Invokeys Matcha Latte Switch Review

Damn, it’s really fucking cold outside. Having been born and raised in Ohio my entire life, I could have sworn I knew what winters were like except in those super far-flung cases like Siberia or Antarctica. While there aren’t any John Carpenter inspired horrors outside of my front door here in Minnesota, I can without a doubt say that just how cold it gets is absolutely terrifying. We’re just now coming off of a handful of consecutive days of it getting down to -20 F / -29 C real temperature and as cold as -35 F / -37 C with windchill, and it is somehow orders of magnitude worse than I recall being warned by those people currently living here. As well, it’s worth pointing out that nobody from Minnesota actually talks about how cold it is, nor really even acknowledges it for that matter, which makes me entirely suspicious of just how deeply the cold sets into a person the longer they are here. I feel like it’s starting to get to my brain just like the heat and humidity did when I lived in Tampa, Florida during the summer for a few months.

John's Carpenters 'The Thing' screenshot of Kurt Russel

Figure 1: Flamethrower be damned, this level of cold gear in Antarctica is by far the most unrealistic thing in the entire movie.

With all that ranting about the cold cast aside, though, do keep in mind that I am a mountain goat by nature and thus will definitely be able to survive temperatures this low for the foreseeable future. The upcoming semester of classes and the start of actual research, however, will be debatable. While these past few weeks off have been fun and “relaxing” to some degree, I’ve still been at work on getting my house, research, and so much more in order with the extra minutes of free time I am allotted by the day. As you may have noticed, this has also led to this review being the third consecutive week of longform articles following the SP Star Sacramento Switch Review and a Discussion on Switch Sound that was unbelievably popular. As I move back into the semester, I will be shifting back to my every-other-week style of full reviews with scorecards populating my ‘off’ weeks like the entirety of 2021’s writing schedule. Thank you all for the support that made last year’s schedule a huge success and I (hopefully can) look forward to your continued support for this next year of reviews and content ahead of us – I’ve got plenty of things in the works which will hopefully make it the best year yet!

Gater Ron figurine with Invokeys Matcha Lattes

Figure 2: Oh, I also picked up a new editor-in-chief for the website as well.

Switch Background

Unlike some of the more recent switch histories which I’ve detailed in previous reviews, the deep dive on the actual history of the Invokeys Matcha Latte switches from Aflion is unfortunately a short and relatively sweet one. Through the end of 2020 and all throughout 2021, the community saw a huge spike not only in releases of switches in general, but specifically those of new and relatively untested brands. Brands like SP Star, KTT, Momoka effectively sprang to popularity here in the west in this timeframe with older brands such as TTC and even Huano reinventing themselves in new and surprisingly competitive ways. Paralleling this rise in brands and design names in the west, though, there was effectively an even larger and harder to catch hold of surge of brands in the east as well. In addition to the usual suspects we’ve all come to know and love over here, brands like Candy, FEKER, Lumia, and more have also sprouted wings and begun releasing switches with increasing regularity and intensity. While these brands haven’t quite caught on over here and securing switches from them sans the help of an incredible proxy is rather difficult, there has been one brand that has begun to creep its way over to the west slowly – Aflion.

Yellow/Orange Stemmed, Black Translucent Aflion OEM Switch

Figure 3: Unnamed OEM offering from Aflion featuring the ‘AFLION’ inverted nameplate.

First appearing on switch enthusiasts’ radars back in April of 2021, Aflion’s first switch release was marketed as a linear, dustproof light-blue ‘Iceberg’ switch sold exclusively through a QQ based sale at an MOQ of 50,000 switches. While the ensuing months saw brief flashes of these switches for sale on more western friendly platforms such as Aliexpress and Taobao, Aflion remained fairly unknown by that name. Instead of the name ‘Aflion’ which they appear to have adopted sometime towards the latter half of 2021, the original Iceberg switches were sold under Aflion’s “formal” factory name of Dongguan Golden Orange Electronics Technology Limited. Often shorted as just ‘Golden Orange’ in the early days, this name is still the one which is actively listed on Aflion’s Aliexpress page as of the time of writing this review, and is further substantiated by the usage of ‘Orange’ as a nameplate in one of their OEM offerings.

