Cookies n’ Cream Switch Review

Note: In order to keep everything as fully transparent as possible, I feel inclined to inform all readers that I am currently sponsored by Dangkeebs as of the time of writing this review and have been sponsored for quite some time. With that in mind, though, this review was conducted entirely of my own will without any notice to Dangkeebs. They also did not receive an advanced copy of the review, editorial notes, nor in any way, shape, or form affected this review. All opinions here, as long winded as they may be, are expressly mine and mine alone.

To be entirely honest, the past few weeks of life have been so busy that I’m still trying to process everything that has been going on with it. In due time when I finally drop out of mental warp speed I’ll be sure to inform you all as to what is going on but rest assured it won’t be affecting the content in any significant way. What will be impacting the content in due time, though, is a recent acquisition of mine – the largest vintage switch collection that we know of. With well over 400 non-MX vintage switches – some of which don’t have photographs of them anywhere - I very much plan on getting these all documented and discussed in various articles in the coming months/years. While I won’t likely be able start incorporating them all for a few months given the aforementioned yet not at all mentioned life circumstances going on, rest assured you will absolutely be seeing some awesome vintage switch discussions in 2023. I honestly just couldn’t help but share this as it is one of the most exciting maildays I’ve had yet.

Vintage mechanical keyboard switch collection — **Figure 1:** This thing literally weighed 47 lbs. when it got to my front door.

Switch Background

Admittedly, for as many switches as Dangkeebs has pushed out over the past couple of years, I’ve been pretty lame about actually documenting them either in brief or in depth. While many vendors across the world now stock a ton more switches than your average Red, Blue, Brown, and Black offerings from Cherry, Gateron, etc., Dangkeebs has consistently been among the largest carriers constantly offering high double digit, if not triple digit numbers of switches to buy at any given time. To further exacerbate how impressive that is, they’ve been doing this for years at this point too. And before you go ahead and claim this is just a puff piece because they are one of my sponsors, let me go ahead and give you just a sixth month snapshot of releases they had from 2021 which was towards the beginning of their branded custom offerings:

Lychees

Following the successful release of their first customized duo in the Blue Velvet tactiles and linears from only a few months prior, Dangkeebs first announced their Lychee UHMWPE switches on June 25th of 2021 by way of an Instagram post. Stocked at $0.65 per switch, these Dangkeebs exclusive switches featured complete nylon housings with UHMWPE stems and double staged golden springs as some of the first custom ordered UHMWPE stem switches from Tecsee from what I can recall. (Although someone will probably remind me of some vague switch that I forgot about at the time of writing this review.) Currently sold out as of the time of writing this after running for a good half year to year long stretch, the success that these saw likely further pushed Dangkeebs down the custom-switch rabbit hole.

KTT Halu Halos

Building off of an earlier release of JWK Halu Halo switches back in late October of 2020, this second set of exclusively designed switches for Dangkeebs came by way of a then relatively newcomer in the switch game in KTT in July of 2021. Utilizing the same mold as the successful KTT Rose switches in a polycarbonate over nylon fashion, these switches are most remembered and enjoyed for their insanely cheap price at $0.30 per switch as well as their custom packaging for orders of over 70 switches, as can be seen above. While at the time this custom packaging design was unique by Dangkeebs’ standards, this boutique packaging design has since gone on to become a standard expectation of their customized switches, and has been seen in countless releases since, including the Cookies n’ Cream switches being reviewed here.

Strawberry Milks

Arguably one of the most successful (and underrecognized) family of switches to be released in the past handful of years came first by way of the Strawberry Milk switches in late December of 2021. Priced at $0.65 per switch, these Dangkeebs’ exclusives were designed in an all nylon housing in both linear and tactiles variations by Tecsee and featured the now staple Japanese strawberry milk packaging for orders of 70 or more switches. While these are still in stock as of time of writing this review, their immediate legacy is superseded by the entire family of ‘Milk Family’ switches they’ve inspired including Ice Milk and Banana Milk switches which continue to be released well into the end of 2022 and beginning of 2023.

