Akko Mirror Switch Review
I guess all of this switch review nonsense has been going on for quite a bit of time. Looking back through all of my measurements, force curves, and previous reviews in preparation for this one, I was greeted by the shocking fact that I am just a few days shy of the five year mark from when I first started writing mechanical keyboard switch content. While it would have been somewhat poetic to try and land this full length review on that date, I’d much rather you all get the chance to read over this (long) one with coffee in hand on a nice Sunday morning rather than a Tuesday, of all days of the week. That’s right – five years ago from this upcoming Tuesday, I posted my very first public opinion on switches in the form of a comparatively very brief review of the then new ThicThock Marshmallow switches. Rather than doing so organically, I think I was encouraged by Jeffccy, the owner of ThicThock, to do so in response to them graciously donating some prototypes of their Marshmallow switches to my growing collection of around 500 unique switches at the time. Taking a look back at this review for the first time in a very, very long time, I was shocked to see just how similar the review is to these last few I’ve written and that the bones of how reviews are still structured today can very much be seen there from the absolute get go. The contextual/historical background section is still there, the original performance section more or less is set up the same as it is today, and there’s even a switch comparison section that has the same three comments of thoughts about each switch like I do on this very review here. Somehow in the 207 articles since that day back in 2019, very little seems to have changed about me and the writing even if switches have come leaps and bounds since. It’s pretty crazy to think that you’ve all put up with me and continue to keep reading my ramblings all these years down the road as well. Speaking of which, I should probably get around to rambling about the switches at hand here, as the tale of Akko and their Mirror switches is about to certainly make for quite a long review…
Figure 1: The very first 'comparison section' ever wrote from that ThicThock Marshmallow Switch Review.
Switch Background
If you’re the kind of what I’ll refer to as a “casual audience member” here who is only reading bits and pieces of paragraphs that stick out to you as you briefly scroll into this review before returning to wherever it is you found it at to yell at me that this is all too long, the only thing that you should really take away from this section is that Akko does not and has never made their own switches. Despite the fact that it is fairly easy to figure out who is making Akko’s switches at any point in time based on certain key features, it is a common belief amongst people new to the hobby that Akko makes their switches because they do damn near everything in their power to make people believe that that is the case. The general fog of confusion about which company is producing Akko switches hasn’t particularly been helped by me either, for that matter, as documentation about who has made what over the years is quite sparse. The reason that it’s so hard to find a singular, complete, and coherent listing of all Akko switches and the details about them is because they’ve just pumped out and marketed so absolutely damn many switches in such a fairly short amount of time. By my last estimates, and those of SwitchOddities who certainly has a much better grasp on all of this than I do, Akko has made a bit over 60 different switches as of the time of writing this review, using a grand total of 7 different manufacturers for those releases over just a span of 5 years of time. Honestly, the only good time for me to have started talking about Akko and their switches would have been all the way back in 2020 when I was just getting into the swing of reviewing switches regularly. However, not all hope is entirely lost when it comes to Akko and documenting their expansive history. There is somehow a rather vague semblance of order in who they’ve chosen to manufacture their switches with and how those switches have been released over the last handful of years. So in no small feat of effort, here’s my attempt at dividing up Akko’s history of switches explicitly by the different manufacturers they’ve used and in roughly what time frame they chose to turn to those manufacturers. I imagine you’re probably smart enough to figure out what’s going on below.
Huano
Figure 2: Full set of Akko V1 switches as seen on SwitchOddities since I cannot, for the life of me, find my Akko V1 Blue switches.
The Akko company that the broader mechanical keyboard community has come to know of over the past handful of years from their endless amounts of customized switch offerings is actually quite a ways away from where they initially started out as a keyboard business. First founded on August 15th of 2016, the first few years of Akko’s business seemed to be focused around providing themed or coherently designed ‘fancy’ prebuilt keyboard kits on a four to six month rotation. From only a month after their debut all the way up to 2021, this was more or less the modus operandi for the company, with the occasional brand collaboration or IP deal spicing up these offerings along the way. It wasn’t until February of 2021, in fact, that Akko released their first ‘custom’ switch offerings in the CS Matcha Green, Rose Red, and Ocean Blue switches, which will be covered a few paragraphs below this one. So what exactly was Akko using in those prebuilt keyboards for all those years if not their own switches? Well, when it wasn’t the occasional common OEM offerings such as Cherry or Gateron switches, the majority of Akko’s prebuilt keyboards from this 2016-2021 timespan were built using one of four different Huano-made Akko switches simply referred to by their colors pink, orange, purple, and blue.
Figure 3: Akko V1 switch information infographic gathered long ago from an unknown source.
Now referred to by collectors as the ‘Akko V1’ switches, these four original switches are surprisingly well represented by the informational card above in terms of both their actual switch specifications as well as the renders, themselves. Coming exclusively in an Akko-branded clear over white housing construction, each of these switches were only ever available in plate mount variety and had no tactile offerings whatsoever. The Akko Pink, Orange (which does look a bit more like red in person), and Purple were all linear switches with light to medium weight springs and the Akko Blue switches were clickies with a mid-ground weight of approximately 60 grams of force at actuation. While these switches were almost exclusively available only as built-in options for Akko-sold keyboards for the majority of their life time, historical notes that I’ve taken do seem to indicate that they may have been available from the secondary market at some point in time and in some form. The V1 Pink and Purple switches shown above, in particular, were the first Akko switches that I ever recorded adding to my collection around 2020 and the fact that I got mine from another collector who had somehow managed purchase them in bulk (read: more than 500 of each) leads me to believe that they have made their way to the secondary market as a result of Huano dumping stock at some point as opposed to Akko selling them on their website directly. Following the release of the original CS trio mentioned above, Akko largely cut ties with Huano and has not used them as a switch manufacturer since, even despite Huano’s return to prominence starting in 2022.