Black stem Aflion OEM switch with 'Orange' nameplate

Figure 4: Another unnamed OEM offering from Aflion featuring an ‘Orange’ nameplate referring to the factory’s alternative name of ‘Golden Orange’.

After having adopted the moniker of ‘Aflion’, a pairing of releases were made by them briefly over the course of August and September of 2021. The first release, known as 七彩冰山 which directly translates as “7 Color Icebergs”, was a series of Iceberg switches with Pink, Orange, Teal, Yellow, Red, Purple, and Blue housings being sold in a randomized mixture ala KTT Halu Halos or the Milkshake edition of NK Silks. Featuring identical design specs to those of the original Iceberg releases made by Aflion, these switches saw the first flashes of Aflion in the west, being sold by Thockeys at $0.375 per switch in packs of 10. The second release, however, was this time limited to Taobao and were simply listed as “Speed Silver Icebergs”, with the peculiar advertising renders which can be seen below. While the separation in naming scheme has never been a strong indicator of design differences amongst eastern released switches, the only differences I was able to determine between the Speed Silver Icebergs and those of the original ones was a slightly different (earlier) actuation point and the options of lubed or dry switches at initial groupbuy.

Aflion Rainbow Iceberg Marketing Photo

Figure 5: Aflion Rainbow Iceberg switch marketing photo from original sales page.

Aflion Speed Silver Iceberg Marketing Photo

Figure 6: Aflion’s Speed Silver Iceberg fever dream of an advertisement render.

Beyond this most recent pair of releases, we have effectively reached the end of the Aflion release history save the discussion of Invokeys’ Matcha Latte switches which this review is about. While I would normally cut the historical discussion here and move on to talking about release details, pricing, etc. for the switches of the review, in a fashion similar to that of the recent SP Star Sacramento switch review I have some very interesting switches to share in a list-based fashion. All of these switches are not only associated with Aflion by way of shared factory of production, but they also shine a tad bit more light on other historical interactions that Aflion has has in the switch scene before we knew of them as they are today. Coming from Aflion directly by way of testing samples to a vendor, these are some prototypes and unreleased switches which made me stupidly happy to have in hand and to get to add to the collection:

Mengmoda (MMD) Teal

Mengmoda (MMD) Teal Switch Prototype

Figure 7: Mengmoda (MMD) Teal prototype housing sample.

While this is purely a housing or coloring test as the switch features no leaf in it at all, this is not the first instance that Mengmoda switches have been seen nor sold to the public at large. While I only have a couple in my collection, these switches have been sold with the MMD nameplate mostly on eastern based storefronts with little information nor understanding of where these came from. Thus, this is the first conclusive proof that Mengmoda and Aflion are produced at the same facility.

Mengmoda (MMD) blue and Holy Panda switches

Figure 8: Other Mengmoda offerings including a blue linear switch and an Invyr Holy Panda-inspired tactile.

‘FANTASY’ D.Va, Carrot, and Poison

Aflion 'Fantasy' switch sample trio

Figure 9: Aflion ‘FANTASY’ samples including Carrot (front), Poison (back left), and D.Va (back right).

Aptly named as ‘D.Va’, ‘Carrot’, and ‘Poison’ based on their obvious colorways, these switches were announced sans manufacturer nor nameplate details as early as May of 2021. While I am uncertain if these were explicitly the switches that were teased in those initial sales given both how secretive eastern based selling information is as well as the derivative nature of many of these companies’ releases, these are the first connection between the ‘FANTASY’ nameplate and Aflion. The D.Va switches are linear whereas the Carrot and Poison switches are tactiles.

Weikay Gold Pink and Cantaloupe

Aflion 'Weikay' sample switch duo

Figure 10: Aflion ‘Weikay’ Cantaloupe and Gold Pink samples.

Much like the ‘FANTASY’ trio above, the Weikay nameplate is one which has seen extremely minor mentions in some eastern sales previously. While the TTC Gold Pink-inspired switch is not one which has been seen, the green and yellow Weikay switch was marketed all the way back in April 2021 via QQ by a seller under the name ‘Great White Rabbit’. Interestingly, this individual also just so happened to have also marketed a Carrot switch around this time as well with similar marketing advertisements drawn up. Dubbed as ‘Cantaloupes’ via these ads, these switches were abruptly cancelled at some point due to unknown circumstances, with the only known existing example being in the sales photos as well as the photo above from my collection. Both the Gold Pink and the Cantaloupe are linear switches.

