Switch: Kailh Canary

We now get to the odd one out of the bunch since this is not a Master Series switch. The Kailh Canary was announced internationally by Kailh earlier than the other four that comprise the Master Series, and it is one I had been asked to take a look at as well. Including it here made sense given the Canary was among the first Kailh offerings to adopt the custom switch design to appeal to enthusiasts. This switch was also among the earliest that had Kailh's own store noticed internationally, rather than having to rely on some distributors to hopefully pick up the switch. The Canary switch also was where Kailh advertised customization possibilities with POM, allowing for different color options in the future. The name is still fitting given the colors, but the color scheme will no doubt be somewhat alienating.


In my opinion, the renders do not show the true colors well, with the yellow in particular not as bright as show above. The gray stem goes old school with no columns around it, and the yellow/green switch housing makes for a unique colorway that may be harder to match perfectly with other components. This is another 5-pin switch, so account for that when choosing the kit and not planning on soldering them in. As with the Kailh Fried Egg switch, the Canary is compatible with 2-pin and SMD RGB LEDs, and we see a small cutout in the housing for light to pass through with not much in the way of a diffuser to spread the light more uniformly.


Disassembly shows the Kailh Canary is not a BOX switch either, with exposed metal contacts in the base. It is a tactile switch and has guide rails in the top cover to minimize stem wobble with travel. The stem has two bumps thus, one for actuation and the other for tactile feedback. The spring also differs greatly from the other two seen thus far, with Kailh going the other way of average and using a ~20 mm long dual-rate extended spring that can make for a more uniform feedback curve, as well as a quicker upstroke. I imagine Kailh preferred shorter springs for the Master Series; the actuation mechanism itself is no different from before. Be careful during the disassembly since the longer spring will bounce off rapidly and you may lose track of all the loose parts.


Installation is as before, and it's now thrice in a row with no bent pins. I wonder if Kailh can keep it up! Once installed, the green base is barely visible, providing no more than a brief outline around the yellow tops. The gray stem also looks darker by comparison with the lighter colors surrounding it.


This is the force-travel curve for the Kailh Canary switches courtesy Kailh, and we see right away that these are indeed tactile switches with the feedback mechanism causing the literal bump in between. Ah, but Kailh goes the way of aggressive pre-travel with a tactile bump almost instantly as you press down on the switch. Tactile force is 60 gf at ~0.25 mm of travel, and it is then a long way down to 2 mm for actuation. This explains the stem design from earlier too, with a marked gap between the two bumps. Actuation force is rated the same 42 gf as the Fried Egg switch, as is peak force at 60 gf, again at 4 mm of total travel. This makes for a V-shape experience I expect with audio gear, not mechanical keyboard switches! The good thing about having that big a gap up front is that the reset point is not affected by the tactile feedback, allowing the Kailh Canary to reset at 2 mm. Look, this is a tactile switch design that's getting popular not for functionality, but a crisp tactile feedback experience. It's just that the feedback of it goes lost for me because there is no feedback when it comes to the actual switch actuation. That's why these switches are not to my particular liking, but they may well be great for you.


Here is what this specific combination sounds like, and you may have noticed by now that I deliberately press on various modifiers towards the end of these recordings for a better idea of how they sound. It's safe to say that the Kailh Canary is the highest-pitched switch of the lot so far. All other things being equal, actual loudness is not that different from the Red Bean Pudding switch, but the reduced spring resistance after the tactile bump makes for a faster downstroke, which makes this combination "pingier" than I'd like. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile switches.