Figure 4: My very first Akko switches ever added to the collection - Akko V1 Pink and Akko V1 Purple.
Gateron
Figure 5: Marketing image from Akko showing their original three Gateron collab switches with color accurate renders.
While it would have been editorially clean of me to just immediately jump to Akko’s KTT-made switches following the references to them in both paragraphs of the previous section, doing so would have stopped me from reminding you yet again of the fact that Akko’s confusing switch history is largely their fault. Sometime vaguely around 2021 and potentially in the hangtime between Huano-made and KTT-made switches, Akko also did a small run of Gateron-made switches which also seemingly only appeared in their prebuilt keyboard options. The Gateron-made Akko Yellow, Pink, and Orange switches all appeared similar in design to that of the Akko V1 switches save for their use of ‘GATERON’ nameplates instead of stylized ‘Akko’ ones for the Yellow switches and fully color tinted housings for the Pink and Orange switches. Without any formal marketing recognition of these switches by Akko from I can find, as well as their similarity in design around a time when Akko was definitely transitioning away from using Huano, it’s possible that these switches were being used in prebuilts as a stop-gap to help fulfill previously agreed upon orders with similar looking and performing switches to those of the Huano-made ones during their transition away from them. Unlike the Akko V1 switches, I don’t recall any of these switches being sold on the secondary market intentionally or unintentionally. The original set of mine that I picked up for the collection in the middle of 2021 all came from a collector who was, at the time, buying cheap, broken keyboards and gutting them for his collection. To make matters even more confusing, this brief stint where Akko utilized Gateron-made switches is not the only time they’ve done so. In an equally brief stretch of time somewhere in 2023, Akko also had a pair of switches released known as the ‘Akko x Gateron Yellow’ and ‘Akko x Gateron White’ switches. Somehow despite their proximity in time to me now, I feel like I know even less about this duo of switches nor what actually became of them.
KTT
Initially, Akko started out their KTT collaboration in similar fashion as to how they did with Huano in the form of a small number of prebuilt-only options with minor frills and (almost) no aftermarket availability. Referred to by collectors as the ‘Akko V2’ switches, the Akko V2 Pink, V2 Orange, and V2 Blue switches were all KTT-made and featured typing in line with that of the colors from the initial Akko V1 switches. Featuring clear winglatch top housings over bottom housings that matched the stems and color names of these switches, these were likely available in prebuilt keyboards some time in mid to late 2020 and throughout a good chunk of 2021, though nobody is certain as to the exact dates of their manufacturing nor usage. To qualify the parenthetical ‘almost’ above, there was some strange blip of time in late 2021 where Akko chose to sell the V2 Blue switches in 10-count aftermarket boxes branded as Monsgeek collaborations. This vague, confusing, and largely prebuilt driven status quo for Akko was pretty squarely set to change in February of 2021, though.
Figure 6: Trio of 'Akko V2' switches as seen on SwitchOddities' store front.
Figure 7: Front side of the boxes used for the 2021 Akko aftermarket sale of Akko V2 Blue switches.
Figure 8: Back side of the boxes used for the 2021 Akko aftermarket sale of Akko V2 Blue switches.
In February of 2021, Akko engaged in perhaps their single best business decision in their entire history by reaching out to KTT and asking them to produce custom aftermarket switches for them rather than just their prebuilt offerings. While KTT is almost a household name in mechanical keyboard switches at the time of writing this review, back at the start of 2021, they were still a largely unknown manufacturer with very little acknowledgement from the community of their existence. As noted in my KTT Strawberry Switch Review from January 30th of 2021, KTT had only been producing switches since mid-October of 2020, and at the time had only released a handful of switches in Sea Salts, Clouds, Wine Reds, and the KTT Strawberries in the west. Choosing to go with KTT for the original CS trio of Matcha Greens, Rose Reds, and Ocean Blues could be described as nothing short of a gamble. And yet, it paid off massively. Partially riding the soon incoming wave of KTT’s success and partially help propelling it along themselves, Akko catapulted themselves to relevancy in the switch scene offering each of these three switches in fancy, 45-count packaging for only $10 per box, or $0.22 per switch. While that price seems not nearly as surprising today, at the time of release this was bargain-bin pricing that was effectively unheard of for switches outside of those that shops were aiming to try and clear out.
Figure 9: Original Akko CS Trio of switches including Rose Red, Matcha Green, and Ocean Blue switches.
Stirred on by the success of the original CS trio of Akko switches, Akko then when on to release several more lines of KTT-made switches over the the rest of 2021. Paralleling the rate of their original prebuilt keyboard release schedule, only four months after the debut of the original CS trio, Akko announced an IP collaboration with SpongeBob and alongside cartoon themed keyboards, Akko released the Akko CS Sponge and Starfish switches. Sometime within a month after the release of these switches as well, and likely themed to match Spongebob’s iconic Jellyfish, Akko also released the CS Jelly White, CS Jelly Pink, CS Jelly Black, and CS Jelly Blue switches. Not to be content with that flurry of releases in 2021 either, Akko then went on to release the second trio of CS switches in Q3/Q4 of 2021, with the addition of the CS Radiant Red, CS Lavender Purple, and CS Vintage White switches onto this already rapidly expanding list of switch releases. And not to leave any stone unturned, I believe it was sometime in 2021 in and around the SpongeBob collaboration and second CS trio that Akko also released the CS Jelly Purple and CS Wine White switches, too. Thankfully, following this bevy of CS and Jelly switch releases at the tail end of 2021, Akko largely backed off of new custom switch releases. Well, that is until August of 2022.
