Is there any particular reason you're looking for an optical keyboard? If you get a normal (hotswap) mechanical keyboard, you could just replace the switches with silent ones. Answer from candy49997 on reddit.com
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Razer
razer.com › home › the choice of pro players: razer’s analog optical switches vs hall effect switches
The Choice of Pro Players: Razer’s Analog Optical Switches vs Hall Effect Switches - Razer Newsroom Analog Optical Switches vs Hall Effect Switches
June 5, 2025 - For a simple analogy, take a ruler to represent both switch types. A Hall Effect switch will have wider and more inconsistent spacing between each millimeter, whereas an Analog Optical switch will have almost proper consistency between each millimeter through the range and are spaced apart as what a millimeter should be.
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ATTACK SHARK
attackshark.com › home › blogs › blogs
Hall Effect vs. Optical Switches: Which is the Future of Gaming?
September 17, 2025 - With a Hall Effect keyboard, you are not stuck with one spot where the key works. You can use software to pick exactly how far you want to press the key for it to work. You can set it to a very light 0.2mm for gaming, so you just have to touch it. Then, when you are typing, you can change it to a deeper 1.8mm so you don't make mistakes. This is the most important feature for fast games. On a normal or optical switch, you have to let the key come back up past a certain spot before you can press it again.
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MakeUseOf
makeuseof.com › home › technology explained › hall effect vs. optical: what mechanical keyboard switches should you choose?
Hall Effect vs. Optical: What Mechanical Keyboard Switches Should You Choose?
May 12, 2023 - However, modern Hall effect switches are much more cost-effective to produce, finally making them a viable choice for consumer keyboards. Optical switches, on the other hand, work using a process called light induction.
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Razer Newsroom
press.razer.com › home › the choice of pro players: razer’s analog optical switches vs hall effect switches
Razer's Analog Optical Switches vs Hall Effect Switches
June 5, 2025 - For a simple analogy, take a ruler to represent both switch types. A Hall Effect switch will have wider and more inconsistent spacing between each millimeter, whereas an Analog Optical switch will have almost proper consistency between each millimeter through the range and are spaced apart as what a millimeter should be.
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PC Gamer
pcgamer.com › hardware › gaming keyboards
Razer claims optical gaming keyboards are more precise than Hall effect ones because magnets are 'hard to control' | PC Gamer
August 14, 2025 - The reason, the company says, is primarily due to the inherent nature of magnetism and optical technologies. Hall effect switches use magnets to measure how far the switch has travelled, while optical uses infrared light.
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Steam Community
steamcommunity.com › discussions › forum › 11 › 4577340984568213042
full keyboard with hall effect switches or optical without gamer aesthetics if possible :: Hardware and Operating Systems
Originally posted by Autumn_:Steelseries does hall effect switches. Their keyboards and switches are good quality from what I've seen, no reason to doubt. Razer, Wooting, and Corsair do optical switches. The former two are good, can't speak to Corsairs switches, and their build quality on it.
Find elsewhere
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LTT Labs
lttlabs.com › blog › 2024 › 12 › 31 › hall-effect-keyboards-a-history
Hall Effect Keyboards, A History | LTT Labs
Early adopters in the mechanical keyboard community experimented with integrating Hall Effect switches into custom builds, often sharing their experiences on niche forums. However, these keyboards were typically DIY projects, not mass-produced products. ... This changed in 2018 when Wooting sought to improve analog input for their products. Initially, Wooting experimented with Flaretech optical switches but found Hall Effect technology offered greater potential.
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Deskthority
deskthority.net › viewtopic.php
Future of mechanical switches? which one is the best? - deskthority
Recently the well known BenQ made the CELERITAS II Keyboard for e-Sports which uses the optical flaretech switch (adomax). moreover, The wooting one is a very interesting keyboard that uses optical switches in a way that makes it a keyboard and a joystick! The switch determines how far you press the key which makes it ideal for racing games. Finally there's the hall effect switch, which dates back to the late 70's it's a contact-less form switch which uses a magnet passed by a sensor.
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I have had all kinds of keyboards. From mid level "custom" builds with fancy switches to gaming keyboards with optical switches with 8000hz polling and less than 2 tenths of a millisecond input latency to the Wooting 60HE. I would say that analog hall effect switch keyboards are the only gaming keyboard that is NOT a gimmick. In gaming all of my keys actuate at 0.2mm which alone is a radical difference compared to the typical almost 2 full mm actuation point. But, once you get used to it the rapid trigger is really what sets them apart. You can literally spam A and D in a shooter and whether you've fully released the key or not every tiny little down stroke anywhere is registered. Every time you jump and then need to jump immediately you just will. You just don't have to travel back up over the actuation point anymore. That is something that really does make hall effect keyboards feel so much faster and precise. Don't get me wrong. If you are a bronze player it's not going to make you elite or something. You still have to aim and know what you're doing. Any better player on a 250hz custom board with 40 ms of input latency is still going to be better. But, compared directly hall effects are the clear winner. Especially doing something like rapidly strafing side to side.
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it depends what games you play, if you play a game where every millisecond matter, and you need the fastest response time possible, then yes it can help a lot. otherwise, no it doesn't matter
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/ergomechkeyboards › alternative switch technologies? optical, hall effect, induction, tmr
r/ErgoMechKeyboards on Reddit: Alternative Switch Technologies? Optical, Hall Effect, Induction, TMR
October 20, 2024 -

