Switch: Kailh BOX Brown

Now we move on from the linear switches and get tactile with the Kailh BOX Brown with an opaque brown stem. This is also a 3-pin mechanical switch as there are two metal prongs for the actuation mechanism and the central plastic pin for in-socket switch stability. The switch is also compatible with 2-pin, 4-pin, and SMD RGB LEDs, and we see a large cutout in the housing and top for light to pass through, with diffuser action in the top to spread the light more uniformly.


The Kailh BOX Brown is a tactile switch adopting the Cherry MX cross-point stem design with a clear top, brown stem, metal spring, and base housing that also houses the metal leaf contact. As with the rest of the Kailh BOX series, we have an intermediate active block that is lubed well, but in brown this time around. The plastic of the stem thus only touches this brown plastic nib, which in turn pushes the moving metal plate onto the stationary metal plate for actuation. The tactile feedback is also with the plastic nib itself, with a second bump in the stem making contact prior to actuation reducing the contact with the metal leaf for longevity. It also decouples the feedback mechanism from the actuation mechanism, which is still far more separate with clicky switches employing a click bar on the other side of the housing.


Installation of the Kailh BOX Brown switches follows the same steps as before, and inserting and removing the switches had the same caveat with the case and flex of the plate. As for keycaps, I retained the previous layout and added a novelty keycap of the Akko logo used for the Esc key for more orange highlights.


This is the force-travel curve for the Kailh BOX Brown switches courtesy Kailh. Actual tactile feedback is quite good and pronounced, closer to the Cherry MX Clear than the MX Brown, which is certainly a good thing. These are also quite smooth owing to the decoupled actuation and lubed plastic active block. These are analogous to the Cherry MX Brown with the same differences; actuation takes place at 1.8 mm rather than 2.9 mm and total travel is 3.6 rather than 4 mm, but the tactile bump occurs quite early and is followed by two linear segments. Actuation force is 45 gf and the peak tactile bump 60 gf, so despite a substantial gap between the two, you definitely will actuate the switch. Bottoming-out peak force is again 60 gf, making this a light-to-medium force switch overall. The BOX Brown also is not my favorite of the Kailh BOX switches. It in fact might even be my least favored of the five here, mostly because of inconsistency in actuation and tactile feedback. A random test of twenty switches revealed tactile feedback to be the least consistent when it comes to switch travel, and actuation was more or less spot-on at 1.8–1.9 mm. Actuation forces were also a touch more varied as measured by a tension gauge, which is not precise enough to take very seriously.


Here is what this specific combination sounds like, and as expected, I did bottom out even when I tried not to. Once again, it is the plastic plate that contributes to the sound signature more, and the switch in fact ends up sounding similar to the BOX Red, though possibly slightly higher-pitched. As I said, not my favorite BOX switch by any means. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches.