Mitarashi Dango Switch Review

I feel like almost every year I get to the end of December and think something to the effect of “Man, I can’t believe this year is already almost over with!” While that may have been true for the majority of years that I’ve lived through thus far, for whatever reason this year has felt like it pretty squarely landed in the ‘just about one year long’ timeframe for me. It was too short in some places and certainly way too long in others, but on the whole everything averaged out to just about the right length of time. Perhaps the overwhelming existential dread just hasn’t set in for me yet despite blowing my remaining PTO days and still yet having to aimlessly make my way through two more working shifts before New Year’s Day. I suppose that in those handfuls of remaining hours in an empty research lab that I could get stricken down with the deep introspection but I’m trying hard to keep myself busy so that doesn’t happen. Between all of the behind the scenes content work I’m doing, enjoying some of my other Christmas presents, and going to see the new Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, I’m pushing hard to be busy all the way out of 2024. (And damn does that Nosferatu movie look good…) If you’re not so lucky as to have snuck out the back end of this year without having to think and reflect on all that has happened over the span of 2024, and thus are probably reading this review as an escape to get away from this strange part of the year, thank you for spending some of that time here and I hope it all gets a bit better. Extra thanks, as well, if you’ve spent any other parts of your 2024 year here with me in switch reviews, force curves, or any of my various other short form content. I have a lot of fun ideas that I want to pull together here in 2025 and I really can only hope that continued work on them, and continual releases of long-as-ever switch reviews will continue to bring you all around and keep you just as excited about switches as I am. So with that, I’ll leave you to enjoy the last full length switch review of 2024!

Figure 1: I mean just this shot alone from the trailer has me excited.

Switch Background

Admittedly, I’ve had more than a few background sections of reviews that have had some truly strange sources attributed to them and their information over my years of writing about switches. This is even more so true just looking at the scope of work that has been done in 2024, alone. Whether it’s me introducing new switch technologies to the world that have no documentation whatsoever or me meticulously trying to translate Chinese-slang filled drama posts between two vendors/manufacturers in an attempt to figure out which of them even actually exists, I always seem to end up at the intersection of ‘strange’ and ‘insightful’ when it comes to planning out my reviews. Much to your enjoyment, I imagine, this last background section of the year certainly isn’t going to break from that mold either. The history of QTUO Studio – the advertised manufacturer behind the Mitarashi Dango switches – is something that we really only know about in bits and pieces, and that is especially is true with their history prior to the release of their first switches. A lot of those early bread crumbs of knowledge, though, come largely from interactions that I and a few others have had with one and only one source of information. No, it’s not a series of translated posts from ZFrontier or Billibilli. No, we’ve not managed to infiltrate any QQ groups either. Rather, the only reason that we know anything about QTUO Studio before the date they launched their very switches was because of connections with a (former) Tecsee sales representative by the name of Nancy.

While the history of QTUO Studio as we know it starts in April of 2022, I’ve been lucky enough to have known and communicated with Nancy as far back as the beginning of 2021 when she was working as a sales representative for Tecsee. Armed with access to Tecsee’s then much more active Instagram page, Nancy reached out to me and several other switch collectors after finding our profiles to offer us a series of switch samples for our collections. While I more immediately responded to this and picked up samples of Tecsee’s then new Sapphire and Ruby, Carrot, and a few other switches, this initial reach out for contact established rather lasting relationships between Nancy and people like Imlr and MechanicalBionicle, who form the SwitchOddities teams. Speaking for my own experience, Nancy and I kept in touch sporadically, with her keeping me afloat of further offerings for my collection and even allowing me to purchase a vendor-sized amount of Tecsee Ice Cream switch boxes so that I could fill out my collection with every possible combination of these switch parts. I imagine that the SwitchOddities end of those conversations, by comparison, was a little more formal and focused on sourcing them switches to help fill out their massive storefront. Around April of 2022, discussions between SwitchOddities and Nancy about sourcing a wide swathe of different switches from China (and most specifically the dustproof SP Star switches) resulted in Nancy providing a link to a vendor she was aware of by the name of QTUO Studio – then one of the only consistent sources of SP Star switches that she was aware of at the time. While the website for QTUO Studio which showed them as effectively only reselling SP-Star-made switches at the time has since been seemingly scrubbed from the internet, it remained that way for quite some time. From at least April of 2022 well into 2023, both SwitchOddities and I recall having visited this website to see both the SP-Star switches that they were selling as well as a handful of other keyboard accessories such as keycap pullers, keycaps, etc. However, in October of 2023 everything seemingly effectively changed overnight for QTUO Studio.

Figure 2: Barren photo from the Wayback Machine showing the original QTUO Studio website selling SP Star switches.

Figure 3: Since removed Instagram image from QTUO Studio showing their keycaps displayed on an SP Star-made keyboard.

Midway through October, Nancy, who at the time had a large amount of Tecsee-related switch content on her own personal Instagram account, reached out to both SwitchOddities and I to separately inform us that she had moved on to begin working at QTUO Studio. Seemingly disconnected from Tecsee for good and scrubbing her account of all switch posts related to Tecsee, its as if she also took everything we had and knew about QTUO Studio cleanly away alongside those Tecsee posts. In what felt like a blink of an eye, the original QTUO Studio website was replaced, their entire brand logo and Instagram page was scrubbed and overhauled, and they even were announced by Bolsa Supply as the manufacturer of their first switch – the Strawberry Shortcakes only days later. (Or if you’re an avid ZFrontier reader you may have seen this announcement first from the Tbcats brand only three days prior to Bolsa’s announcement.) In addition to the newly polished social media page and personnel allegiances established by QTUO Studio, in the coming weeks an Alibaba page was established by QTUO Studio formally naming them as “Dongguan Qiu Tuo Precision Mold Co., LTD” and dislaying several images of a factory where they were ostensibly producing the keycaps and switches to fill out numerous sales pages, offering custom options for any of these products upon contact with their sales representatives. Following the Strawberry Shortcake switches was that of the Milk Candy/Toffee switches first announced around early January of 2024 and first sold around May, and then that of the Mitarashi Dango switches most recently released at the tail end of 2024, all of which featured marketing claims of having been produced by QTUO Studio. However, alongside all of these dogged claims that they are the sole manufacturer of these switches, as well as the nearly dozen different cutesy keycap sets that they’ve shown off on social media in between those switch releases, there have been some suspicions among some western switch collectors that these claims aren’t entirely true. Despite having photos of their factory on their website, sales offerings which seem to only realistically line up with a company that can produce switches (i.e. MOQ orders of 30,000 switches), and a clear connection to established vendors in the west, a few collectors seem to insist that QTUO Studio doesn’t actually make their own switches.

Figure 4: 'About Us' section from QTUO Studio's Alibaba sales page showing photos of their production facility.

Figure 5: Listing of switches for sale and customization on QTUO Studio's Alibaba sales page.

Interjecting a bit more of my own opinion right here than I normally like to by this point in the background section, I’m honestly not entirely sure what to make of this situation as a western collector, myself. On one hand, QTUO Studio does certainly seem to have the proof of life, sales pages, and cranked out product that would suggest they are real and fully capable of doing stuff on their own. They have photos inside of the factory, predictable MOQs for a new switch manufacturer, and an official name that is tied with documentation as being real in China. Even furthermore, they also have someone on their payroll in Nancy that I know for a fact is a real person and not just some general screen name. On the other hand, the more skeptical collectors among us have a bit of ammunition behind their claims. Not only did QTUO Studio start out as a dedicated reseller of a specific manufacturer in SP Star, but the few switches they have produced do look somewhat similar to those made by Dongguan Grain Gold, including features from bottom housing mold markings and their attachment clips to the top housings. (See other Grain Gold switches such as the Duhuk Bitter Tea and Matcha V3s for example.) As well, their Alibaba page does have a switch for sale known as the “Magic Refiner Crystals” which looks indistinguishable from that of recent Durock/JWK full matte black linears. For a company that supposedly makes their own switches, it is a bit odd that there are three entirely different manufacturers of three wildly different scales and legacies that can all be semi-reasonably tied to the QTUO Studio storefront. How do these two sets of colliding information come together, though? Some think that QTUO Studio could just be a designer that puts their names and branding onto switches for selling not dissimilar to 43Studios’ interactions with Durock/JWK in 2020-2022. Others think that they could have a mix of switches they’ve both manufactured themselves and had manufactured elsewhere. The number of possibilities that do exist for who exactly QTUO Studio is, unfortunately, too exhaustive to cover here. As for my specific opinion, I’m really nothing but unsure about what or who exactly QTUO Studio is as well as their capabilities save for my one verified example in Nancy.