Pulsar Black and White

Aflion 'pulsar' Switch sample duo

Figure 11: Aflion ‘pulsar’ Black and White samples.

Unlike all of the previous switches before, these I actually know the least about. To the best of my knowledge and asking about from other collectors and switch enthusiasts, there is quite literally no known mention of these switches anywhere. Obviously tied to the Aflion brand through this connection, the Pulsar Black is particularly interesting as it is a significantly stronger tactile switch than anything I’ve seen from Aflion or in this related brands list. The Pulsar White is a linear, on the other hand.

Cow Pink ‘Sample’

Aflion made InfinityKey Cow Sample

Figure 12: Aflion Cow Pink testing sample.

Now this, this is where the really interesting details start. Since I have previously shown Cow switches in a mailday post on Instagram as well as a scorecard, many of the more diehard switch enthusiasts out there will realize why it’s so strange that I am showing off seemingly another one here. Cow switches, sold by Infinity Key and through associated vendors around July 2021, are believed to have been made by Tecsee. While no official statement as to the manufacturer was ever made by Infinity Key, what was known was that several different companies were tested before deciding on the final one through which the production batches were manufactured. According to my source for these switches, this was provided in the lot of prototypes from Aflion having come from a “test batch”, meaning that this represents a Cow switch prototype which not only predates the release Cows, but also is from an entirely different manufacturer.

Circling back around to the most recent point in time, the latest Aflion switch release came in the form of Invokeys’ Matcha Latte switches. Stamped with ‘Invokeys’ on the nameplate, these long-poled 60g bottom out force linear switches were designed in a collaboration between the two parties and were first introduced in November of 2021. Offered exclusively through Invokeys, the Matcha Latte switches came in 70, 90, and 110 packs in both lubed and unlubed options at $0.65 and $0.55 per switch, respectively. Additionally, all pack sizes of switches were accompanied with both stickers as well as ‘latte style’ plastic cups making for another cute packaging scheme to forever sit up on my wall of switches. While the length of time which these switches will be stocked in this form is unknown, discussions with the owners of Invokeys has led me to believe that this collaboration with Aflion will not be short term, and thus I would anticipate that these switches will be continued to be stocked for some time and/or future releases of other Aflion switches may appear via Invokeys throughout 2022.

Matcha Latte Switch Performance

Note: This review is on the factory lubed Matcha Latte switches and an appropriate discussion of what all this entails can be found in the ‘Push Feel’ section.

Appearance

At the highest level, the Invokeys Matcha Latte switches are one of many switches to bear the name ‘Matcha’, but are one of only three to feature a tricolored housing design at the time of writing this review. (The other tricolored designs are that of the Lumia Matcha and Joininkeys Matcha switches.) The Matcha Lattes feature a dark, pea-green stem in a white top housing with a lighter green bottom housing closer to that of a wasabi color. While that might seem a bit counter to the theme and implied taste pallet of a matcha latte, that’s the best comparison I could think of if I had to had to assign it a Crayola crayon name. These five-pin, long poled linear switches feature an ‘Invokeys’ reverse-stamped nameplate which will be discussed below as well as a normally threaded silver spring of slighter longer than ‘classic’ length at 15 mm long.

Various Matcha switch variations

Figure 13: Matcha themed switches released as of the time of writing this review. (L-R, Top-Bot: KTT Matcha, Akko CS Matcha, Gateron FEI Matcha V2, Invokeys Matcha Latte, Joininkeys JWK Matcha)

Diving into the more technical aspects of the switch components and their design, the exterior of the top housing is the first place we will stop. Broadly speaking, the white colored, 4 pin, and polycarbonate top housings are fairly unremarkable with a pretty traditional design including a wide LED bar with centralized circular cut region to accompany round LEDs better. The nameplate features a subtle rectangular box around it as well as a raised lettering ‘INVOKEYS’ nameplate in all caps. Traditionally, nameplates which feature this rectangle as well as lettering in this fashion are typically short run or quickly made molds and are most common on eastern releases sans much other context such as early Lumia switches or Huano’s Firstblood line. One other important and incredibly subtle detail worth noting here is the at on the very front edge near the LED slot there are a pair of tiny ‘chips’ in the top housing that seem consistent across all Matcha Latte switches. While this does not affect overall performance, the absence of this detail in other Aflion switches points to perhaps an identifying mold characteristic for these switches.

