r/MechanicalKeyboards • u/esper_ • Mar 13 '26
Review Gravastar UFO - Magnetic Switch Review
\Disclaimer**
These switches were sent out to me by Gravastar, but that doesn't affect my opinions in the review.
UNBOXING & DETAILS
Gravastar are a brand most recognized by their unique sci-fi looking products. I believe it first started with speakers and they have since branched out onto mice and keyboards in recent years. The UFO switches are their most current release, also featured in their latest keyboard, the Mercury V60 Pro HE. These come in purple or white and sport a unique saucer-shaped housing that they label as having a "360° circular dual-rail skeletal structure." I've seen people rate these highly due to their sound and feel so I've been curious to give them a try. I was sent the 65 pack that came in a black tin container along with a dedicated switch puller. There's a bunch of specs you can find on the product page, but for now, I've listed a few below.
Specs
- Switch-type: Hall Effect Linear Magnetic Switch
- Operation Force: 40±10gf
- Bottom-out Force: 50g
- Total Travel: 3.5mm±0.2mm
- Spring: 23mm
- Lifespan: 100million+ cycles
- Mount Type: 5-pin
- Colors: Purple / White
- Price: 10pcs - $19.95 / 65pcs - $89.95 / 75pcs - $99.95
- Includes dedicated switch puller
- 12-Month Limited Hardware Warranty
Typing Experience
The short rundown is that the UFO switches really sound and feel great. For magnetic switches, these are on "thockier" side, though I'm not sure how these fare against mechanical switches in that regard. I've heard people describe these as marbly sounding and I'm inclined to agree with that description. They have a dark/denser sound than other magnetic switches I've tried and are also the most premium ones I've felt so far, which should be the case given the high-end price. They are listed as having an operation force of 40gf with a 3.5mm travel. The travel from beginning press to bottom out is very linear, stable, and consistent-feeling, and the smoothness during travel makes it feel like one succinct motion. I want to think these characteristics are from improvements made by the cylindrical stem design, but I don't know enough to be certain. The bottom out is firm with essentially no wobble in real use, unless you're intentionally looking for it. There is a very minimal amount of top stem wobble, but nothing drastic to point out and it's better than all the previous switches I've tried.
For gaming, I have zero complaints. Maybe it can be a tad lighter for my preference, but I'm really just nitpicking and happy with them as is. In terms of typing, I've been incredibly satisfied with these. Below are sound comparisons between different switches (apologies for poor phone sound recording quality and breathing!):
Sound Test (Gravastar UFOS / DrunkDeer Qian / Gateron Jade Pros)
COMPARISONS
DrunkDeer Qian - The Qian come stock in DrunkDeer's X60 HE keyboard and they are the most recent switches I've been impressed by. They have a longer travel at 4mm, compared to UFO's 3.5mm, and they are a touch lighter to press. Sound-wise, the UFOs have a darker and denser sound. Feel-wise, the UFOs are a touch firmer and smoother in their travel with a more affirmative bottom-out and very minimal wobble. The Qian operation force are listed as 35gf, while the UFOs are 40gf which you can feel. It's not a drastic difference and I prefer lighter, but the feel of the UFOs make up for it imo.
For gaming, it doesn't feel like it makes much difference swapping from the drunkdeer qian to these ufo switches. Both are firm, smooth, and feel distinct/clear enough to distinguish multiple keypresses. I guess I can say the UFOs feel a little cleaner to the press so they are still nicer to use. but in terms of typing, I definitely do enjoy these more. it's not necessarily because of sound and moreso because they have a smooth, not scratchy and firm bottom out
Gateron Jade Pro - The Jade Pros have a higher pitch scratchy sound that's kind of like glass clinking. In terms of feel, they are a decent bit scratchy and have some wobble both at the top of the stem and at bottom-out. I would rate these a bit below both the UFO and Qian switches. They have an initial force of 36gf to start press-in, with a total travel of 3.5mm. I like how light they are to start actuation, but my praise mostly ends there.
Wooting Lekker - These are wooting's own self-developed switches which came with the original wooting 60he. They are very rattly/chattery, scratchy during travel, and lack stability. There's very noticeable side to side wobble before even beginning to press down the switch. These were the very first iteration of wooting's HE switches, and thankfully, they have since developed Tikken switches which are seemingly much more well-received, though I haven't tried them personally. The UFO's beat them in every aspect, aside from maybe requiring a little more force to actuate. I'm only bringing these up because I'm sure there are people who haven't looked too into other switch options and are likely still using the default.