Figure 6: 'Magic Refiner Crystal' switch sales page from QTUO Studio's Alibaba storefront.

As for the latest of switches reported to have been made by QTUO Studio, the Mitarashi Dango switches were primarily designed for and in collaboration with Bolsa Supply as part of their new ‘Confectionary Series’ of switches. First announced back on May 13th of 2024 in the Bolsa Supply Discord, these switches are marketed as being “a “hybrid” between a long pole and traditional MX switch…at a fantastic price point of $0.35/switch for pre-order and $0.38/switch in stock.” Made using LY material top and bottom housings and lubed by QTUO Studio, these were available for pre-order from early to mid June of 2024 and have since been available in stock on their website starting in early December 2024 in packs of 10. While Bolsa Supply hasn’t always been the greatest when it comes to constantly supplying and restocking their more commonly desired switch offerings such as the Zakus, their continued sporadic offering of these switches for several years mixed with the fact that the Mitarashi Dango are kicking off a new family of switches for this company likely means that they the Mitarashi Dango will remain in stock and available for quite some time into the future.

Figure 7: Announcement of the new ‘Confectionary Series’ of switches and initial marketing details of the Mitarashi Dango switches from Bolsa Supply's Discord channel.

Mitarashi Dango Performance

Appearance

At the highest level, the Mitarashi Dango switches come with translucent, milky-white housings and a brown stem that is actually quite close in color to that of the treat that inspires their name. While traditional Mitarashi Dango treats, which are Japanese rice dumplings covered in a sweet, soy-based glaze, are often covered entirely in that glaze, the slight translucency of the housings really do mimic the color of just the rice dumplings and the stem is not far off from what the sauce color might look like. Despite being quite honest to their source material in terms of coloring, there really isn’t anything that helps distinguish these switches from any other general releases from afar. Unlike other previous QTUO Studio releases such as the Strawberry Shortcakes or other previously Bolsa Supply switches such as the Zaku or Zaku II, these collaborative offerings feature entirely blank nameplates with neither ‘QTUO’ nor the Bolsa ‘Gate’ logo making an appearance. I would normally say that you can easily distinguish these switches from other offerings upon inspection of mold and sub-part level details that I’ll highlight below, however their suspected origin of manufacturing being that of Dongguan Grain Gold by some collectors clearly points to this being a harder one to identify than most, even up close. Discussion of these details, however vague and unhelpful they may be, may be found in the paragraphs and photos below.

Figure 8: Mitarashi Dango switches and their components.

Looking first to the milky-white ‘LY’ top housings of the Mitarashi Dango switches, we’re greeted with a top housing that is quite barren of details, unique features, or really any contextual clues that help identify who exactly makes these switches. In fact, I was not able to find any mold markings on the top housings of these switches whatsoever no matter where I looked. While there are trace amounts of factory lubing that can be found in most corners of the housing, there is no mold marking to be found anywhere, making this among some of the only housings I believe that I’ve covered at length to have such lack of details. I’d point to the long, thin open LED slot with circular centered indentation as an example detail of these switch housings that I would normally emphasize, however this feature has been seen by so many switches from so many manufacturers that it’s hardly helpful in identifying at all. Perhaps the only feature which could be of help in distinguishing the Mitarashi Dango switch top housings from other milky white top housings is that of a centered, singular mold ejector circle on the upper edge of the housing near the nameplate region. Even though mold ejector circles have been seen here on top housings countless times over, I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen a singular, centered one there that wasn’t mirrored on the other edge of the housing.

Figure 9: Top housing exterior design of the Mitarashi Dango switches showing their milky-white, smooth exterior and general lack of any identifying features.

Figure 10: Top housing interior design of the Mitarashi Dango switches also showing their milky-white appearance and general lack of any identifying features.

Moving next to the brown-ish red, POM stems of the Mitarashi Dango switches, these too feature quite a lack of interesting or unique details at first glance. The stems are very clearly a standard linear design with a tapered center pole, non-tapered and full length slider rails, and even a pair of mold ejector circles on the front plate of the stem above the linear stem legs. Factory lube was present on the stems in an even coating on all sides, appearing not to glob up at all in any corners here, but rather in the bottom and top housings instead. Interestingly, a big marketing point of these switches by Bolsa was that they would have travel distances of ~3.8-3.9 mm in total, pulling up just short of the traditional 4.00 mm mark. While this would seem plausible given the length of the stem pole of the switch being slightly longer than average at 13.33 mm based on my measurements, the force curves collected for this review that are shown below show that to be seemingly anything but the case. Of the 6 different switches measured, the furthest any single one traveled was 3.420 mm, making these stems definitely not line up with the marketing that exists surrounding them.