Invokeys Matcha Latte Top Housing Externals

Figure 14: Matcha Latte top housing external design showing wide LED slot and raised ‘INVOKEYS’ nameplate.

Invokeys Matcha Latte Top Housing Side Defect

Figure 15: Matcha Latte top housing edge ‘chipping’ defect.

Moving internally, the general architecture of the top housings is fairly normal and nothing immediately jumps out as strikingly different from that of other modern switches. The first identifying detail worth noting here is the set of eight mold ejector circles around the upper rim of the switch. The second, and much more interesting detail comes in the mold part number being located in the center of the internal LED lip with a singular, capital letter marking. While I can not recall if singular capital letter markings were used in this instance, this location and orientation of mold markings is identical to that of the Naevy V1.5 switches which I’ve previously reviewed. While it is known that those switches were produced by Tecsee and not Aflion, it’s still a rather useful point to recognize that this is not exactly a truly unique mold marking location.

Invokeys Matcha Latte Top Housing Internals

Figure 16: Matcha Latte top housing internal design showing mold ejector circles and single, capital letter mold marking.

Moving onto the Matcha Latte stems, these are the most unremarkable feature of the switches themselves but are fairly ‘up to date’ with modern stem design trends from a relatively new manufacturer/brand in Aflion. These features include that of tapered slider rails and a tapered central pole that is rather aggressive both in terms of slope as well as general size. The factory lubing on these switches appears to be on all sides of the stem and when viewed at a correct angle can be physically seen as producing a sort of ‘wavy’ or light reflective surface to the stems. The only other feature worth nothing is the placement of injection molding points on the backside of the keycap stem mount and ejector markings on the front plate in small circles located directly above the linear stem legs.

Lubed Invokeys Matcha Latte Stem

Figure 17: Matcha Latte stems showing tapered slider rail, tapered central pole, and factory lubrication.

Finally arriving at the nylon bottom housings of the Matcha Lattes, the internal design is rather interesting though far from unique with respect to its details. The first detail that I find interesting is the set of 8 ejector marks which sit on the left and right sides of the upper rim. While the locations are not unique nor particularly noteworthy, the general quality around these points is rather unfinished and rough compared to that of many other switches that I’ve tested previously. Looking deeply into the internals of the bottom housing, there are four very small, widely spaced, and incredibly pronounced mold circles at the bottom of the internals. As well, there is a south side spring collar that is fairly subtle and significantly more ‘blocky’ than that of other spring collars that I’ve seen in previous switches. As well, it’s worth noting that sans any evidence nor measurements that I feel as if the central hole where the stem resides has a seemingly thicker gauge wall than most other switches. Perhaps, though, I am actually just losing my mind at this point.

Invokeys Matcha Latter Bottom Housing Internals

Figure 18: Matcha Latte bottom housing internal design showing pronounced mold circles and shallow south side spring collar.

Looking towards the exterior of the bottom housings, these are again fairly non-descript in terms of their features. The bottom housings are five pin in design and are blank with the exception of an inverted, single number mold marking between the leaf pins on the top side of the switch. It’s also worth noting that relative to most other brands, this mold number marking location on the bottom housing is fairly internally shifted, being much close to the central pole than that of the external edge. A final point worth noting, again completely sans evidence, is that the little plastic nibs in the front corner of the bottom housing on either side of the wide-open LED slot appear slightly more pronounced than I remember seeing from switches prior.

Invokeys Matcha Latte Bottom Housing Externals

Figure 19: Matcha Latte bottom housing design showing inverted, single number mold marking close to central pole.

