Submitted by [deleted] t3_127tcox in MechanicalKeyboards
Reading all of the keycap guides I assumed PBT are the best, and comfortability isn’t specifically mentioned. However, I’ve found typing is much more pleasant on the smooth ABS texture than the rough PBT texture. Am I alone on this, or is it common knowledge that doesn’t get mentioned.
I guessing I’m confused? I used my friend’s Ducky keyboards as a comparison and the ABS way much smoother than the PBT across several Ducky keyboards. Are you saying Ducky chooses to give their ABS keycaps less texture than PBT keycaps? Like I could guess which ones were ABS and which were PBT based on feel alone.
The just means the molds used for the abs caps are either newer or just smoother than the pbt ones. The texture right out of the box is not an indication of plastic material. And once both ABS and PBT shine and lose texture (they both do, pbt just takes a little longer) they’ll feel pretty similar. It’s better to say you just like smooth keycaps more than you do rough ones, rather than saying you like abs more than pbt, as it’s not mutually exclusive. If you’d like I can name the usual texture of several keycap manufacturers.
Thanks, that would be helpful.
I don't really care about one material over the other.
I care about initial quality, and durability.
That said, I see shine as a badge of honor, rather than a defect.
It shows you actually USE the keyboard in question.
That is provided the keycaps are double-shot, to keep them from losing their legends, like cheap painted-on keycaps do.
This ☝️
Not a hot take. People just love shitting on GMK here lol.
I have the same opinion as yours. Textured ABS (like GMK) feels softer to me than textured PBT (which feels almost “gritty” to me, like sandpaper). Keycap texture is actually more important to me than keycap profile and I like smooth textures like you. For that reason, my favorite keycaps are actually ABS SA keycaps.
> or is it common knowledge
No, it's personal preference. Yours is ABS (mine is too). It's not universal and not a fact to anyone besides yourself.
I prefer pbt over abs for everything other than looks.
Can someone tell me what the stock keycaps of Keychron boards are made out of? They feel super smooth, almost as if they had a thin layer of rubber around them. I really like the feel and sound of them but would like them with a different design. Are those ABS?
Which stock keycaps? They have both ABS and PBT. I had the stock ABS k2 v2 keycaps, but they felt terrible. Now I'm kind of interested in that rubbery feeling you described.
Whatever comes with the K8. Checking the product page again at the very bottom it specifies the keycaps as OEM profile ABS keycaps. They're super smooth and have a very satisfying touch to them. I was actually really, really put off by my first official GMK set that I got as a replacement because of how rough the texture was in comparison...
Abs on my k10, the product page should say. I have mine a fair shake but finally swapped them yesterday. I prefer the harder textured feel of pbt (stock set on my ducky one2) and had a set that I bought on clearance a while ago and finally put on.
The keychron caps broke in a bit with use and got less smooth but I still don't readily like them.
9 months with this board, used 3-4 days a week for work but not continuous typing
You aren't alone, but I'm not in agreement. In general, I prefer the greater sense of gription that PBT usually has.
Me typing on my smooth pbt keycaps: what.
Where?
I noticed no difference.
Almost as if texture is independent of material.
Texture is one part but the materials themselves will have differences too.
While I don't disagree I think OP should try some smooth PBT caps before swearing them off.
It's entirely preference. I generally like pbt more but really nice abs is pleasant as well.
Apprehensive_Park951 t1_jeg1k9g wrote
I think you’re a little misguided. Texture has almost no dependence on plastic material, as far as keycaps go. It’s purely the molds used when the keycaps were made. The roughest keycaps I’ve ever used were abs. The smoothest I’ve ever used were pbt. DSS and CannonCaps respectively. In the photo, you can see my CannonCaps is so soft and smooth that my nail rubbing against it during typing has scratched it up pretty bad. In addition, which texture is more comfortable is also purely preference, so there’s really no objective better or worse. Like everything in this hobby, the best is whatever you like the most.
https://preview.redd.it/glrmyr2x16ra1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=d2e5a16e96d32af2929b208e4f53f998f22530bf