Figure 11: Front and back of the Mitarashi Dango stems showing their squared off slider rails, tiered center poles, and deep mold ejector circles on the front plate about their stem legs.

Finally arriving to the milky-white ‘LY’ bottom housings of the Mitarashi Dango switches, we’re again greeted with a switch component that is noticeably short on details, though not nearly as cryptically absent as that of the top housings. Internally, the bottom housings feature a strong south side spring collar, large, rectangular dampening pads at the base of the slider rails that extend much further out towards the center pole hole than most switches, and a fine amount of factory lubing scattered over all of these parts. Externally, the Mitarashi Dango come in 5-Pin/PCB mount variety only, with a noticeably more matte feeling and finish than the top housing exteriors. By comparison, the LY material of the top housings next to the nameplate feels more ‘slippery’ and less textured than that of the underside of the Mitarashi Dango switches. As for the mold markings, there are two located between the mounting pins and the center pole of the housing. Similar to what has been seen in some other switches elsewhere, there is an inverted two digit number marking located in between the left-hand pin and the pole and an inverted single digit capital letter marking located between the right-hand pin and pole. However, extra confusion is generated by these mold markings as they’re not only similar to that of some Grain Gold switches according to other collectors, but also those of some Haimu switches. The other feature which is commonly pointed to in these switches when they are discussed as being Grain Gold is that of the centered ‘attachment clip’ on the outside front of the bottom housing. This plastic clip which attaches to the plate is supposedly much wider than most other switches, something which has been seen before in Grain Gold switches such as the Duhuk Bitter Tea, Duhuk Matcha V3, and Neon V1 switches.

Figure 12: Bottom housing interior of the Mitarashi Dango switches showing trace amounts of factory lubing covering their south side spring collar and dampening pads at the base of the slider rails.

Figure 13: Bottom housing exterior of the Mitarashi Dango switches showing their PCB mounting pins and faintly showing their mold markings on the interior sides of those mounting pins.

Push Feel

Being debuted as the first in a new lineup of confectionary-based switches, Bolsa has tried rather hard to market these switches along their unique combination of several features which are all independently present in other switches. The most discussed of these marketing points is that of their ‘hybrid’ travel distance between long pole and traditional short pole switches as well as how these switches are the first that they’ve offered that “aren’t a 3.5 mm travel long pole switch”. As teased above and can definitely be seen in the force curve below in Figure 14, this marketing point is almost certainly not accurate. Like, at all. In some of the early marketing for this switch, Bolsa discussed that they had samples which had different spring weights in them than the final product, so perhaps these marketing numbers came based on samples that were different from the final Mitarashi Dango switches actually produced? While some of you probably are wondering how it would be possible that this marketing claim would be so far off base from reality and that nobody would notice it when testing these switches out in hand, I have to admit that the switches certainly do feel like they have travel a much greater distance than the 3.20-3.40 range all of my measurements have landed them in. Additionally, these visually appear to go that “full” travel distance as the stems sit nearly flush with the internal rim of the top housing when fully depressed as is expected from traditional switches that travel a 4.00 mm. Adding further fuel to the fire, the Mitarashi Dango switches actually have a decently soft bottom out that is only lightly pointy and is lacking in the aggressive, sharp bottom out that is often characteristically assumed of long pole switches. This is actually one of those perfect instances where I can point to ‘long(er) pole’ stems not always necessarily translating into shorter travel distances and aggressively pointy bottoming outs the same across the board. In the instance of these switches, the housing depth is almost certainly much different than others and causes the otherwise long-ish, 13.33 mm stems to travel and bottom out similar to smaller stems in traditional housings.

Figure 14: Force curve diagram for the stock Mitarashi Dango switch.

