So I recently purchased a set of 110x Drop Holy Pandas and to my surprise I was quite disappointed. From watching reviews and hearing people praise these switches as almost being the GOAT of tactiles I am dumbfounded. The tactile bump is much more in line with a Cherry MX Brown as it to me feels quite linear and weak.

I personally own three different boards with C3 Equalz Kiwis, Boba U4Ts and Durock Sunflower T1s and all of these are in my opinion way more pronounced in their tactility, not to mention smoothness from top to bottom.

I can't be the only one who feels this way.

What do you guys think?

Comments

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slparker09 t1_iu0e7t7 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 4:59 PM

I haven't been around long, but my feeling is that anytime I see "panda" in the name with a few exceptions, it's all overhype and letdown.

Personally, of the couple dozen tactiles I have tried, so far my choice is the Coffee Chip Ice Cream (using right now, actually) or Neapolitan Ice Cream ones from CannonKeys.

Anubis switches seem good too. I recently picked up the Tecsee Purple Panda's and I like them, not really more than the other heavy ones I use but since they have 67g springs I thought I would check them out; plus...I wanted purple housings for aesthetics.

It's all subjective, really, it just seems like anytime I see anything called holy panda or panda in general I'm pretty skeptical.

thelebuis t1_iu0ih65 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:27 PM

I mean the holly panda it the reason there is a million other switch with similar name. Not saying that the switch is good or bad, but it is the og panda

Sophia7X t1_iu3za79 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 11:45 AM

Neapolitan Ice Cream switches are soooo good. I got them after I saw Switch and Click rank them as the best tactile switch and I agree

rpo_Mave OP t1_iu0m0im wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:49 PM

Yea, I will definitely be on the fence about those "panda" switches from now on. It really feels like an easy way of attracting people because of the reputation the OG Panda still has.

However, I did hear a lot of good about the Coffee Chip Ice Cream and if it wasn't because they're practically impossible to get your hands on in EU currently, I would have bought some to try out.

slparker09 t1_iu0rqik wrote on October 27, 2022 at 6:26 PM

I really like them. I haven't lubed mine yet. I've been using them stock to break them in a bit.

They are very scratchy stock out of the bag. I don't think I need to film them, the tolerances seem tight. But definitely need to be lubed.

I'm thinking about ordering some others soon. I love tactile. I spent many, many years as dasKeyboard Cherry blue user, but once I stumbled into this hobby and community, I've pretty much left clicky in the dust.

There are a few linears I like; especially after I lube/film them. But tactile is where my heart is.

faintlymacabre1518 t1_iu0imdp wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:28 PM

Agreed. There's so much hype around the "Panda" and they don't stack up.

Get thee some Designer Studio White Jades or track down Harimaus if you enjoy punchy tactiles!

rpo_Mave OP t1_iu0l9f9 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:45 PM

Yea, it's really contagious and misleading. Because as you say - they really don't stack up. And for the price I paid including customs and handling.. $1.5 per switch.. Ouch..

I will definitely give those switches you mentioned a look, maybe they'll be the ones for my next project :D

faintlymacabre1518 t1_iu0mrst wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:54 PM

I saw that you are in the EU! I literally just received a restock notification for Harimaus from CandyKeys.

https://candykeys.com/product/harimau-tactile-penyu-linear-switch

BucBrady t1_iu1ws62 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 11:05 PM

It's a rather popular opinion on this sub that the drop holy pandas aren't very good.

Harke_KB t1_iu0g3av wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:11 PM

100% agree. HPs were the most tactile switches like 3 years ago when the next best offering was cherrymx clears. by todays standards they are a medium tactile which is fine but they still retain a lot of the old hype

rpo_Mave OP t1_iu0kssu wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:42 PM

Yea and I definitely fell for this.. :D But I guess my wife wouldn't mind getting some extras for her holy panda board. haha!

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thelebuis t1_iu0iyyf wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:30 PM

My fist board was with holy pandas, really liked it, but figures Ill try some tactiles so my second is with some cherry black hyperglide, it is great for gaming but I figured I like tactiles more. So next build baba u4t? There is a good chance it will be my last keep in a long while

rpo_Mave OP t1_iu0kavv wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:38 PM

I feel like I can't fault people for liking holy pandas if they haven't tried anything else. And maybe a bunch of people really like a medium tactile switch - I don't know :P But as for whether to go U4Ts or Sunflower/Kiwi/Regular T1s. I would actually go with one of the trio rather than U4T. I find them less noisy and actually a bit more tactile than the U4T and the longer stem pole makes the bottoming out feel a lot harsher - however, that's just my personal opinion. And they're all excellent switches. So you can't really go wrong.

thelebuis t1_iu0l7rg wrote on October 27, 2022 at 5:44 PM

Ok thanks ill check the other options out

NorthCoast11 t1_iu4heee wrote on October 28, 2022 at 2:15 PM

This is extremely helpful info.