These offerings, alone, came and went in the span of just six months in 2021. Six months. Nevermind that this list completely ignores the collaborative releases of KTT Mallos with Alphakeys, BBN Linears, and Moyu Studio’s Poseidons which all also happened to occur in that same sixth month stretch in 2021. I could have picked releases in 2022 at random, as well, given the releases of the KTT Monochrome trio, the aforementioned Strawberry Ice Milk and Banana Milk switches, or the other half dozen collaborations that they’ve had along the way. Regardless of both your and my personal feelings about Dangkeebs, the sheer volume of switches which they’ve designed and released with intent and direction over the past handful of years is something you simply can’t help but be impressed at.

For all of the switch releases that Dangkeebs continues to stock and support months and years down the road, a decent part of the reason that I was interested in reviewing the Cookies n’ Cream switches is because they are kicking off yet another family of switches exclusive to Dangkeebs. First announced in early 2023 as the first of the ‘DK Creamery’ switches, the Cookies n’ Cream are the first of a KTT-made, ice cream-based line of switches. While I was provided no further information as to future releases, the Cookies n’ Creams, specifically, come in polycarbonate over nylon housings with an average 63.5 g bottoming out weight and tactile design at a price of $0.46 per switch. As well, it wouldn’t be a Dangkeebs release if the Cookies n’ Creams didn’t also feature a custom ice cream pint style packaging for orders beyond 70 switches, which will be discussed more in the review below.

Cookies n Cream Mechanical Keyboard Switch — **Figure 5:** Cookies n' Cream switches with DK Creamery pint packaging.

Cookies n’ Cream Switch Performance

Appearance

At the highest level, the Cookies n’ Cream switches feature the exact colorway you would expect of switches with this theme – entirely white, opaque housings with black stems. The switches are 5 pin in design and feature the standard, MX style four pin top housing associated with more premium lines of KTT switches and otherwise feature no outwardly distinguishing characteristics. (As a complete side note, it would be really cool if someone managed to embed black pieces into the white housings in a similar fashion as to that of the sparkles in the Keyfirst Bling or Tecsee Sapphire switches.)

Moving first to the top housings of the Cookies n’ Cream switches, it’s worth noting that I’ve not explored KTT molds much if at all in long form reviews on this website. Furthermore, the molds present here in these switches are distinctively different than those I recall having seen in other KTT switches, and thus likely are because of their custom design for Dangkeebs. Externally, what makes the Cookies n’ Cream top housings unique is their pair of mold markings in both corners of the outer lip of the LED slot. On the left-hand side there is a single, capital letter mold marking and on the right-hand side there is a double digit mold marking number. Otherwise, the outside of the top housings are fairly unremarkable and feature no unique nameplate.

Cookies n Cream Mechanical Keyboard Switch Top — **Figure 7:** Cookies n' Cream top housing externals showing four pin attachments, long rectangular LED slot, and lack of nameplate.

Cookies n Cream Switch Top Housing Mold Marking — **Figure 8:** Close up zoom of top housing mold markings on the Cookies n' Cream switches.

At first glance, the interior of the Cookies n’ Cream top housings also appear to be fairly mundane. There are mold ejection circles on the upper rim of the switch, the LED slot is long and rectangular, and the expected space for the stem and leaves are all there right in line with other switch designs. However, I did notice that just below the leaf slot gap that there are two little posts in the upper corners that can be seen below in Figure 9. Specifically, the right-side post has an extra outcropping feature which isn’t present at all on the left side. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time I’ve ever recalled seeing intentional asymmetry in the housing design of a switch.

Cookies n Cream Mechanical Keyboard Switch Top Housing — **Figure 9:** Cookies n' Cream top housing internals showing asymmetrical design in the upper corners of the switch hole.