Figure 10: Akko CS Sponge (Left) and Starfish (Right) switches released in collaboration with the SpongeBob SquarePants IP.
Figure 11: Initial Akko marketing chart of CS switches shortly following the release of the CS Lavender Purple, CS Radiant Red, and CS Vintage White switches.
Following an insane amount of success and broad community market capture over the course of 2021, Akko began phasing out the Akko CS Sponge and CS Starfish switches in mid-2022 likely in line with the end of their IP-collaboration. Not wanting to leave their customers with anything less than 500 different switch options to choose from at any given time, Akko then released their trio of full POM switches – the Akko POM Pink, POM Silver, and POM Browns. Using the same packaging and marketing techniques that rocketed Akko throughout 2021 as it clearly hadn’t failed them yet at this point, each of these switches were also available in fancy boxes and a bargain price, though ever so slightly higher at $16.99 per box of 45, or $0.37 per switch. Not nearly capturing the same market share as their original explosion of KTT offerings, Akko then proceeded to round out the rest of 2022 with several varied releases including switches such as their Piano, Crystal, Wine Red, Crystal Wine Red, Air, Snow Blue Grey, and V3 Cream Blue switches. While I could sit and pick apart each of these releases and try to more or less put them in chronological order, I can only simply lump these together in the general tail end of Akko’s KTT-made switch collaborations. To the best of my knowledge, as of the end of 2022, Akko has not had any further collaborations with KTT on custom switch offerings.
Figure 12: Akko's full POM trio of switches including POM Pink, POM Silver, and POM Brown.
TTC
Figure 13: Akko x TTC Princess (Left) and Demon (Right) switches from their 2021 collaboration.
Much like with the second Gateron collaboration with Akko mentioned above, Akko also has a two-switch collaboration with none other than TTC. With equally little understanding as to why this collaboration ever took place at all, the Akko x TTC Demon and Princess switches were a pair of dustproof linear switches that were offered towards the very end of 2021 at elevated price points above the other KTT-made switches that Akko was offering at the time, but with similar packaging and marketing points. Fading out of relevancy about the same time as the KTT-made collaborations, the only reason that the Demon and Princess switches retain any historical relevancy is because of the fact that they were among the first of TTC’s modern dustproof switches to feature the removable LED light diffusers. Since the release of these switches, this design has more or less been copied into all traditional modern TTC switch colors such as the Gold Pinks, Blueish Whites, Brothers, etc.
Kailh
Figure 14: Akko x Kailh Ice Cream Purple and Pink switches from their 2022 collaboration.
Attempting to ride the wave of Kailh’s own full POM switches as well as to recapture some of the market that they initially pulled in with the Akko POM Pink, Silver, and Brown switches in the middle of 2022, Akko also had a duo of collaborations with Kailh in the form of the Akko Ice Cream Pink and Purple switches. Both lightweight dustproof linear switches, the Akko Ice Cream Pink and Purple switches seem somehow more of a ‘phone in’ of a collaboration by Akko than the TTC or even Gateron switches before them because of the fact that they are simply just purple and pink colored Kailh switches. At the extreme least, the next time Akko would collaborate with Kailh at the tail end of 2023 would be a bit more unique as it led to the release of the Akko Hall Effect Sakura Pink switches. That being said though, these Hall Effect switches were a bit baffling at their release as they were only compatible with some of Akko’s keyboards – e.g. the 3061S HE Shine-Through and the MOD007B PC Santorini – boards which were also sometimes compatible with Akko’s Outemu Hall Effect switch collaborations in the Cream Yellow switches. I’m not entirely sure how Akko, of all the companies out there, managed to be the first to have prebuilt Hall Effect keyboards with two different company’s switches compatible in them in stock, out of the box fashion. Furthermore, I’m not entirely sure why they decided to make these switches almost identical to each other in terms of specs with that cross-compatibility in mind…
Figure 15: Component part demonstration of the Akko Hall Effect Sakura Pink switches as shown on SwitchOddities' storefront.
Outemu
Figure 16: Grainy aftermarket photo from Taobao showing the box designs for several of Akko's Outemu Pro V3 switch collaborations from 2023.
Wanting to add yet another manufacturer to their catalogue and (I can only assume) simultaneously further muddy the waters with respect to their marketing and claims, Akko went on to release their “V3 Pro” lineup of switches in April of 2023. Including the V3 Cream Yellow Pro, V3 Cream Blue Pro, V3 Matcha Green Pro, V3 Cream Black Pro, V3 Crystal Pro, V3 Piano Pro, V3 Lavender Purple Pro, and V3 Silver Pro upon release, these switches more or less rehashed Akko’s most popular switches from 2022 but in an Outemu-made, 2023 lighting. While some other stragglers of releases likely creeped into this lineup over the remaining span of 2023, this has largely been the bulk of Akko’s offerings to date and they’ve remained as the custom in-stock available options from their release up to the end of 2024 where we are today. Recent marketing guides from Akko, as seen below in Figure 17, suggest that these releases should be split up into different ‘series’, including the ‘Creamy’ and ‘Nature’ series of releases which include some of their more recent and popular Outemu-made releases such as the Rosewoods or silent tactile Penguins. And no, I don’t know why “Dracula” switches fit under the “Nature” series, either.
Figure 17: Akko switch marketing guide for releases and stocked switches as per the end of 2024.
As mentioned above in the Kailh section, Akko does also have one strange Outemu-made release that is separate from all of those switches mentioned above while still opting for the ‘creamy’ marketing adjective – the Akko Hall Effect Cream Yellow. The seemingly more ubiquitous of Akko’s two Hall Effect switches, the Cream Yellows appear to be more or less compatible with the vast majority of Akko’s prebuilt HE keyboards with only a narrow couple of them being unable to accept these in favor of the Kailh-made Sakura Pinks. Like the Sakura Pink switches, the Outemu-made Cream Yellows are not available for purchase separate from the prebuilt keyboards and are thus board-only options like some of Akko’s earliest MX-style offerings.
