OCUK Cherry MX Keycaps and Rubber O-Ring Mod Review

Introduction

Mechanical keyboards offer incredible performance and durability compared to membrane switch keyboards, and they’re loved by gamers and day-to-day PC users alike for their unique tactile feel. There’s more to your typical mechanical keyboard than just the feel and the sound of the switches, you can choose the type of switches you want in your keyboard, such as Cherry MX Blue, Brown, Black, Red, Green and of course the mechanical switches from competing brands such as Kailh. There are a lot of MX compatible keyboards that allow you to remove the key caps and replace them with aftermarket ones, and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing today.

Mechanical keyboards do have one downside vs a membrane switch, plunger or even scissor switch keys, in that they’re often louder, this can be a big distraction for some and while the noise levels vary from one switch type to the other, mechanical switches are almost always noisier than membrane keyboards. There is a solution to this problem, known as O-Ring modding, which is something I’ve known about for a while, but never really had the opportunity to put to the test; until today. So while I’ll be replacing the key caps on my keyboard today, I’ll also be installing a range of O-Ring mods to test how they can effect the overall acoustic performance of my keyboard.

For those of you who don’t know what O-Ring mods are, they’re simply little rubber hoops that can be put onto the stem on the inside of a mechanical keyboard key cap, this prevents the key from bottoming out (hitting the chassis of the keyboard or the switch) and as such, they can massively reduce the acoustic levels of your typing.

At my disposal today I have a set of double shot injection Cherry MX stem key caps, they come bundled in a clear plastic box, nothing fancy, but it’s not like they need to be individually wrapped.

Around the back you can see there are other colour options available, although I’m quite happy with the neat and tidy white colour we’ve chosen for today’s review.

In the box you’ll find a simple owners booklet and a key cap puller; an essential tool for any mechanical keyboard owner.

The O-Ring mods come in three choices; black, clear and blue. They’re quite small, so they only come packaged in a ziplock style bag