Push Feel

Prior to actually deeply discussing the push feel of these switches, I want to return to the note that I started out the ‘Performance’ section with regarding these switches being factory lubed. As stated in the ‘Background’ section, Invokeys offered the Matcha Latte switches in both factory lubed and unlubed sets, though I explicitly chose to go with the lubed switches as I was curious about Aflion’s general performance with respect to factory lubing. This curiosity was further stoked by conversation with Invokeys in which they had mentioned that they had provided feedback and advice to Aflion regarding their stem lubing setup and scheme as they had been looking to improven upon it. With that bit of storytelling in mind, it is worth noting that based on the sales page information as well as the existence of ‘Decaf’ Matcha Latte switches (discussed in the ‘Other’ section below), the factory lubed switches were hand selected for quality by Invokeys’ staff prior to packaging of the switches in these containers. Thus, it is worth noting that any broadness or range in performance with respect to factory lubing has the confounding variable of employee selection on top of that of just factory output and should be considered when making broad judgements about Aflion’s newest factory lubing standard.

All things considered, the factory lubed Matcha Latte switches are quite good linear switches at all of their metrics that one would judge the push feel of a linear switch by. They are smooth to the point that many hobbyists that don’t want to lube the switches wouldn’t feel compelled to lube them and are free from weird feeling issues like ping or crunch. The housing collisions are a bit expected for the switch housings being polycarbonate over nylon, in that the topping out is a bit thinner than that of the bottoming out, but they are both fairly firm and free from thin or plasticky feeling issues. The one particular point about the stems being long, though, didn’t actually dawn on me when I was testing the push feel of the switches as the bottoming out didn’t have the same sharp and pointy bottoming out that has seemed to become expected of long pole stems. While they are still a tad bit more pointed than that of non-long pole stems, this is still a fairly strong point in favor of their design.

As for the factory lubing, the initial goal that was set out by Invokeys was to provide a switch that was lubed ‘as if it were done by hand’ so that enthusiasts wouldn’t feel as compelled to have to open and lube the switches on their own. To that end, these switches are fairly successful: the factory lubing feels on par with a ‘first pass’ of lube from many people who have lubed switches and only minor differences and tweaks may be necessary. With respect to consistency, it’s about as consistent as a true, by-hand first pass of lubing in that out of 25 randomly chosen switches, 20 were fine, 1 was slightly under lubed, and 4 were slightly over lubed. The deviators, in this instance, were also not to any large extent such that they would need to be excluded from a build as entirely different switches, either.

Sound

Following off the tail of the last paragraph, one of the things that stood out to me the most about the Invokeys Matcha Lattes is just how much they also sound like they are hand lubed in addition to feeling as such. While other factories have attempted to claim this of their factory lubrication before (or even manually attempted it ala the Everglide Pro! line of switches), this is one of the rare few instances in which the sound seems to live up to this measure. In total, they are definitely on the quieter side of linear switches and feature mid-pitched, firm sounding housing collisions. Again as expected, the topping outs are a bit more sharp and pointed, but its decently well balanced out with that of the slightly more pointed bottoming out from the long pole stems. One drawback worth noting here is that at higher activation speeds, the more pointed aspects of the housing collisions become a bit more jarring and likely would stand out in cases/keycap setups which amplify sound more than others.

Wobble

Overall, the stem wobble on these switches is quite impressive for that of a relatively new manufacturer/brand in Aflion. Across all of the switches in my batch, there was a fairly small degree of N/S wobble and a slightly greater E/W direction stem wobble that would likely only be problematic in specific build settings. Variation on stem wobble in particular was rather minimal and not likely at all to be an issue with respect to building with a lot of the switches. There was also no top housing wobble nor budging in any of the switches I tested, as well.

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, that can be found under the ‘Archive’ tab at the top of this page or by clicking on the card above. This sheet typically gets updated weekly on mail days, and has been a subtle project I’ve been developing for some time now!

Other

Normally, the ‘Other’ section has become relegated to that of discussing fun packaging quirks, design features, or extensive details about switches that normally wouldn’t fit into other categories above. While these do have fun packaging which you’ve almost certainly seen by now in my promotional photos for this review on Instagram and Twitter, I do want to point out an interesting offering from Invokeys with respect to the Matcha Latte switches that I’ve not seen offered from other vendors prior. Due to the fact that Aflion was improving and/or developing a new lubing technique in conjunction with Invokeys, there were a certain amount of switches which did not meet the standards of Invokeys’ staff and thus were effectively labeled as ‘B stock’ switches. Rather than getting rid of these switches or using them for some other means, Invokeys packaged these switches as ‘Decaf’ Matcha Lattes and sold them briefly at half of the original sales price specifically targeting demographics which were most likely to modify or frankenswitch their switches. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a vendor has specifically offered their ‘B stock’ switches both at a discount and with the intent of them being used for frankenswitching purposes, and I sincerely applaud the decision to do such.