HMX
The astute among you probably noticed that I skipped over the last and most vague of Akko’s categories of switches in their ‘Akko Switch Guide’ above in Figure 17. The MOD Series, otherwise referred to by the eye-rolling tag of “The Premium Clack” are the newest of Akko’s custom switch offerings and have only just started being released as of the last few months here at the tail end of 2024. Wanting to yet again jump ship to another newer, rising manufacturer like they did with KTT all the way back in 2021, the Mirror and Stellar Rose switches from the MOD series are made by HMX. While I’m certain that this leads you to believe that the Starlit switches are also thus made by HMX, you would be wrong in your assumption as these seem much more likely to be made by Kailh instead based on their marketing photos. Honestly, you shouldn’t even be surprised at this point. Further confusingly, some of their planned and recently (as recent as of the time I am actually physically writing this review) announced switches such as the Akko x Monsgeek Green Fog switches look as if they may be made by Kailh too.
Looking more narrowly towards the HMX-made Akko Mirror switches, we see that these switches were first released around the start of November, 2024 as custom, aftermarket switch option sold by Akko and their affiliated vendors. Marketed as being “initially designed for foamless builds” these switches were designed to “reflect the authentic sound of any keyboard as much as possible.” With a POK stem and nylon top and bottom housings, these factory lubed linear switches from HMX are available in boxes of 45, 90, or 135 switches at a fixed price point of $0.26 per switch. The semi-strange marketing, lack of general details about the switch, and absolute bargain-bin price point of these switches does somewhat remind me of the initial CS trio release back in 2021, and it does somewhat further make me wonder if Akko is trying to use these similar tactics to help drum up interest in these switches. Whether or not this is the case, as of the time of writing this review roughly a month after their release, the community at large seems to be quite aware of them with nearly a half dozen different YouTubers reviewing them over the span of the last few weeks. The ostensible popularity of these switches after only one month of their existence, paired up with Akko’s propensity to support their switches thoroughly and completely for at least 6-8 months means that we’ll likely see these switches for quite some time into the future, though ultimately their shelf life is unknown and assumed to be ultimately finite.
Mirror Performance
Appearance
At the highest level, the Akko Mirror switches come in what appears to be a two tone construction with blueish-white top housings and light blue bottom housings and stems. Even though I imagine that the stems and bottom housings are supposed to be or are actually the same color, my very pedantic eye for color that I picked up from work swears up and down that the stems are just ever so slightly lighter than the housings and I feel wrong for not having mentioned it. While this general color scheme is far from unique for a switch and there are plenty of other white and light blue offerings out there over the years of switch releases, the fact that these are the only switches from Akko to feature the newest bold, block letter nameplate with no stylization that Akko has previously used should help differentiate them for the time being. That is, until they make a V2, V3, and V3 Pro of these switches. Beyond these immediately identifiable details, there are a few sub-part, mold level features which are worth noting in the Akko Mirror switches that very positively identify these as being made by HMX. Discussion of these details may be found in the paragraphs and photos below.
Figure 18: Akko Mirror switches and their components.
Looking first to the ever so slightly blueish-white “PA12” top housings of the Akko Mirror switches, there are quite a few features that mark these as definitely being made by HMX and also one striking one that lets you know that it’s clearly for Akko. Prior to getting into those points, though, I want to stress that ‘PA12’ is just another marketing abbreviation for nylon – something which Akko doesn’t use in the description of the bottom housings on the Mirror’s sales page for some reason. Externally, the bold, embossed, and un-stylized ‘Akko’ nameplate stands out from a mile away and appears to be the new nameplates for Akko’s HMX-made collaborations moving forward. While the Starlight switches noted in Akko’s latest ‘MOD’ lineup of switches also appear to feature a similar style of nameplate in spite of being made by Kailh, do note that those nameplates are inverted in marketing photos as opposed to the normally oriented ones in the HMX switches pictured here. Aside from the nameplate, the Akko Mirror top housings also feature a thin, unobstructed rectangular nameplate whose outer lip features a capital letter mold marking in the left-hand corner and a numerical mold marking in the right-hand corner. These mold marking locations, as well as the general internal shape and structure of the top housings are all things which have been documented here in HMX-made switches before, namely that of the Raptor MX Extreme switches.
Figure 19: Akko Mirror top housing exterior showing bold, blocky 'Akko' nameplate and identifying mold markings in the lower left- and right-hand edges of the LED/diode slot.
Figure 20: Akko Mirror top housing interior showing design structures both identical to that of the HMX-made Raptor MX Extreme switches as well as other HMX switches in general.
Moving next to the baby blue ‘POK’ stems of the Akko Mirror switches, these seem about as mundane as you’d expect for a budget-friendly linear switch. Underneath a thin amount of factory lubing that only appears on the slider rails of these stems, we see that the slider rails are not tapered and that the center pole is comparatively long and tiered. While I can’t recall having opened and inspected the general stem structure of many HMX switches prior, their tenuous with KTT as a manufacturer does make me want to point out that I vividly recall seeing this ‘high and tight’ style slider rail in many KTT linears before. That being said, though, these stems are simply vague enough in their execution that they could effectively have been made by any manufacturer intentionally trying to make a switch that bottoms out a touch early onto its stem pole rather than the bases of its slider rails.
Figure 21: Akko Mirror stem front and back showing non-tapered, short slider rails and long, tiered center poles.
