Introduction

There have been eight entries in our "Building a Keyboard" series to date, and at least as many inquiries about the so-called Boba switches from Gazzew. Indeed, the person who goes by Gazzew online has built a strong reputation in the custom mechanical keyboard community by being stubbornly committed to designing and updating his switch components as opposed to simply rebranding factory-provided switches. Gazzew's Boba switches are thus extremely customizable, and come in various options of linear and tactile feedback in addition to several different spring weights. While the switches are made by Outemu, Gazzew confirms the designs are his own and unique from the Outemu OEM switch portfolio. Thanks to Gazzew and his team at Outemu, we take a look at four different Boba switches today!


This keyboard build was in the making for a while, especially since I wanted to source a 60–65% keyboard kit to use with the Boba switches. MARVODIY, who we saw before with the impressive Undefined 61 kit, came out with a new keyboard kit called the Re-defined 68, which is a 65% form factor kit that aims to be a more budget-friendly option. It seemed perfect timing then to combine the two brands, with MARVODIY also providing a keycap set and Gazzew providing the Boba U4 RGB, Boba LT, Bobagum RGB, and famous Boba U4T from left to right.