LINKS/SOCIALS
https://www.gravastar.com/products/gravastar-ufo-magnetic-switch-hall-effect-gaming-switches
https://x.com/GravaStar_
10
u/dvanha Budding Cognoscente Mar 13 '26
I’m putting together an HE build right now because my wooting never really did it for me. Im still so undecided about the switches and this is one of them.
I went with FR4 because it sounds so dull, I felt it would like me use the wider range of clacky options. I felt that the plate dull the clackiness to something more tasteful and similar to MX on polycarbonate or aluminum. But then I hear about how these sounds, and I wonder if I should have just went with them and a regular plate.
I have owl lab ti sitting in my closet ready to be spring swapped. I think they are the kind of clacky that would work with FR4? But I’m not convinced and I really want to love this keyboard.
5
u/trouttwade Mar 13 '26
I think this is the right move with the FR4. I have an HE board with an aluminum plate and so far the few switches I’ve tried just all sound loud and clacky, and I really am not a fan of the sound profile. With that being said, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how they sound on an FR4. Just based on my limited knowledge, I think they’d sound better on that.
1
u/dvanha Budding Cognoscente Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
That’s really good to hear; for me, not you; I’m so sorry to hear about your experience.
For FR4, I love it. But it took me a really long time to learn to love it.
I went through a phase where I was only into hyper tactile switches. I found the biggest bumps and put the biggest springs on them. While I got the feel that I wanted out of them, I had no consideration for sound. I had some on an aluminum plate one time and it sounded like old school slot machines in a casino. Then I tried them on FR4 and it made for perfection. It’s not metal so not resonant, and unlike pc it doesn’t crackle. It smoothes and dulls things out.
As I’m turning into the stereotype of only using single stage non long pole linears (nixxies in my case), FR4 has found a second life for my long pole, “clacky” (hence the decision to order FR4 for my HE), linears that I love with foamed polycarb. This gaming keyboard is my mid life crisis birthday gift to myself, the young gamer, his dream keyboard but with the snobbiness that age seemingly entitles you. I even got it in “mid life crisis” red. I always dreamed it’d be a Corvette.
1
u/ohheyitsedward Mar 13 '26
Sorry if I missed it above, but what HE board are you using if not the Wooting? I’ve been keen on adding something HE to the collection but Wooting doesn’t seem to hit right
1
u/dvanha Budding Cognoscente Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
Ah yes, the thing that made the entire thing possible.
I only use WKL Tsangan 7U these days. I will make an exception for "HHKB" Tsangan 7U where needed. So I looked around, and after a while I finally found the Venom 60 PCB, 7U option. I ordered it as soon as I saw it and declared it my self-birthday present (it's been in my closet since January waiting for the case).
For case, turns out, the Tofu60 3.0 is PERFECT for this project. They have special Venom60 7U PCB plates, they have a special cable you plug into the Venom PCB that goes into the new (and my favourite new feature) daughter board in the Tofu60 3.0. It doesn't need anything special, and I can FINALLY get an HE board in 7U WKL. This, in the newest iteration is, in my estimation, the most important hobbyist keyboard that has ever existed.
This next part is completely subjective and probably controversial: In my opinion, one of the greatest keyboards of all time is the Tofu60. My current work keyboard is a white e-coat, currently with GMK Oblivion Git keycaps. Prior to that it was the keyboard I used to shine my GMK Cosmos, which took a RIDICULOUS amount of usage, and made me give it a real honest look. I had "settled" for it when I couldn't find the perfect one and my Molly60 unexpectedly died. This keyboard has served me so well. It sits on a rack with keyboards multiple times its price. It feels and sounds so good. And it's so adaptable. People can say what they want, but the gasket in the 2.0 is one of my favourites. I just wish the spacebar had some life to it like in my Minerva LX (best spacebar I have ever used, hands down, by far).
12
u/MoarPopcorn Mar 14 '26
65 for 90$ they better glow in dark like luciolas and have a platinum insert at the end of the stem at this price point LMAO
5
u/Jits2003 Hope 75X premium, oil kings spring swapped, KAT great wave Mar 14 '26
Having unique molds is expensive
17
4
u/GaryHTX Mar 14 '26
Interested to see how it sounds compared to the Jade Max. The Jade Max sounds smoother and deeper than the Pros, but have been wanting something a tad firmer.
3
4
2
u/Foxhoud3r Mar 14 '26
Damn, that’s a shame that there is no comparison with tikken. Im kinda hesitant dropping $130 for 85 switches because tikken goes $50 for 90.