I'm down a bit of a rabbit hole on alternative switch technologies. Mostly out of curiosity, but I'd entertain a build with them if not excessively complicated. It seems like none of the alternatives are really used in the enthusiast "build it yourself" space as it looks like all of them require significant PCB/software design integration.

Optical, Razer seems like the most prominent example. Do you know of any DIY examples?

Hall effect seem to be growing in popularity, and there may be a few semi-DIY examples from Wooting, Keychron, etc. Again, are there any true build it yourself kits?

What about induction? I saw the Cherry MX multipoint series use this tech, and some news about a Ducky One X keyboard using it that I can't actually seem to find any further real info on. Looks like it requires significant PCB design integration though for induction coils under the switches.

Finally Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR). I've seen some news about this technology in game console controllers as an alternative to hall effect, mainly to combat stick drift, but couldn't find anything from a quick search as far as key switches go.

Thanks for entertaining my trip down this rabbit hole.

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PC Gamer
pcgamer.com › hardware › gaming keyboards
Best Hall effect keyboards in 2026: the fastest, most customizable keyboards for competitive gaming | PC Gamer
3 days ago - Razer, SteelSeries, Corsair and more all have options available using Hall effect switches—or in some cases, optical or induction (read more on the differences here). But the best? That accolade goes to the Wooting 80HE.
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XDA Developers
xda-developers.com › home › keyboards & mice › 3 reasons to get a hall effect keyboard instead of a mechanical one
3 reasons to get a Hall effect keyboard instead of a mechanical one
September 2, 2024 - Unlike mechanical keyboards where a keypress is registered through physical contact between the switch and the PCB, there's no such contact in a Hall effect keyboard. Instead of a fixed actuation point, a magnetic switch's actuation point can be adjusted from as low as 0.1mm to 4mm on most models (unlike optical switches).
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XDA Developers
xda-developers.com › home › keyboards & mice › mechanical, magnetic, or optical: which keyboard switch should you choose?
Mechanical vs magnetic vs optical switches
December 17, 2024 - This action registers the respective key, detecting the varying strength in the magnetic field inside the switch. The recent explosion in the number of Hall effect keyboards on the market has been driven, in part, by the popularity of excellent models from brands like Wooting, Razer, and SteelSeries. Optical switches are similar to mechanical switches in the sense that they have mechanical components inside them, but the process of actuation is completely different.
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MelGeek
melgeek.com › blogs › melgeek-lab › hall-effect-keyboards-the-future-of-typing-precision
Hall Effect Keyboards: The Future of Typing Precision – MelGeek
September 5, 2024 - Despite their high cost, hall-effect keyboards are superior in terms of typing precision and uniformity. Hall Effect and optical switches differ in their mechanisms though both provide contactless key actuation.
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TikTok
tiktok.com › discover › optical-switches-vs-hall-effect-switches
Optical Switches Vs Hall Effect Switches | TikTok
2 weeks ago - Discover the differences between optical switches and hall effect switches for keyboards, and find out which offers better durability and performance.See more videos about Optical Keyboard Vs Hall Effect.