Invokeys Matcha Latte Packaging and Sticker

Figure 21: Matcha Latte switch packaging and added sticker. (Packaging is identical for ‘Decaf’ Matcha Lattes)

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 Matcha Lattes side by side.

Various Mechanical Keyboard Switches

Figure 22: Switches for comparison. (L-R, Top-Bot: Gateron Box Ink Pink, SP Star Sacramento, Akko CS Black, Aflion Rainbow Iceberg Orange, NK Silk Red, Auralite)

If you would like to learn more about these switches, I’ve already completed reviews or scorecards for some of them. If the names below are highlighted in a grey color, click them to be taken to my other content or reviews on them!

Gateron Box Ink Pink

- Both in terms of push feeling as well as overall sound, the Gateron Box Ink Pinks are significantly thinner and more plasticky than that of the Matcha Lattes.

- While the Box Ink Pinks are fairly smooth in their stock form, they definitely do feel dry and ‘less smooth’ than that of the factory lubed Matcha Latte switches.

- The wobble between these two switches is pretty comparable, though the Box Ink Pinks appear to have a more noticeable N/S and a less noticeable E/W stem wobble than compared to the Matcha Lattes, in which this detail is flipped.

SP Star Sacramento

- Even at the fastest activation speeds, the Matcha Lattes are both a touch quieter and smoother sounding than that of the SP Star Sacramento switches.

- Surprisingly, the long pole stem of the Matcha Lattes does not make the switches bottoming out more harsh than that of the SP Star Sacramentos. In fact, the bottoming out of the Matcha Lattes feels noticeably more firm and solid here.

- Both the stem wobble and the lack of top housing wobble in the Matcha Lattes makes them significantly better than the SP Star Sacramentos in this instance.

Akko CS Black

- Much like with the Gateron Box Ink Pink switch comparison above, the Akko CS Blacks are significantly louder and higher pitched sounding than that of the Matcha Latte switches.

- The smoothness of the Akko CS Blacks is fairly comparable to that of the few slightly underlubed switches which I picked up in this batch. Thus, I would imagine the Akko CS Blacks to be of comparable smoothness to that of the ‘Decaf’ Matcha Latte switches even though I have none on hand for comparison’s sake.

- Without much surprise, the Matcha Latte switches are significantly better than the Akko CS Black switches with respect to stem wobble.

Aflion Rainbow Iceberg Orange

- Compared to the Matcha Latte switches, the Rainbow Icebergs feel significantly more sharp, pointed, and thin at both topping out and bottoming out. While one may be tempted to chalk this up to differences in lubrication, I tested this with the lube removed from a Matcha Latte switch and found this still to be true.

- As well, there is a strong noticeable difference in smoothness between the two switches with the Matcha Latte switches definitely winning out by far.

- Surprisingly, the stem wobble between these two switches is comparable with perhaps the Matcha Latte switches being just a hair more wobbly than that of the Rainbow Iceberg switches.

NK Silk Red

- While the factory lubing feels ever so slightly more thick on the Matcha Lattes than the NK Silk Red switches, the overall smoothness of these two switches is fairly comparable and fans of the NK Silks will definitely like the stock smoothness of these switches.

- The stem wobble, in both the N/S and E/W directions, is noticeably better in the Matcha Latte switches than that of the NK Silk Red switches.

- In terms of housing collisions, the NK Silk Reds feel both a bit more balanced as well as more firm, though they also are definitely softer and less noticeable at both ends of the stroke than the Matcha Latte switches.

Auralite

- Stepping past the fact that the Auralites are noticeably more scratchy than that of the Matcha Latte switches due to the lack of factory lubing, they feel surprisingly similar and especially so with respect to topping and bottoming outs.

- Overall, the stem wobble in especially the E/W direction is better in the Matcha Latte switches than that of the Auralite switches.

- At higher activation speeds, both switches begin to feel and sound more pointed at topping out, though this increasingly noticeable effect with typing speeds is stronger in the Auralites than that of the Matcha Latte 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.