Finally arriving at the baby blue “modified nylon” bottom housings of the Akko Mirror switches, we’re greeted with a whole slew of features which are identical to those seen here previously in the HMX-made Raptor MX Extreme switches. Based on this connection, it appears that the strong, bulky south side spring collar and wide, rectangular dampening pads at the base of the slider rails of the bottom housings might be common features amongst HMX-made switches. Following along with the fact that the stems only have a trace amount of lube on their sides, the bottom housings of the Mirror switches seem almost impeccably clean and don’t have any visible lube present anywhere with the exception of the contact point between the stem legs and the leaves. Externally, the Akko Mirror bottom housings come in 5-Pin/PCB mount variety with very thin, cylindrical mounting legs that seem more or less unique to HMX at this point. If those features aren’t indicative enough to claim these switches as being made by HMX, then the placement of the heavily inward set, upside down numerical mold marking between the metal PCB pins and the ‘L’ and ‘upside down L’ shapes underneath the PCB mounting pins should more than make it clear who has made these switches. These features are identical in placement, size, and style to that of the Raptor MX Extreme switches.
Figure 22: Akko Mirror bottom housing internals showing dampening pads at the base of the slider rails and large, blocky south side spring collar common in HMX-made switches.
Figure 23: Akko Mirror bottom housing externals showing PCB mounting pins, upside-down numerical mold marking in between the metal PCB pins, and odd 'L' shaped features underneath the PCB mounting pins previously seen in other HMX switches.
Push Feel
First and foremost, the Akko Mirror switches can and should be described as quite smooth, effortlessly linear switches that have an edge of elegance to their smoothness stemming from multiple different features of their design. As a result of the fine and precise factory lube application, the marketing that tries to liken these switches to ‘reflecting pools’ for a keyboard’s true nature really does hit home here, but noticeably more so for the feeling of the switches than their sound. In addition to the factory lubing, the light and airy nature of these switches is also helped by the fact their springs are incredibly light and hardly increase at all over the course of their downstroke. Bottoming out just shy of 42 gf, these switches start their downstrokes not too far below that weight, causing them to practically crawl at a measured rate of only 2.8 gf change per millimeter of travel distance – something which is incredibly flat by any linear switch’s standard. Just how flat the force progression of these switches are is not just noticeable in their in hand feeling, but also in their force curve below, and even more so in their comparative linearity plotting even further below.
Figure 24: Force curve diagram for the stock Akko Mirror switch.
Again appealing to the measured force curve of the Akko Mirror switches above, I am honestly a bit surprised to see the force curve pull up to the bottom out at just 3.380 mm of total stem travel. Perhaps as a function of their weight not changing all that much throughout the downstroke, or maybe a function of the overall spring weight being sub 50 gf in entirety, the Mirror switches feel as if their downstroke travels quite a bit further into the housings like switches that reach the traditional full 3.80 to 4.00 mm travel distance range. This is even in spite of the fact that these switches bottom out onto their stem pole. As is expected from a stem that is shaped with ‘high and tight’ slider rails and a slightly longer than average stem pole, the Akko Mirrors pretty squarely bottom out onto their stem poles and do so in such a way as to make it the most noticeable feature of the switch. While the bottom out is not exactly sharp, there is a bit of an edge to it that hits like a kind of hard yet dulled out thud. It should be noted though that this ‘dull thud’ doesn’t always feel consistent when testing out the Mirrors in hand and in switch testers, though. At higher typing speeds, especially, the stems just feel as if they’re striking ‘off center’ a bit and not with the full blow of their force. In much the same way that swinging a hammer for a glancing blow on a nail definitely doesn’t feel the same as hitting the nail squarely on the head, sometimes the Akko Mirror bottom outs just don’t connect for some unknown reason. (Before you go blaming stem wobble, too, note below that there’s basically not much present to blame this phenomenon on in the first place.) In spite of this odd feeling being noteworthy enough for me to mention, when typing on these switches in a full keyboard and under normal, less scrutinizing conditions, this isn’t nearly as noticeable as it is when testing them elsewhere.
Sound
Yeah, I’m going to go ahead and replay the marketing notes from Akko’s sales page for the Akko Mirror switches here again one more time because it’s quite the set of claims:
“Akko Mirror switches are initially designed for foamless build with its clean sound profile. The purpose of designing those switches is to reflect (mirror) the authentic sound of any keyboard as much as possible.”
Figure 25: You know what, George, I don't get it either.
I’m just going to pretend like I never read this line of the sales page and then I won’t have to try and describe what the “authentic sound of any keyboard” is. That unironically sounds like what a mechanical keyboard candle would be called, if there was such a scent to be had.
The Akko Mirror switches are surprisingly loud, crisp sounding linear switches whose sound profile is entirely driven by the bottoming out onto the stem pole that was a focus of so much discussion above. While the bottom out of the Mirrors might feel like a dull, slightly pointed thud in hand, they punch the ears with a much louder, sharper, and crisper tone that gives these switches a bark that is significantly larger than their bite. The sound of the bottom out so very much fits these adjectives that some might even go as far as comparing their tone to that of an idealized, crisp sounding clicky switch which is free from the normal rattle, chatter, and craziness that most budget friendly clickies inherently have. That all being said, though, the same inconsistency that was noted above in how the bottoming out of these switches feels can also be repeated here for how the switches sound. (That is both in terms of appearance and fluctuation of magnitude under different use cases.) There’s really no other sound that crops up anywhere in the Akko Mirror switches otherwise, though. No scratch from dry spots of lube, no ping from weirdly structured springs, and not even the slightest bit of a thud from topping out. I suppose when considering the sum total of sounds in the Akko Mirror switches, or rather the lack of things to sum, the profile could be described as ‘clean’ because of the simplicity in what it drives home. However, I’d take issue with anyone who sincerely would think that they could hear the “authentic sound” of any keyboard these switches were actually put in over all the sharp and pointy tones of their bottom outs when typing.