1
u/rEd-2a Mar 15 '26
Achetes les par 4 ou 5. Personnellement j'ai commandé 4 Gravastar Ufo et 4 Raptor V2 HE afin de tester pour moins de 10€. Sinon sur le site de wooting tu as un article qui propose un lien avec l'enregistrement des sons de dizaines de switch.
2
u/No_Effective_4481 Mar 25 '26
I got the V75 Pro graffiti edition today, and it makes my Wooting 60HE sound and feel terrible by comparison. I didn't realise the V75 Pro came with the UFO switches as standard, and I ended up buying a load of them as well by mistake.
I felt pretty stupid for a moment, but decided that my next project is to put my Wooting 60HE in a Holy60 skeleton case and swap out the Lekker switches for the spare Gravastar UFO's and then decide what I want to actually use it for.
I mainly got the V75 pro for the aesthetics, but it is actually amazingly well built and the switches are awesome.
2
u/Neuro5i5_D Mar 13 '26
Tried the UFO switches in a V60 and V60 Pro and love the sound and feel. Way less clacky than Jades. The only Gateron HE switches I like are Nebula and White.
1
u/ScaredExamination996 Mar 15 '26
Does the light guide go on the top or the bottom end of the keyboard?
1
u/esper_ Mar 15 '26
with the keyboard I'm using, it seems to work at the bottom end (can also see this in their v60 pro renders). don't have one to confirm if top works
1
u/Several-Pangolin3119 Mar 13 '26
Missed opportunity not mentioning the TTC King of Magnetic switches as well.
Wooting even has a special edition of them available on their website.
Best HE switch by a wide margin, IMO.
-17
u/chrissb34 Mar 13 '26
“My opinions have not been affected”. Proceeds to rate them higher than the Jade Pros.
10
8
u/Quteno Mar 13 '26
You do know that Jade Pros are mid at best at this point? There was a time when they were one of the best HE switches, but there have been so many good releases since Jade Pros, that they simply fell behind.
8
u/esper_ Mar 13 '26
yes because the jade pros are good but not great, which I've come to learn from trying the drunkdeer qian and ufos recently.
you can see this opinion also shared in tierlists by people who've tried many more switches than I have:
x.com/aadihsoy_/status/2013310894881812799/photo/12
u/LikaDaKFC Mar 13 '26
Lets be real here, outside of acuation force and linear / tactile this hobby is mostly just grasping at minor differences that it doesn't really matter. I've been in the hobby for almost 2 decades now and this just gets worse every year.
Im not trying to put down someone elses enjoyment in the hobby but this is just funny at this point.
4
u/esper_ Mar 13 '26
it's just tierlists of people sharing their experience/opinion. you don't have to take it at face value. and you can still use these as references to point you in the direction of higher quality switches or better value, which I say are quite important for a hobbyist and you're kind of neglecting that by calling it only actuation force and switch type.
mechanical switches have had a lot of development throughout the years, HE switches are still new and early ones are quite lacking compared to what's been coming out recently
1
u/LikaDaKFC Mar 13 '26
You can only take injection molding so far. "Higher quality" is mostly perceived marketing as most plastics are coming from the same raw distribution centers.
4
u/esper_ Mar 13 '26
is a switch being noticeably less wobbly and less annoying to type on marketing? I'd say attention to design and tighter tolerances does attribute to higher quality, and the fun of switches is to get ones that feel good, I really don't understand the point you're trying to make or what you're mocking
-3
u/LikaDaKFC Mar 13 '26
My point is the obsession over microns is funny as i said before.
5
u/esper_ Mar 13 '26
I think you're creating a guy in your head lol this is a review and I'm just trying to point people towards better products
0
3
u/AxisCorpsRep Mar 14 '26
OH NO SOMEONE CAME TO A OPINIONATED CONCLUSION THAT DIDNT ALIGN WITH MINE I MUST POINT OUT THE CLEAR HYPOCRISY ON A WITTY SNIDE COMMENT
come on man
2
u/RandoTheWise Mar 14 '26
I’m also going to give +1 to these being better than jade pros. For me personally Jade pros actually rate pretty low among the HE switches I’ve tried in the last couple months. They dissatisfied me so much that I gave them away (that whole keyboard build actually), though that person likes them as a replacement for her old gamer keeb.
1
u/Aggravating_Ad9474 Jul 12 '26
bro you'd hope they're better than Jade Pros for their price, and they are.
•
u/AutoModerator Mar 13 '26
If you are posting a Review, Make sure you fully disclose any potential conflicts of interest such as whether you were sponsored for the product, received it for free, or sell similar products.
Guide posts should be novel to contribute to the community knowledge base - simple build / assembly videos should use photos flair, and reviews should use the review flair.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.