Actuation occurs after the bump, so you may be reminded of a membrane keyboard even more in that actuation could be tied with bottom-out depending on your typing style. You may have heard of the Boba U4T switches before, but Gazzew may be unknown territory for most keyboard hobbyists, especially newcomers. Aside from their Boba U4Ts, Gazzew offers different switches in their Boba lineup that may suit your preference, may you be a linear lover or a tactile enthusiast.

With a large and robust tactile bump, impressive sound qualities, and extremely competitive pricing, the Boba U4 is arguably one of the best value switches for your money. To get it out as simply as possible: these top housings are pretty much pushing the absolute manufacturing limits of stem wobble. In hand, there is ever so slight stem wobble in both the N/S and E/W directions, but its such a miniscule amount that with caps on I’m almost certain that it would not be noticeable, even at taller profiles like MT3 or SA. I’m genuinely of the belief that there is not much more of a reduction in stem wobble that you could get between the top housing and the stems reliably through a manufacturing process such as injection molding, which most switch components are made with. I have experience with two builds using those particular switches. The switches need some modest lube with 3204 to really shine, also springs of course. But they don’t need any ‘mods.’ No films, no re-springing. May be a bit of a pain to open. Like with other switches from Gazzew – one of the most reputable switch makers in the mechanical keyboard scene – the Bobagum is a silent linear switch manufactured by Outemu. Even though the company is not quite as well-known as JWK or Gateron, it is steadily delivering some very impressive switches that offer excellent housing tolerance with Gazzew – more on that later.

Even though there is a slight bit of wobble in the Silent Sky switches, its clearly noticeable that these switches were the predecessors to the Boba U4s as they still feature lesser wobble than a vast majority of switches out there. For general use, one of the most versatile switches in the Gazzew Boba lineup is the Boba U4T switch. Due to its offered various spring weights, the enthusiast-grade tactile switch can be used whenever and for whatever the typists’ use case is. This especially applies to enthusiasts that are part of the tactile gang, sharing a fondness for true tactility in mechanical keyboard switches.

With only the minor gripe with the consistent, leathery ‘scratch’ noise present throughout the stroke of these switches, literally everything is silent. Hell, even the scratch noise itself is quiet by modern switch metrics for tactiles and linears alike. ContextThe final thing worth mentioning regarding the switches is the change in color with respect to the U4 Silent Tactile stems which were featured in this sale. While the U4 Silent Tactile stem was created and released by Gazzew only a short time ago, its initial runs featured a slightly white-ish, clear colored stem rather than the now completely opaque white stem in the Boba housings. Even though I don’t necessarily thing the old U4 stems would have been bad with respect to color and design of these switches, this simply just stands as another minor detail that helps sell the reality of this being a brand new, complete switch for the pre-production sale. Push Feel The top housing wobble, as well, is nothing to scoff at in its own right. While there is absolutely no give to the top housing in any direction on all of the samples that I have tried, this is slightly less impressive given that Gazzew’s tops have been known for having this quality for some time. The consistency of the quality, though, is nearly as impressive as the leaps and bounds made in increasing the tolerances regarding the stem wobble in these switches. Other Side Notes: The keyboard I will use as a base is the Keychron K8, so at least 88-90 switches are needed. Spring weight I desire is 60-65g bottom out (like Cherry MX Reds). I live in Germany :)