Wobble
In terms of stem wobble, the HMX-made Akko Mirror switches have surprisingly little to no wobble at all. There’s only the most minor amounts of give in both the N/S and E/W directions, and it’s so small in magnitude that I sincerely doubt that anyone would really have an issue with this when trying these switches out with keycaps. As well, there is really no switch to switch variation on this metric that is worth noting outside of general production tolerancing.
Measurements
If you’re into this level of detail about your switches, you should know that I have a switch measurement sheet that logs all of this data, as well as many other cool features which can be found under the ‘Archive’ tab at the top of this page or by clicking on the card above. Known as the ‘Measurement Sheet’, this sheet typically gets updated weekly and aims to take physical measurements of various switch components to compare mold designs on a brand-by-brand basis as well as provide a rough frankenswitching estimation sheet for combining various stems and top housings.
Figure 27: Numerical details regarding the stock Akko Mirror switches.
Have you ever wanted to be bombarded with more switch data than you’ve ever seen at any point in your life before? Consider checking out the ‘Force Curve Repository’ hosted on my GitHub that contains all force curves that I take both within and outside of these full-length reviews. In addition to having these graphs above, I have various other versions of the graphs, raw data, and my processed data all available for over 1000 different switches for you to use however you see fit. Check it out via the ‘Archive’ tab at the top of this page or by clicking any of the force curve cards above.
Break In
Break In Notes
17,000 Actuations
- At 17,000 actuations, I really noticed no substantial positive nor negative shifts in the performance of the Akko Mirror switches, which I did find a bit strange. That being said, though, I do feel like the bottom outs on these switches carry a bit more of a bass-heavy tone to them that simply wasn’t present in the stock switches. I’m not entirely sure that this isn’t just something I’ve conjured up in my mind or have come across as a result of sampling error, but it was interesting to see no less.
34,000 Actuations
- Very surprisingly, the Akko Mirror switches still do not appear to change much after even 34,000 actuation attempts. The stem wobble on the switches broken into this degree are still impressively minimal and I was unable to separate these switches broken in thus far from stock ones based on wobble alone.
- While extremely small in presence and overall effect, it did feel as if the lube in the Akko Mirrors broken out to 34,000 actuations did begin to drift a little but and subsequently caused some downstrokes to feel just the tiniest bit scratchy. All things considered, though, this is still somewhat less noticeable than how lube migrates in other switches broken in to this extent.
51,000 Actuations
- At 51,000 actuations, I feel as if I can barely see an increase in stem wobble in the N/S and E/W directions of the Akko Mirror switches. However, much like with the noted slight scratch feeling at the previous break in stage, I feel like this is significantly smaller in magnitude than when I’ve deducted points from other switches previously. These Akko Mirrors appear, for all intents and purposes, to be some of the most break in resistant switches that I’ve ever measured or tested for in a full length review thus far.
Figure 29: Comparative force curve diagram showing no substantial change in the force curves of the Akko Mirror switches throughout the break in process.
Other
As discussed in the background section of this review, one of the nice marketing points that helped elevate Akko’s original KTT-made CS trio of switches was that of their ‘premium’ boxes available for their switches even at bargain-bin pricing. Seeing the widespread appreciation for these boxes, I had also mentioned that Akko was again using them here for the Mirror switch release as you can further see below. However, what I failed to clarify is that they never really stopped making these boxes for their switch releases in between their KTT and HMX production eras. SwitchOddities, a friend and long-time supporter of this website has been gracious enough to tear down their tower, yes tower, of Akko boxes they’ve collected over the years for this review and has splayed out all of them for a photo for all of us. While this isn’t quite an exhaustive list of all fancy packaging that Akko has ever done for their aftermarket switch sales, the fact that this is covering a queen-sized bed should give you some indication as to just how much insane packaging they ended up producing for seemingly each and every one of their aftermarket switches. I think at some point in the future I am set to inherit all of these boxes as well, so I should probably clear out some space in my apartment for them.
Figure 30: SwitchOddities' collection of Akko keyboard switch boxes from over the years.
The Akko Mirror boxes are effectively the same as those shown above, coming with a colored, detail-filled outer sleeve that covers a black cardboard box with a plastic tray of 45 switches inside of it. While I do not have the tray of switches that would come provided in this box, as that was commandeered by SwitchOddities, the packaging as shown below is effectively what you would expect to receive from Akko should you purchase the Akko Mirror switches. To the best of my knowledge, in the instances where Akko has offered 90 and 135 count options for the purchase of their switches, there has been no different packaging. Instead, they simply just slam two or three of the 45 count decorative boxes into a shippable box and send them out the door.
Figure 31: Front of the Akko Mirror premium switch box sleeve with a slight blue shift that I could not seem to get around when taking this photo.
Figure 32: Back of the Akko Mirror premium switch box sleeve with an identical blue tint.
Figure 33: Outside of actual box held within the Akko Mirror packaging sleeve seen above.
Comparison Notes to Other Notable Linear Switches
Note – These are not aimed at being comprehensive comparisons between all factors of these switches as this would simply be too long for this writeup. These are little notes of interest I generated when comparing these switches to the Akko Mirror switches side by side.
Figure 34: Switches for comparison. (L-R, Top-Bot: Keygeek Oat, Cherry MX Orange, Wuque WS Morandi, Feker Emerald Cabbage, Novelkeys Dream Cream, and SWK Ripple.
Keygeek Oat
- Despite the Keygeek Oat and Akko Mirror switches bottoming out at roughly the same weight as one another, their bottom outs couldn’t feel more different from each other if they tried. While the Akko Mirror switches bottom out on their stem pole with slightly sharp, pointed thud, the Keygeek Oats bottom out with a soft, dampened, and broad feeling bottom out.
