Balling On A Budget: Gateron Yellow Switch Review

Novelkeys Cream

- Fresh out of the box with no modifications made to them, the Cream switches have a similar feeling scratch to that of the Gateron Yellows, but a noticeably greater amount of it.

- While the Gateron Yellows and Creams share fairly similar E/W stem wobble, the N/S stem wobble on the Gateron Yellow is noticeably greater.

- Aside the scratch, the biggest difference in sound between these two comes in the spring ping that is heard from the Yellows at higher activation speeds.

Gateron Ink V2

- While they are quite close in terms of overall smoothness in the push feel, the Gateron Ink V2s narrowly edge out the Gateron Yellows as being slightly smoother.

- The Ink V2 has a slightly deeper bottoming and topping out sound than the Gateron Yellows, though this could easily be chalked up to specifically the sound profile of the KS-8s, rather than another housing type.

- Much like the Cream switches, the Gateron Ink V2s have comparable E/W stem wobble to the Gateron Yellows but a bit less wobble in the N/S direction of the stem.

C3 Equalz Tangerine V2 (62g)

- To nobody’s surprise, the Tangerine V2 has significantly less stem wobble in both the N/S and E/W directions compared to the moderately noticeable to noticeable stem wobble in the Gateron Yellows.

- While the topping out sound of the Tangerine V2s is slightly punchier and more solid, the topping out sound of the Gateron Yellow is slightly higher pitched and thin in sound. This, again, could easily just be chalked up to the KS-8 housings and may not be indicative of all Gateron Yellows.

- No noticeable spring ping in the Tangerine V2s at all, regardless of typing speed.

Tealios V2

- Of all of the switches on this comparison list, the Tealios V2 have the most comparable spring ping at higher activation speeds to the Gateron Yellows.

- While having comparable E/W direction stem wobble to the Yellows, the Tealios V2 have a noticeably lesser N/S direction stem wobble.

- Likely due to the solid bottom housings on the Gateron Yellows, the Yellows have an ever so slightly deeper bottoming out sound than the Tealios V2.

Cherry MX Black

- Of all of the switches on this list, the Cherry MX Blacks have the deepest bottoming out and topping out sound and are noticeably deeper pitched and more firm than the Gateron Yellows.

- Even though the sound may be different, the wobble of the MX Blacks is nearly identical to the Gateron Yellows.

- While the scratch in the Cherry MX Blacks is significantly more noticeable in terms of sound, it is only slightly more noticeable in terms of push feel as compared to the Gateron Yellows.

Pinoko V2

- While there is scratch in the push feel of both the Pinoko V2s and Gateron Yellows, the scratch is slightly lesser and ‘finer’ feeling in the Pinoko V2s.

- As expected with any JWK property compared to any Gateron switch, there is significantly lesser stem wobble in both the N/S and E/W directions in the Pinoko V2s than the Gateron Yellows.

- While the topping out sound of the Gateron Yellows is quite thin and sharp, it at least does not carry the same ‘plasticky’ tone that the topping out of the Pinoko V2s does.

Scores and Statistics

Note I – These scores are not necessarily completely indicative of the nuanced review above. If you’ve skipped straight to this section I can only recommend that you at least glance at the other sections above in order to get a stronger idea of my opinion about these switches.

Note II - This scorecard and its associated text were edited on 08/01/2021 as part of the Scorecard Update Project. In order to view the original, please follow the link here.