Switch: Kailh White Owl

White. Owl. I suppose it is hard to come up with novel matching names when it's far easier to just mix and match colors. This time, we see the return of the columns around the cross-point stem, and in the square version at that. The Kailh White Owl switch is no BOX Silent switch then, but I will go ahead and confirm that this is still a BOX switch. Not just that, it is a tactile and clicky switch, making for the third real feedback mechanism covered today. The stem is the same chalky white as on the body of the Kailh Fried Egg switches. The top cover is transparent this time around, with a gray color on the base. As before, it's all POM for the material composition. Also making a return is the light guide post; just as with the Red Bean Pudding switch, it is a discrete insert.


Refer to the previous pages for more details as this switch has quite a lot in common with the Red Bean Pudding switch. We once again have an IP56 rating courtesy the sealed contact leafs, similarly sculpted top, same short spring, and stem we see has two bumps on opposite sides. The first of these is for actuation with the active block, again green, whereas the second one comes in handy for the decoupled feedback mechanism courtesy the click bar on the other end. This results in much more substantial tactile feedback and a deeper, more resounding clicky feedback than the usual clicky switch design with two pieces of plastic hitting each other. The decoupling also allows for the tactile and clicky feedback to happen at any time along the stem travel Kailh desires, which has typically been put to good use, having it coincide with actuation, which is extremely difficult to execute with the more typical clicky mechanical switch design.


The Kailh White Owl switch is a departure and a half from the other colorful switches we saw today, and ends up making for a monochrome keyboard build at this point. It then of course all changes with colorful PBT keycaps added, but I still liked how these look and imagine others will too.


This is the force-travel curve for the Kailh White Owl switches courtesy Kailh. These are medium-force tactile and clicky switches with the same total travel of 3.6 mm and a rated actuation distance of 1.8 mm. The rated actuation force is 46 gf, with bottoming out force ~60 gf. Note that I did not say peak force as that is reserved for the click bar with the tactile bump coming just under 1.5 mm and 70 gf. What this means is that you hit the click bar first, and actuation is then guaranteed as it is comes up soon after, while at a lower force requirement. As such, trained typists can "lift off" after the click and not have to bottom out. This makes the White Owl possibly the easiest of the five switches to touch type with, but do so in a more private setting lest the sound annoys others nearby. I have previously professed my love for click bar switches, and the White Owl comes off as a hybrid between the BOX White and BOX Jade in terms of the tactile bump itself.


As it turns out, these are a hybrid of those two in the sound signature, too. It's louder than the BOX White and on par with the BOX Jade, but lower in pitch than the BOX Jade. I really like them, but I don't know if I like them as much as the BOX Jade when it comes to clicky switches. Then again, I suspect the wooden case used with the BOX Jade helped it, so I may do a more direct comparison in my free time. Either way, it's certainly not one for the shared workspace, so you might as well pair this up with your favorite plate and case. I do encourage people to pair these switches with a polycarbonate plate, or perhaps gasket-mounted brass plate, rather than the usual aluminium or steel. For context, you can find sound clips from other keyboards here, including those with tactile and clicky switches.