- In terms of their stock smoothness, both of these switches are smooth, though the Keygeek Oat’s factory lubing is a bit more heavy than that of the Akko Mirrors.
- The Akko Mirror switches have very similar, if not slightly better stem wobble than the Keygeek Oat switches, though with a bit less variation across the batch of switches that I received as well.
Cherry MX Orange
- Despite the Cherry MX Orange switches being lubed with Cherry’s improved factory lubing in their MX2A platform, they are still noticeably more scratchy than that of the Akko Mirror switches.
- The Akko Mirror switches are overall quite a bit more loud than the Cherry MX Orange switches due to their sharp, pointy bottoming out onto the stem pole. In comparison, the MX Oranges are deeper and scratchier sounding with housing collisions that are largely bass forward because of Cherry’s nylon housings.
- There is noticeably less stem wobble in both the N/S and E/W directions of the Akko Mirror switches than the Cherry MX Orange switches.
Wuque WS Morandi
- Despite the Wuque WS Morandi switches being quite premium on their own, they have a bit more N/S and E/W direction stem wobble than the HMX-made Akko Mirror switches.
- In similar fashion to the comparison made to the Keygeek Oats above, the Wuque WS Morandi switches are smooth like the Mirrors, but with a noticeably heavier amount of factory lubing that gives them a more insulated feeling than the light and airy Mirrors.
- Of all of the switches on this comparison list, the Wuque WS Morandi switches are the most dissimilar to the Akko Mirror switches when it comes to the feelings of their bottom outs. The Morandis are incredibly deep, firm, and nylon-like in their housing collisions.
Feker Emerald Cabbage
- The HMX-made Akko Mirror switches have noticeably less stem wobble in them than the Feker Emerald Cabbage switches.
- While the bottom outs of both of these switches are pretty aggressive due to their reliance on their stem poles, the Feker Emerald Cabbages almost feel as if their stems hit with a larger surface area than that of the Akko Mirrors. As a result of this, and maybe partially as a result of their difference in spring weight, the Emerald Cabbages feel as if they punch the bottom out much more firmly than that of the Akko Mirrors.
- These two switches are decently similar to each other in terms of smoothness, with the light factory lubing of the Emerald Cabbages also giving them a bit more of a light touch to their downstrokes. That being said, though, there are noted inconsistencies in the feeling of the factory lube in the Emerald Cabbages that simply isn’t present in this batch of Akko Mirror switches.
Novelkeys Dream Cream
- The Novelkeys Dream Creams have the most different feeling downstroke than the Akko Mirror switches of all of the switches on this comparison list. Yes, that difference you see in their comparative force curve below can most certainly be felt in these switches in hand.
- There is noticeably less N/S and E/W direction stem wobble in the Akko Mirror switches than the Novelkeys Dream Cream switches.
- Of all of the switches on this comparison list, the Dream Creams are also the ones which are the loudest and highest pitched when compared next to the Akko Mirrors.
SWK Ripple
- While the bottom out of the SWK Ripple switches is a bit more forceful and sharp, the Ripples and Akko Mirror switches share very similar bottoming out feelings to one another.
- As well, despite the SWK Ripple switches being made by SWK and the Akko Mirror switches being made by HMX, these also have very similarly low amounts of both N/S and E/W direction stem wobble.
- In both this review above as well as my full length SWK Ripple Switch Review, I describe these switches as having light, airy feeling downstrokes as a result of their delicate and precise factory lubing applications. This is even more evident when comparing these switches side by side relative to the rest of the list above.
Linearity
Figure 41: Absolute and relative Linearity and Slope values for each switch in this comparison section.
Figure 42: Qualitative comparison of the normalized Slope and Linearity for each switch in this comparison section.
If you are just now seeing this section for the first time and are a bit confused as to what I am talking about when discussing ‘Slope’ and ‘Linearity’, I highly suggest checking out my article titled ‘On Differences in Linear Switches’ where I explain what this section is for and how it came to be! For a bit of a shorter answer, know that this is part of my ongoing attempt to better quantify and articulate differences between linear switches which have historically not been captured in discussions about them.
Scores and Statistics
Note – 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.
Push Feel
The Akko Mirror switches are budget-friendly options that employ the finest amount of factory lubing in order to have a smooth downstroke and nothing more than that. These switches are effortlessly smooth, with a light and airy feel to them that is only further helped by their light ~42 gf. bottom out weight. The real focus of these switches, though, is that of their somewhat sharp, somewhat pointy thudding bottom out onto their stem pole. With no other feelings to be had from topping out, scratch, or ping, it’s as if these switches were purely designed to deliver their bottom out and nothing more or less.
Wobble
For as cheap as these switches are, their sheer lack of stem wobble in both N/S and E/W directions is pretty incredibly. You’d be hard pressed to find any mechanical keyboard enthusiast – new or old – that would take issue with the stem wobble of these switches.
Sound
As might have already been suggested in the push feeling notes above, the sound of the Akko Mirrors is 100% driven by and only made up of their bottom out. While a bit sharper than what was described above and resultingly a bit higher pitched, there are some inconsistencies in this bottom out with some switches seemingly not bottoming out quite ‘head on’ sometimes…
Context
As much as I’m not a fan of some of Akko’s business practices, the $0.26 per switch price point of the Akko Mirrors mixed with their similar packaging and early upon release community awareness just makes me think again of the original CS switches which absolutely took over the entry level keyboard scene. These will certainly be around for quite a while…
Other
While I am a bit critical of Akko confusing their customers by continually jumping ship to new manufacturers, this budding collaboration with HMX really has the potential to be big.
