS gaming and keep WASD pressed down in a relaxed manner. Cost me a fortune with close to €375, but this thing feels like it's gonna last me a lifetime. And everything can be replaced/modded, which is BIG plus. The stabilizers on this keyboard are also superb, after nearly 6 months they still sound same (they came pre-lubed).

(i been told €375 is entry level in the custom keyboard scene)
Seems around or maybe a little above average cost from what I've seen, can't say I'm an expert on it though. I considered getting an Ergodox earlier this month but I opted for a Kinesis Edge. I'd want to bind things to the bonus keys to use it for games; I have a G13 and CM ControlPad that I'll probably opt for instead. I lean toward Costar over Cherry stablizers trying them side by side but I don't care too much overall :p.

I'm thinking about trying a different layout sometime but I'm sure the adjustment period will be a lot worse than going from regular full size to split and shrunk o_O.
 
Top