The stems of the Cookies n’ Cream switches are very identifiably KTT in design due to their ‘high and tight’ nature in which the slider rails are extremely short and make the center pole appear extra-long. While the center pole is quite long at 13.22 mm in total length, the overall travel distance of the switch is not significantly reduced, sitting on average around 3.70 mm in total length. Even though the slider rails on the stems are not tapered at all, the center pole has an aggressive taper on it leading to a fairly long narrowed section towards the bottom. Another point worth noting here is that the switches are marketed as coming with a light factory lubing, though it is definitely not apparent upon opening the switch. You can, however, definitely notice an extremely fine application of lubing upon rubbing it off with your finger.

Cookies n Cream Mechanical Keyboard Switch Stem — **Figure 10:** Cookies n' Cream stems showing non-tapered slide rails, tiered central pole, and front plate mold ejector circles.

As for the bottom housings of the Cookies n’ Cream switches, they are fairly unremarkable and carry less uniquely KTT features than that of the stems and top housings. On the interior, they feature mold ejector circles in the upper corners of the switch, a wide open LED slot, a completely blank bottom housing interior, and a large south side spring collar. Externally, the undersides of the Cookies n’ Creams are rather strange in that they feature three mold markings – something which I don’t recall having seen in KTT or any brand prior. The first mold marking is a double-digit number that is upside down and located between the metal PCB pins of the switch. The other two markings are single capital letter markings located between the plastic mounting pins and the wide LED slot on both sides. Further unique is that the two capital letter mold markings are 180 degree rotations of each other, meaning that one appears ‘right side up’ while the other appears ‘upside down’ depending on which way you orient the switch.

Cookies n Cream Mechanical Keyboard Switch Bottom Housing — **Figure 11:** Cookies n' Cream bottom housing interior showing mold ejector circles on upper rim, large south side spring collar, and large LED slot.

Push Feel

Aside the aforementioned reasons in the Background section as to why I wanted to review the Cookies n’ Cream switches, another large reason comes down to how interesting I find their tactile bumps. Specifically, what is intriguing is how much the force curve does not remotely belay how they feel in hand. For having a rather light-medium tactile force, the bump is actually rather snappy towards the start of the switch and stretches out across what feels like the rest of the downstroke. While there is some subtle post-bump linear feeling towards the very end of the downstroke, as well as the tiniest of pre-bump linear travel, the tactile bump very much feels wide and still somehow pointed towards the top end. Traditionally, at least in my experience, switches with wide tactile bumps don’t often feel the sharpest and snappiest and those that feel sharp or pointed often occupy a relatively narrow range of the total stroke distance. All things considered, this relatively unorthodox combination of feelings certainly makes for a fairly unexplored tactile experience for those who don’t like overly harsh tactiles like myself.

Cookies n Creams Mechanical Keyboard Switch Force Curve — **Figure 13:** Cookies n' Cream stock switch force curve.

As for all the other components of the push feel which are not tied into the tactile bump of the switch, the Cookies n’ Creams prove to be decent, slightly above average options. While they are not overly smooth, the slight factory lubing does quite enough to make the switch feel smooth while leaving enough of the character to make the housing materials actually shine through. The housing collisions, as well, are fairly well balanced for being polycarbonate over nylon, something which I attribute to the long stem pole perhaps providing the same sort of sharpness in the nylon bottoming out as is common in the polycarbonate topping out. It’s really only at very fast actuation speeds where the housing material differences really begin to be felt, though those differences are much more noticeable in sound than in the push feel of the switches when in use.

Sound

In their stock form, the weakest link in the chain for the Cookies n’ Cream switches comes down to their sound, and not necessarily as a function of my well documented least favorite combination in polycarbonate over nylon, either. Sure, at higher actuation speeds the thinness in the polycarbonate housings does begin to become more prominent and drift away from the pointed nylon bottom out, but for average typing speeds it’s not nearly as noticeable. The two features of the switches which don’t do it justice though, are the dry factory springs as well as the dry leaves. In many tactile switches, its not uncommon for some factories to apply small amounts of lubricant or grease to the tactile leaves because of the fact that the raking motion of the tactile bump across the leaves induces a bit of a scratchy, slightly metallic tone. Since the Cookies n’ Cream don’t have this lubricant as well as have a longer tactile bump as a result of longer interaction time with the leaves, there is a bit of a scratchy, metallic tone that is further supplemented by a subtle spring ping as well. Mind you, though, that literally any amount of aftermarket lubrication I tried on these two features almost entirely took care of these two issues and isolated just the housing collisions and slight snappiness of the tactile bump as the only switch sounds.