As for the smoothness of the Mitarashi Dango switches, another big marketing point from Bolsa was the use of QTUO Studios for both their factory lubing and general willingness to work with much more ‘exotic’ materials. While I can’t say I know all that much about QTUO’s potential capabilities of a manufacturer if they are one, as they’ve only produced a handful of other switches, I can certainly say that the Mitarashi Dango switches are smooth and consistently so across the batch that I received. While this factory lubing does cause some of the bottom outs to feel somewhat minorly squishy at times, the linear strokes between the housings collisions feel effortlessly smooth, something which is generally a good sign of a reasonably well controlled application of factory lubing. Having tested a switch in which I removed the factory lubing as well, I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the stripped Mitarashi Dango were still quite smooth in that capacity. While my brain wants to desperately connect this fact with my noted slipperiness of the housings in the appearance section above in order to make some grand claim about the ‘LY’ material housings, I realistically don’t know enough about the material to know they are connected. LY is not a shorthand for a common plastic material or mixture. It doesn’t exist outside of the keyboard hobby. According to a Geekhack post of Aregs Keyboards, LY is supposedly a hybrid material made using a blend of UHMWPE plastic and something else unstated made by JWK, though if that were the case how and/or why is it being used by QTUO Studio as a manufacturer or Dongguan Grain Gold? What about Jerrzi or BSUN switches claim to use LY materials? I sincerely doubt Durock/JWK is selling these plastics to other switch manufacturers or brands, so really I’m not entirely sure what to make of all of that. I’ll just have to resort to reminding you of the Mitarashi Dango’s smoothness while frustratingly, yet again, saying I don’t actually know anything further about the details of these switches.

Sound

For switches which do have both a slightly long stem pole and measurably reduced overall travel distance, the Mitarashi Dango switches are surprisingly quiet linear switches that are largely driven by their not too aggressive sounding bottom out collisions. Rather than being harsh, pointy, and audibly grating, the bottom outs of these switches are short, firm punches that produce a flat, medium-low pitched sound that has some small echo in the housings themselves. No scratch nor spring ping really are present here to detract from this sound profile, however in the strokes of some of these switches there is a bit of a shuffling noise that can be heard, and particularly so towards the very beginning of the downstroke. I refer to this as ‘shuffling’ as it noticeably not the same leathery, grainy tone that comes across in scratchy switches, rather it is more so like the sound of two surfaces friction stuck together that are being pulled apart from one another. While this feature doesn’t noticeably detract from the overall sound profile all that much, it is still something that I’ve noticed here and not really elsewhere in switches made of other materials.

Wobble

Equal in magnitude in both N/S and E/W directions, the Mitarashi Dango switches have a good amount of stem wobble that is not necessarily horrendous to deal with but far from the upper level expectations of modern, MX-style switches these days. It’s not likely that this stem wobble will bother most users, though those a bit more picky about their stem wobble might have some issue with these switches.

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 16: Numerical details regarding the stock Mitarashi Dango 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

- The Mitarashi Dango switches broken in to 17,000 actuations definitely had lube migration throughout the switch as a result of the break in process, which caused the bottom outs of some switches to take on a much more sticky tone than others. The difference between those that are sticky and not sticky is subtle, however in the later stages of the break in process it does get a bit worse.

- Like most switches put through break in testing for full length reviews, the Mitarashi Dango switches broken in this far did have a slight increase in both N/S and E/W direction stem wobble.

34,000 Actuations

- After 34,000 actuations, all the notes that were made above about the batch of Mitarashi Dango switches broken in to 17,000 actuations can be applied here, though in a slightly more noticeable form. The disparity between ‘sticky’ and ‘non-sticky’ switches is especially apparent in the sound profile of the switches broken in to this point.

51,000 Actuations

- After 51,000 actuations, the lube migration is so noticeable in the Mitarashi Dango switches that compared to their stock form they both begin to sound and feel inconsistently sticky at bottom out. While it is a bit of a toss up as to whether or not lubed switches really demonstrate lube migration, this is among some of the most aggressive migration that I’ve seen in recent memory.

- The Mitarashi Dango switches broken in to 51,000 actuations had more N/S and E/W stem wobble than the 17,000 actuation batch but effectively the same as the 34,000 actuation batch.

Figure 18: Comparative force curve diagram showing no substantial change in the force curves of the Mitarashi Dango switches throughout the break in process.

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 Mitarashi Dango switches side by side.

