Switch: Gateron Ink Black

Aha, and somehow the very next switch arguably ends up being the go-to of the Gateron Ink series. The Gateron Ink Black is the OG of the lot, characterized by the smokey black housing that looks more like a drop of black ink in water. Regardless, these are the switches that got the most attention from enthusiasts, and I am eager to find out why.

As with the Gateron Ink Red, we get an opaque stem, but in black. The spring inside is also coated in black to better match the switch, which has the backlighting intensity take a stronger hit. This is also a 5-pin mechanical switch in that there are two metal prongs for the actuation mechanism and the other three are plastic pins for switch stability in the socket. The stem is opaque, albeit more vibrant than the typical Gateron Red switch. The switch is also compatible with 2-pin, 4-pin, and SMD RGB LEDs, and we see smaller holes in the housing and top for light to travel through, rather than just a larger cutout.

I have to share my own experiences here, which also means mentioning a couple of weird things. For one, note how a plastic guiding pin on one of the switches was bent to begin with. This is certainly not because of packaging or shipping issues, and the switch housing should have been rejected from the factory to begin with. Second, and this may have been impacted by shipping handling, which we saw had dented the packaging of the GK96S case, about half of all the switches had a bent or twisted pin. To add more context, none of the other switches had anywhere near as bad an issue. It is also unlikely that all the impacted switches would have had the pins facing the same direction for a physical impact to cause this. As such, I am afraid this is likely poor QC, and I hope it is not the case generally given Gateron is only just improving its reputation from poor yields in the past.


Disassembly is no different than before, and inside, we see a similar construction due to the linear switch design. The stem is identically shaped to the one in the Ink Red, except in a different color, of course. There is once again no perceived lube on either the stem or spring, and the latter is of course heavier than the one on the Ink Red switch. Here too we see the use of a typical metal leaf for actuation, wherein nibs on the stem push leaf contacts together to trigger actuation.


Installation of the Gateron Ink Black mechanical switch follows the same steps as before, and removing the switches had the same caveat with the case. The only difference was that it took me longer to bend the pins back into place before inserting them into the socket, of course. As for keycaps, I switched things around and used the keycaps with yellow highlights in addition to the blue. It's certainly more of an acquired taste, but I personally like it more than the base kit, especially considering it matches the Macaw theme better.


Ah, that's much better, now that we have the correct force-travel curve in front of us. The Gateron Ink Black is a heavier linear switch given the Cherry MX Black is also a heavier a linear switch than the Cherry MX Reds. We have similar travel characteristics with rated actuation at 2.0 mm and total travel of 4.0 mm, and the rated actuation force is 60 (+/-10) gf as opposed to the 45 gf from before. Peak force is nearing 80 gf, but actual bottoming-out force is more like 70 gf. As such, initial resistance is heavier, followed by a smoother slope as you travel further down. This makes the Gateron Ink Black a more deliberate switch to type on, reducing errors from touch typing and hover hands alike. It can be tiring for long typing sessions, however, and would not be a strong recommendation for trigger-gaming sessions, either. The heavier spring makes travel less smooth than on the Gateron Ink Reds unfortunately, since you will experience the travel pathway in more detail. But, and this is somewhat surprising as there was not much gained by breaking in the Ink Reds, keep typing on these for more than a couple of days and you will likely notice things get smoother. Now, I do not know for certain whether this is a placebo effect or me getting used to the switches. It likely is not any physical erosion of the contact surfaces either, but the self-lubricating nature of the chosen materials may be responsible. Here too I will say that lubrication will help, especially paired with decent lube, but it will influence sound more than actual typing feel past the break-in period.


Here is what this specific combination sounds like, and while this is completely subjective, I am definitely happier with this sound profile compared to the Ink Red. The heavier springs minimize the impact of bottoming out on the plate, but the switch itself is even lower-pitched throughout. I do get why the Gateron Ink Black switches have become popular, especially for those modifying their own switches and case. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with linear switches.