Statistics
If you are looking at this statistics section and wondering what the heck happened since the last review, consider checking out my short article titled ‘A Scorecard Time Change’. Moving forward, switches are now ranked in this statistics table using a “time weighted total” as opposed to their day-of scoring as discussed in that article. If you’d also like to learn about what ‘hard’ versus ‘soft’ ranks refer to specifically, I’d encourage you to head on over to my GitHub linked in the table above or at the links in the top right hand of this website to check out my database of scorecards as well as the ‘Composite Score Sheet’ which has a full listing of the rankings for each and every switch I’ve ranked thus far.
Final Conclusions
At the end of this review, I have to admit that I pretty begrudgingly am coming to terms with the fact that the Akko Mirror switches are quite stellar linear options in this day and age. As you may have been able to infer from the winding, confused narrative above about Akko’s release history and their seemingly infinite numbers of variations of switches over the years, I really have never been of a fan of the way that Akko has gone about releasing their switches nor marketing them. While I’m not saying that all keyboard companies should only have one or two premium aftermarket switches that they lean into, I also don’t think that companies like Akko that are marketing towards newer enthusiasts should just be flooding them with minutely different switches every few weeks with less than stellar marketing and transparency about the differences between them. A middle ground does exist between these two extremes. And yet, in spite of the fact that everyone seemingly recognizes that Akko does engage in these practices, it clearly seems to be working in their favor when it comes to selling switches. The original KTT-made CS Trio of switches were insanely popular when they were released in 2021 and at their price point, with the packaging they came in, and with Akko pushing their marketing to the extreme on them, they sold like absolute wildfire. As I’ve come to discover about the Akko Mirror switches, these too are set up to be everything that the Ocean Blues, Rose Reds, and Matcha Greens were as well. Four years later Akko has just released a brand new linear switch that is well lubed, with low stem wobble, and technically proficient on more or less any category that could be discussed. They’re seemingly resistant to break in, they cater to the current community desire for switches which bottom out on their stem poles, and they do all of this at an insanely low price point as well. Did I forget to mention that the Akko Mirrors are also made by the newest, most popular switch manufacturer in the western keyboard scene as of this exact minute in HMX? I can hate the player all that I want to here, but I am really hard pressed to hate the game. The Akko Mirror switches are worth it and both you and I are going to be stuck hearing about them from every single new keyboard enthusiast for at least the next year or two.
Sponsors/Affiliates
Mechbox UK
- A wonderful UK based operation which sells singles to switches that I’ve used above in my comparisons for collectors and the curious alike. Matt has gone out of his way to help me build out big parts of my collection, and buying something using this link supports him as well as my content!
KeebCats UK
- A switch peripheral company based out of the UK which sells everything switch adjacent you could ask for, they’ve been a huge help recently with my film and lube supply for personal builds, and they want to extend that help to you too. Use code ‘GOAT’ for 10% off your order when you check them out!
proto[Typist] Keyboards
- An all-things keyboard vendor based out of the UK, proto[Typist] is a regular stocker of everything from switches to the latest keyboard and keycap groupbuys. While I’ve bought things from the many times in the past, they also are a sponsor of my work and allow me to get some of the great switches I write about!
Divinikey
- Not only do they stock just about everything related to keyboards and switches, but they’re super friendly and ship out pretty quick too. Divinikey has been a huge help to me and my builds over the last year or two of doing reviews and they’ll definitely hook you up. Use code ‘GOAT’ for 5% off your order when you check them out!
ZealPC
- Do they really need any introduction? Zeal and crew kicked off the custom switch scene many years ago with their iconic Zealios switches and the story of switches today couldn’t be told without them. Use code ‘GOAT’ (or click the link above) for 5% off your order when you check them out!
MechMods UK
- A rising vendor based in the UK, Ryan and crew have been a pleasure to work with and have nearly everything you’d need to build your first or fourteenth keyboard. Go build your latest or greatest one right now with them by using code ‘GOAT’ at checkout for a 5% discount!
Dangkeebs
- A longtime supporter of the website and the collection, Dangkeebs has quite possibly the widest variety of switches of any vendor out there. Not only is their switch selection large, but it rotates and is constantly adding new stuff too. You’re going to need 5% off your order with my affiliate to save off the cost of all those switches!
SwitchOddities
- The brainchild of one my most adventurous proxies, SwitchOddities is a place where you can try out all the fancy, strange, and eastern-exclusive switches that I flex on my maildays with. Follow my affiliate code and use code ‘GOAT’ at checkout to save 5% on some of the most interesting switches you’ll ever try!
Cannonkeys
- Does anybody not know of Cannonkeys at this point? One of the largest vendors in North America with keyboards, switches, keycaps, and literally everything you could ever want for a keyboard always in stock and with an incredibly dedicated and loving crew. Follow my affiliate link above in their name to support both them and I when you buy yourself some switches!
Kinetic Labs
- One of the most well-rounded keyboard vendors out there, Christian and crew have been supporters of all my switch and switch-adjacent needs for some years now. I’m honored to have them as an affiliate and think you should check them out using my affiliate link above to support both them and I when you check out their awesome products!
Keebhut
- Want to try out some switch brands that fly under most vendor’s radars? Keebhut is always seeking out that next latest and greatest and has been super helpful in hooking me up with new brands over the past year. They are all about sharing that love as well, and want to give you 5% off your next order with them when you use code ‘GOAT’ at checkout!
Kailh
- No, you’re not mistaken – this is actually that Kailh that manufactures switches. As one of the longest running manufacturers in the hobby, they have a massive variety of switches available over on their website at any point in time. I’m lucky to be affiliated with them now, and so consider using my affiliate link above when ordering some Kailh switches to support me!