Figure 19: Switches for comparison. (L-R, Top-Bot: Akko Mirror, Keygeek Oat, Cherry MX Orange, Wuque Studio Morandi, Novelkeys Cream, and Gateron Cream Soda)

Akko Mirror

- There is noticeably less stem wobble in either direction of the Akko Mirror switches than there is in the Mitarashi Dango switches.

- In terms of their overall sound profiles, these two switches are largely not all that different from one another. Unlike the Mitarashi Dango and their slight shuffling tone that is near the top of the downstroke, though, the Akko Mirror switches have some inconsistencies with their bottom out and occasionally sound higher pitched and as if they are striking ‘off center’ when reaching the end of a stroke.

- While both of these switches are smooth, the Akko Mirror switches feel as if they are slightly more heavily lubed and have more of a full, classical ‘lubed switch’ feeling as opposed to the lighter, more free feeling Mitarashi Dangos.

Keygeek Oat

- Despite the comparative force curve below showing that the Keygeek Oat switches clearly bottom out further down than the Mitarashi Dango, the in hand feeling of them suggests the opposite. This is actually more so the case in most switch comparisons on this list, even if it is not explicitly stated.

- There is a bit less N/S and E/W direction stem wobble in the Keygeek Oat switches than there is in the Mitarashi Dango switches.

- The Keygeek Oat switches are slightly louder than the Mitarashi Dango switches, however they have a much more well-rounded, complex, and bass-heavy tone to them which makes the Dangos sound a bit one dimensional in direct comparison.

Cherry MX Orange

- As is to be expected, even though the Cherry MX Orange switches use Cherry’s new MX2A switch platform, they are noticeably more scratchy than that of the Mitarashi Dango switches.

- Surprisingly, there is just a hair less N/S and E/W wobble in the Cherry MX Orange switches than the Mitarashi Dango switches.

- Despite having a fairly similar force curve progression throughout their downstroke, the Mitarashi Dango switches do feel a bit more ‘heavy’ under the finger than the MX Orange switches. While I am not entirely sure what the cause of this difference could be, I suspect that it may have something to do with the differences in their springs as the Dangos have a noticeably longer, approximately 21 mm. long, normally threaded spring whereas the MX Oranges just have conventional Cherry springs.

Wuque Studio Morandi

- While the Morandi switches have a slightly more loud and noticeable bottom out than the Mitarashi Dango switches, it still does maintain the same sort of complete, well rounded, and not aggressive nor sharp bottom out that is expected of poorer quality long pole switches. This also does give the bottom out a bit more of a full, hefty, and solid feeling than that of the Mitarashi Dango switches.

- In terms of smoothness, these two switches are fairly comparable to each other, though the Morandi switches that I’ve tried seem to be more consistent in their smoothness both through the stroke and across the batch than the Mitarashi Dango switches.

- There is a bit less N/S and noticeably less E/W direction stem wobble in the Wuque Studio Morandi switches than there is in the Mitarashi Dango switches.

Novelkeys Cream

- As is expected, the Mitarashi Dango switches are noticeably smoother than the stock, unlubed, and un-broken in Novelkeys Cream switches. That being said, though, anyone who has tried modified Cream switches will know that the potential ceiling for them is much higher than their stock form.

- There is a bit less N/S and E/W direction stem wobble in the Mitarashi Dango switches than there is in the Novelkeys Cream switches.

- This is perhaps the only comparative force curve in this entire list of switches that feels correct insofar that the Novelkeys Cream switches do feel as if they have a significantly longer total stem travel than the Mitarashi Dango switches.

Gateron Cream Soda

- Despite the similarity in force progression for these switches as suggested by the comparative force curve below, the Cream Sodas do feel as if they are bit more heavy in hand and carry a bit more of a noticeable drag in their stroke than the thinner, lighter feeling Mitarashi Dango switches.

- There is a tiny bit less N/S and E/W direction stem wobble in the Gateron Cream Soda switches than there is in the Mitarashi Dango switches.

- In terms of their overall sound profiles, the Gateron Cream Sodas are noticeably more loud and carry many more sticky tones to their bottom outs than the average Mitarashi Dango switch. Whereas the majority of the noise present in the Cream Sodas seems to come from their factory lubing, the Mitarashi Dango’s sound seems to primarily come from its housing materials.

Linearity

Figure 26: Absolute and relative Linearity and Slope values for each switch in this comparison section.

Figure 27: 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.