All > Gateron Box Ink Black V2
Gateron Box Ink Black V2
Retail Price
$21.25
Lowest Price
$6.99
Release Date
September 2021
It has no lube or anything in stock, and it feels a bit scratchy and wobbly. However, after applying lube and film, its issues started to fade. It became a premium switch that gives a smooth and creamy experience, justifying why it’s a favorite in the community. Overall, they are worth looking at but remember that the heavier spring force and linear actuation are not for everybody. A user ended up lubing, filming, and installing them into a KBD75 custom build, and another who plans on using it in a soldered GB board, Fuji 75, claims it doesn’t require filming.
Purchase Links
Overview
- Conclusion
- Performance
- Recommendation
- Positive
- Negative
Conclusion - It's well-lubed and filmed, and considering the style, sound, and feel, they are a hard switch to beat, especially at its price point.
Switch & Click - Jake Harrington
Performance - It has no lube or anything in stock, and it feels a bit scratchy and wobbly. However, after applying lube and film, its issues started to fade. It became a premium switch that gives a smooth and creamy experience, justifying why it's a favorite in the community. Overall, they are worth looking at but remember that the heavier spring force and linear actuation are not for everybody. A user ended up lubing, filming, and installing them into a KBD75 custom build, and another who plans on using it in a soldered GB board, Fuji 75, claims it doesn't require filming.
Recommendation - It's not recommended to be used without a lubricant as they're quite scratchy and produce a lot of ping noise out of the box.
Switch & Click - Jake Harrington
See All Sources
Build & Design
- Build
- Housing
- Positive
- Negative
Build - The switches come in at 75 cents per piece. The housing material is the same proprietary blend as the classic ink black, the stem is made of pom but with a wall stem or popped collar stem, spring in the box ink black is 19mm 70g, whereas the box ink pink has a 15mm 60g spring, and both comes dry with little to no spring ping in stock form. Exterior-wise, the transparent bottom lets you see that the stem pole doesn't touch the cavity in the bottom of the housing, but at the sides, it can be seen that the railing impacts the bottom housing. Performance-wise, they are similar when typing, the reduced travel isn't a bother, and they are smooth in stock form; though they may sound like pole bottom out, they actually bottom out on the rails. Overall, it's for those looking for a clacky switch.
Housing - The housing is tight, and even on stock, they are usable. They sound deep and smooth when lubed, especially when the top housing slider is also lubed. However, the film doesn't do much other than make the sound cleaner. Overall, the user recommends using them stock or lightly lubing.
Keybored
11/01/2021
See All Sources
Performance
- Feel
- Scratch
- Sound
- Stem Wobble
- Travel Distance
- Positive
- Negative
Feel - It has a nice feel and is everything you could want in a linear switch.
Switch & Click - Jake Harrington
Scratch - The switches feel a bit scratchy out of the box, but they can be improved.
Switch & Click - Jake Harrington
Sound - It has an excellent sound all-around, specifically a nice bassy sound on impact, especially for its price, as it's a bit on the pricier side compared to their normal switches. It also performs smoothly.
Stem Wobble - It has a slight stem wobble that most Gateron switches have due to slightly imprecise tolerancing and smaller sized stem; though the smaller-sized stem makes the keystroke smoother, it causes a tradeoff between smoothness and wobble. To limit the wobble, installing a switch film improves stability on a plate, but it doesn't help much in the stem.
Switch & Click - Jake Harrington
Travel Distance - It can be difficult for users used to the traditional 4 mm travel of most switches, as it has reduced travel with the bottom out at 3.4mm.
Andrew Nguyen
10/17/2021
Sources
Tags
- Feel
- Scratch
- Sound
- Stem Wobble
- Travel Distance
Sources
- Switch & Click
- YouTube
See All Sources
Comparison
- Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Build & Design
- Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Performance
- Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Price
- Comparison vs Box Ink
- Comparison vs Original Gateron Ink Black
- Positive
- Negative
Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Build & Design - Build-wise, the Akko Jelly blacks, one of the most popular custom keyboard switches, with a general NMX structure that can fit any keycap, has an equipped north-facing LED slot for LED modifications and is compatible with SMD LED, a linear switch with an operating force of 50 grams, total travel of 4mm, and pretravel of 1.9mm. In contrast, the Gateron box ink black v2's take after the original Gateron ink v2 by expanding the unique sound of the ink blacks; it has a shorter travel of as long as a long spring for snappy return, and it utilizes the same material as the regular ink v2 switches, and are linear switches with an operating force of 60 grams bottoming out at 70 grams, and a 19mm spring. Design-wise, the jelly black is much darker with a more concentrated black, while the ink black looks lighter and translucent. Both have box stamps, but the Gateron box ink black has a longer stamp. Also, the jelly blacks actually have a slight curvature on the top of the stem near the inner wall, which is supposed to help with stem wobble. The jelly blacks are harder to open as they require more strength, while the box inks pop off once pressure is applied.
Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Performance - Performance-wise, the Box ink blacks are thockier and poppier depending on the mods and board, and it has a 5-pin configuration. At the same time, the Jelly Blacks sound average with more wobble as it has a 3-pin configuration but a tight stem.
Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Price - The Jelly Blacks are much better than the Inks, considering the price and what you get from them. The inks are only better in terms of nostalgia and preference for sound, which isn't very different. For those on a budget, the Jelly Blacks are a better option as they come at $12 per box, and each box is 45 pieces; realistically, you'll need 2 boxes, which will cost $24 for 90 pieces of Akko Jelly Blacks, and that's about 27 cents for each switch. In contrast, the Gateron Ink Blacks cost $21.25 for 25 switches, and you will have to get 75 switches minimum, so that will cost you about $63.75, that's about 85 cents per piece.
Comparison vs Box Ink - Gateron has made small improvements to their ink series to make them even better, and the box inks are better than the ink v2s. Specifically, between the two, the sound is almost identical to that ink-black sound. However, the box ink is a bit smoother and tighter than the ink v2. Also, films aren't necessary to make the Box Ink better and, if needed, can even be used stock though there's a small reduction of travel; it's not that noticeable.
Keybored
11/01/2021
Comparison vs Original Gateron Ink Black - The box ink has a box stem longer pole though it doesn't bottom out on the pole itself; rather, it has a longer slider on that side that it bottom outs on, which effectively lowers the travel from 4mm on the standard ink to 3.4 mm, the lower housing has a smaller LED hole, upper housing has a little tab in the LED slot, which makes the housings tighter, and it has a longer spring of 19mm that contributes to a snappy response. In contrast, the original doesn't have a box stem and a shorter travel distance, but the half a millimeter isn't that noticeable.
Sources
Tags
- Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Build & Design
- Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Performance
- Comparison vs Akko Jelly Black - Price
- Comparison vs Box Ink
- Comparison vs Original Gateron Ink Black
Sources
- YouTube
Lewis Toh
01/07/2022
Lewis Toh
01/07/2022
Lewis Toh
01/07/2022
Lewis Toh
01/07/2022
Lewis Toh
01/07/2022
Lewis Toh
01/07/2022
Lewis Toh
01/07/2022
Lewis Toh
01/07/2022
Keybored
11/01/2021
Keybored
11/01/2021
Keybored
11/01/2021
Keybored
11/01/2021
See All Sources
Comments