Wobble

Moving in the complete opposite direction of the tone set by the Sound section above, the stem wobble on the stock Cookies n’ Cream switches is just downright impressive. I’m not entirely certain if it is a function of just these specific molds for Dangkeebs’ switches or if KTT as a whole has just decidedly turned a corner at the start of 2023, but let me be clear in saying that this is the best stock wobble that KTT has ever pushed out in a switch as of the time of writing this review. There’s incredibly little wobble in the N/S direction and even less so in the E/W direction, making for a lack of wobble that I don’t think anybody could even remotely reasonably complain about. That being said, though, it is really worth taking a look at the Break In section below, as I was rather surprised to see just how much this stem wobble begins to change even after only 17,000 actuations. Mind you, even in their most broken in state I tested they weren’t horrendous, but they really do sort of fall out of that elite category of stem wobble into the plain ol’ good category.

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.

Cookies n Cream Mechanical Keyboard Switch Measurements — **Figure 16:** Numerical details regarding the stock Cookies n' Cream switch force curve diagram.

The latest in the content-adjacent work that I’ve picked up, the new ‘Force Curve Repository’ is now hosted on GitHub alongside the Scorecard Repository and contains all force curves that I make both within and outside of 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 each switch to use as you please. 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

Cookies n Cream Mechanical Keyboard Switch Testing

Break In Notes

17,000 Actuations

- At 17,000 actuations, the Cookies n’ Cream switches loosen up a pretty noticeable amount with respect to their N/S and E/W direction stem wobble. While it still only gets one marker here at this point, it does seem noticeably greater than what I recall many other switches going through in so few actuations.

- In a very strange fashion, after 17,000 actuations the Cookies n’ Creams reduce their spring/leaf ping while simultaneously becoming slightly more sharp in their tactile bump. While the actual force of the tactile bump doesn’t feel as if it has changed, it certainly comes across as if the tactile bump is a little bit more pronounced and snappier at the same weight.

34,000 Actuations

- The seemingly contradictory increase in snappiness of the tactile bump alongside a reduction in spring/leaf ping is consistently present at 34,000 actuations and does not appear to have changed much, if at all, with the increased actuations.

- The stem wobble, however, has pretty noticeably increased at 34,000 actuations, having a N/S and E/W direction wobble that would be at least two or three points lower in a scorecard ranking of the broken in switches.

51,000 Actuations

- There’s really not much to say at 51,000 actuations, as all of the prior notes from the past two break in periods not only holds consistent here, but do appear to have changed much. It is very much as if the entirety of the changes brought by breaking in these switches occurs rather rapidly.

Other

Cookies n Cream Mechanical Keyboard Switch Packaging — **Figure 18:** Front side of DK Creamery Cookies n' Cream switch packaging.

After raving about the packaging designs that Dangkeebs has consistently nailed in the Background section, how could I not discuss the DK Creamery ice cream pint style packaging for the Cookies n’ Cream switches. Aside the awesome form factor and great construction, these things are packed with information on the sides including a detailed history of the switches, specifications, as well as marketing flavor text directly off of the sales page of the switches. While I think we are far away from custom switches (outside of Glorious) making it into mainstream brick and mortar store fronts, I genuinely think that this packaging would post incredible sales numbers in that kind of environment. (This is especially considering the edgy gamer boy RGB and blackout aesthetic that is literally all of mainstream prebuilt mechanical keyboard brands.) As a further point of note, these ice cream pints are made entirely using post-consumer recycled fibers and recycled pulp in the USA, making these incredibly environmentally conscious in a way that I am glad more keyboard brands are getting on board with.

Comparison Notes to Other Notable Tactile 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 Cookies n’ Cream switches side by side.