Invokeys Matcha Latte Scorecard

Push Feel

Coming from a relatively new brand in Aflion, the even newer lubing technique they use leads to the Matcha Latte switches being a truly smooth experience as if they were lubed by hand. Pairing this together with firm, solid housing collisions (and especially so for long stemmed switches) and you’ve got a great linear switch that suffers only tiny amounts with thinness at higher activation speeds and slight batch to batch variation in smoothness.

Wobble

Counter to stem wobble in most switches, the E/W direction is slightly greater in the Matcha Lattes than the N/S direction and there is no top housing wobble. While there are slight variations across a batch of switches, the stem wobble likely won’t be an issue for most.

Sound

The most surprising feature in these switches is just how solid they performed in sound. While long poled switches have caught a bit of a reputation for sounding pointed and sharp, the Matcha Lattes sound firm, solid, and have a slightly deeper pitch at both topping out and bottoming out. Oh, they’re also definitely on the more quiet side, as well.

Context

Coming from a relatively new brand/manufacturer, these switches are not only well priced but clearly showcasing what Aflion is capable of doing. Adding to this, Invokeys’ packaging, interaction with Aflion to better them, as well as their usage of B-stock switches as ‘Decaf’ Matcha Lattes are all great signs pointing toward future prominence of these switches and better things to come from both parties.

Other

Further room for expansion in design and features of these switches (for stock and frankenswitching alike) is a strong point working towards their ultimate success, though the ‘matcha’ theme is a touch bit overplayed by this point in switch history.

Statistics

If you are looking at this statistics section for the first time and wondering where the hell are the other 139 switches that I’ve ranked are, or 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

To be entirely honest and up front, this was not a review I was expecting to go over quite like it did now that I’m here at the end of it all. As some of my more astute fans may have noticed, I actually picked these switches up a tad bit over a month ago and they’ve been sitting in the corner alongside my Aflion prototypes effectively just waiting for me to do something with them since. School, exams, and the like had passed and now on the third week of content in a row, I had picked these to review mostly so I could share about the exciting prototypes that I had picked up from Aflion as well as to get to spread some general knowledge about the burgeoning brand that they are. However, upon really getting into the details of these switches I was incredibly surprised how well they’ve performed. Smoothness, housing collisions, and wobble set aside (but definitely not forgotten), the Matcha Lattes do really well to nail the ‘hand lubed’ feel that Invokeys was shooting for. In fact, this metric was hit so well that this is almost assuredly what will mentally stick in my head regarding these switches long after this review is done being posted.

Further beyond just the Matcha Lattes themselves, though, some of the extrinsic associated features brought about by Invokeys simply can’t be skipped over at the end of this review. First of all, the packaging is cute and I will never let that go unstated in the instances in which I am able to snag the packaging alongside my switch order. Outside of even the packaging too, both the repurposing of ‘B-stock’ Matcha Lattes as ‘Decaf’ switches as well as working directly with Aflion to improve their manufacturing line is a pair of details that are simply not seen with smaller vendors like Invokeys. Sure, larger brands make use of these kinds of connections to create those partnerships as a natural progression of their growth, but for a vendor to be doing so at such a relatively young age and in tandem with a relatively fledgling manufacturer as well is rather impressive to me. While I have said it before a couple of times with both switches and vendors, I want to really emphasize in the closing of this review that I’m incredibly excited to see the switches that both Aflion and Invokeys release in the coming future.

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!

MKUltra Corporation

- We may have stolen a few government secrets to get this one together. MKUltra is a US vendor that truly fills all the gaps other vendors simply don’t offer and is continuing to expand their switch and switch related peripherals by the day. Use code ‘GOAT’ for 5% off your order when you check them out!

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!

Further Reading

Invokeys’ Matcha Latte Sales Page

Wayback

Invokeys’ Decaf Matcha Latte Sales Page

Wayback

ThocKeys’ Aflion Rainbow Iceberg Sales Page

Wayback

Aflion’s Alibaba Storefront

Wayback

Aflion’s Speed Iceberg Zfrontier Sale Announcement

Preston’s Thoughts Invokeys Matcha Latte Sound Test

TofuType’s Invokeys Matcha Latte Switch Test and Review

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What the thock is clack? - A Discussion on Switch Sound