Announcing CannonKeys x Haimu Pastel Series Switches


At CannonKeys, we’re always looking for ways to expand our switch lineup, and add more variety. We like stocking switches that everyone knows and loves, and feel it’s important to keep fan favorites available.


But, we also like bringing new, different switches to market - something that isn’t as well known as a Gateron Ink, or Cherry MX Black Hyperglide. We’ve done this with our full-nylon Durock series of switches - including Lavenders, Anubis, Blush, Cerulean, and Dark Amber switches (and we’ve got another one coming) - and we’ve been thrilled to see they’ve been well received. And while there is a place for recolors of existing switches, with many of the new custom switches we release, we typically try to do something different that hasn’t been done before.


With this in mind - we’d like to announce a new series of switches we’re starting in collaboration with Haimu. The CannonKeys x Haimu Pastel Switch series. These new switches aren’t simply recolors of other Haimu switches you’ve seen before.

After seeing the great reception by the community of Haimu’s Whisper Tactiles and Heartbeat Linears, we asked them to send us all the parts they had available. We tested over 80 unique combinations of different materials of top housing, bottom housing, stem, and spring, and picked the best combinations. The resulting switches are new, refreshing, and quite different from a lot of existing switches on the market.


While picking switches always comes down to preference, we can lend some insight into what our team thought of these switches:


Mint - The mint switch is a hyper-tactile switch, but not quite the same as an Anubis or Neapolitan. There is hardly any pretravel, and a bit of post travel, but provides a level of tactility that feels more tactile than the compared switches - despite those two also being quite tactile. The 63.5g bottom-out 22mm double-stage spring adds preload to help increase the tactile feel, leading to this difference. At CannonKeys, we all have our own switch preferences. One team member in particular is a huge linear fan - only linears for him. This switch is the only tactile switch he has ever daily driven.

Peach - The peach switch is a linear clack monster! High pitched, loud, and clacky - acoustically, this switch is the exact opposite of the Haimu Heartbeat Linears you might have tried. If you prefer muted switches, we would not recommend this one - but if you’re looking for a switch that’s unashamed of the sound it makes - this is a great choice. The same 63.5g 22mm double-stage spring used in the mint switch also makes an appearance here - giving the switch a more distinctive and characteristic top out sound.

LemonThe tame older sibling to the peach, our lemon linear is slightly muted, and much less high pitched. Definitely restrained sound wise comparably. After lots of testing, we think it offers a slightly refined full POM switch feel with a very similar sound (not that there is anything wrong with full POM!). Like the other offerings in this series, it also uses a 63.5g 22mm double-staged spring, and factory lube. These are great stock, but we can't wait to see how people mod them to fit their finely tuned preferences!

AzaleaThese are loud like the peach switch, but not quite as high pitched. Great middle ground sound profile. The 63.5g 22mm double-staged spring makes the linear downstroke feel even and upstroke snappy. Not as polarizing as the other switches in this collaboration, this switch plays it a little more safe.

Thistle The Thistle switch is a loud tactile switch that does not mess around! The large bump is felt immediately on the downstroke, with only a little room for breathing left on the very start of the upstroke. Reminiscent of a high weight topre dome, this is an interesting tactile that is worth trying out.

Sky The Sky linear switch switch is very deep sounding, and slightly muted. Deep, muted, smooth. It's that simple. What's not to love?

Flan Much like the Azalea switch, the Flan linear switch is not too deep and not too high pitched. It is also not quite as loud as the Peach, and not as muted as the Sky switch.

If you would like to try them out for yourself, these switches will be available shortly in our switch sample packs. Once more of the switches in this lineup have been manufactured, we also plan on releasing CK x Haimu Pastel Switch sample pack.

We hope you are as excited as we are about these unique material combinations! We can’t wait for you to try them, and hope that you enjoy them!


Hear how they sound in the reels below from our content creator friends!

Mint/Lemon/Peach

Azalea

Sky

 

 

May 05, 2023 — Andrew Kannan