Mechanical Keyboard Switches — **Figure 21:** Switches for comparison. (L-R, Top-Bot: MODE Tomorrow, Lubed Invokeys Blueberry Chiffon, Gateron Holy Panda X, Cherry MX Brown, JWICK Taro, and Kailh Pro Purple (PCB Mount))

MODE Tomorrow

- Even though the tactile curve comparison below would suggest that the MODE Tomorrows have a stronger overall feeling tactile bump, the Cookies n’ Cream switches actually have a slightly higher set and much snappier feel to them than the Tomorrows.

- In terms of overall volume, these two switches are fairly similar, though the tone of the Cookies n’ Cream switches is a lot more thin at the topping out because of the polycarbonate housing material.

- For being a KTT made switch, the Cookies n’ Creams have surprisingly lesser stem wobble than that of the MODE Tomorrows. With the exception of KTT Strawberries, many of their releases throughout the years have been average at best with respect to stem wobble in both directions.

Lubed Invokeys Blueberry Chiffon

- Much like with the MODE Tomorrow comparison above, even though the peak tactile force of the Invokeys Blueberry Chiffon switches is significantly higher than that of the Cookies n’ Cream switches, the Cookies n’ Creams feel much snappier and as if they have a stronger tactile force.

- The bottoming out of the Blueberry Chiffon switches is overall a bit more pointed and powerful than that of the Cookies n’ Cream switches.

- Again, much to my surprise, the Cookies n’ Cream switches are a bit better than the Invokeys Blueberry Chiffon switches with respect to stem wobble in both the N/S and E/W directions.

Gateron Holy Panda X

- Unlike the previous two entries, the comparison of the Cookies n’ Creams and the Holy Panda X switches by the force curves below holds true in that the HPX switches simply feel like a heavier, harder hitting version of the Cookies n’ Creams, but are very similar in the bump size and placement.

- While these switches are both fairly similar in terms of stem wobble, the Gateron Holy Panda X switches are just a tiny bit better in both N/S and E/W direction stem wobble.

- Without much competition, the overall volume of the Gateron Holy Panda X switches is leaps and bounds beyond that of the Cookies n’ Cream switches, even when the latter are typed on at a very fast rate of speed.

Cherry MX Brown

- To the surprise of nobody who has tried stock Cherry MX Browns before, the MX Browns obviously have a significantly greater amount of scratch than the Cookies n’ Cream switches could ever dream of having, even on their worst days.

- These two switches are fairly similar in terms of overall volume, though the Cookies n’ Cream switches are a tiny bit louder as well as carry some higher pitched undertones that make them a bit less flat sounding.

- In addition to the tactile bump of the Cookies n’ Cream switches feeling snappier, the housing collisions of the switch also feel more substantial and impactful than those of the Cherry MX Brown housing collisions.

JWICK Taro

- Even though the JWICK Taro switches are a tiny bit snappier than the Cookies n’ Cream switches, these two switches have the most comparable tactile bump ‘kickback’ out of any of the switches on this comparison list.

- These two switches, as well, are rather close in terms of their stock smoothness, with the average JWICK Taro switch perhaps being a tiny bit scratchier throughout the stroke.

- While there is a similar volume of spring ping present in both switches which contribute subtly to the overall volume of sound, the Cookies n’ Cream switches are overall a bit louder and carry more of a sharpened, pointed housing collision sound as opposed to the flat, dull collisions of the JWICK Taros.

Kailh Pro Purple (PCB Mount)

- The tactile bumps of these two switches feel as if they start in roughly the same position of the downstroke, however the Cookies n’ Cream switches pack a significantly more punchy bump to them than the Kailh Pro Purples.

- Much like with the Cherry MX Brown comparison made above, though not necessarily to the same extent, the Kailh Pro Purples simply are just much scratchier than that of the Cookies n’ Cream switches.

- The spring and/or leaf ping present in the sound of the Kailh Pro Purples contributes much more to the overall sound of the switch than the subtle spring ping present in the Cookies n’ Cream switches.

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.