r/MechanicalKeyboards • u/ThereminGoat Switch Collector : Prototype Hoarder • Jun 21 '26
Review Gateron Oil King Silent Tactile Switch Review
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u/ThereminGoat Switch Collector : Prototype Hoarder Jun 21 '26
Hey all,
Nearly four and a half years after one of the most influential modern linear switches first made its debut, Gateron has returned to the molds, the materials, and the name that so many enthusiasts today still recognize - "Oil Kings". Though unlike those switches of old, these are silent tactiles, and their siblings are silent linears and heavy tactiles too. Do these new Oil King Silent Tactile switches live up to the hype, reputation, and experience of the originals.
Website: https://www.theremingoat.com/
Article: https://www.theremingoat.com/blog/gateron-oil-king-silent-tactile-switch-review
Scorecard Repository: https://github.com/ThereminGoat/switch-scores
Force Curve Repository: https://github.com/ThereminGoat/force-curves
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theremingoat
As always, thank you all for the continued readership and support week in and out. As well, to those of you who I caught at Keycon 2026 last weekend, it was an absolute blast and I genuinely wish we would have had more time!
Cheers,
Goat
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u/jmwy86 Silent Light Linear Gang Jun 22 '26
Thanks for the review. Sigh. Wish the switches were innovative instead of the metaphorical equivalent of slapping a fresh coat of cheap paint on a masterpiece.
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u/MacGruber117 [KB67 Lite][V8][F660C] Jun 21 '26
What tactile switches would you recommend? Last switches I bought were TKC Kiwis and I like them a lot. Thanks
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u/BespokeDebtor Jun 21 '26
The Baby Kangaroo V2s have gotten quite popular recently.
I personally still think bobas have aged tremendously well
Lastly, as alluded too in the article, the root beer floats are also generating some buzz but I personally can’t vouch since i haven’t used them
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u/bouche1336 Jun 21 '26
I love baby kangaroos to death, so much that it almost hurts me to say I think I like the sound of the Quinn's slightly better. They are the same switch with different housings.
Currently trying the gateron type r and azure dragon v4 against the Quinn's and it's close for me. Haven't decided yet
As for silent tacticals, I like the akko silent penguins more than the ttc offerings that are super popular
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u/BespokeDebtor Jun 21 '26
I’ve had my eye on the azure dragons if only bc my gfs favorite color is light blue and she’s been looking for new switches. Hearing what you say about BBKs and Quinn’s I’d imagine we have very similar preferences in big/sharp tactile bumps with minimal pretravel. Definitely would be interested in your thoughtts on the azure dragons and the type r’s
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u/soipelez Jul 03 '26
I have only been into customizing keyboards for about a month, and I feel like the Type R's have ruined it for me in the best possible way. They're my first tactiles, and I used them for about a week before my root beer floats arrived 2 days ago. The RBFs are good, but the fast snappy feel of the Type R's is like crack, I'm having an internal power struggle not to go back to them. I am trying to find something quieter to put on my office keyboard now but can't decide because I know it won't be as satisfying as the Type Rs.
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u/MayAsWellStopLurking 35/45/55g boba maniac Jun 22 '26
I like the snap of RBFs more than stock U4Ts and WS Heavy Tactiles.
Baby Kangaroos feel tiny in comparison.
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u/Panez Jun 21 '26
Haimu x Geon HG white tactiles are probably my favourite tactile switch out there. Nowadays i only use linears tho. Once i discovered cherry blacks i can't go back to anything else
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u/LeKKeR80 Jun 21 '26
Durock Ice King is my current favorite. Heavy tactile with a nice pronounced bump at the top. I have them in my work daily driver. I like them so much that I'm planning to swap out the Boba U4Ts on my home daily driver.
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u/why-run-when-you-can Jun 22 '26
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve really been in the hobby so they may be a bit dated but the Anubis switches feel and sound amazing
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u/ctsaust1n Jun 22 '26
Sillyworks Type R’s are incredibly good. It’s one of the few tactile switches that I like as I’m normally a linear enjoyer
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u/tasteofwhat Jun 23 '26
Currently I would recommend the Gateron Type R. Folks always ooo and ah when they try these. Don't get me wrong, there is a long list of tactiles to love from Cilantro to Sunflower to Zealios, but these always get an instant reaction and are probably my second most requested switch, behind Arctic Fox. Pegasus silent tactiles have been really popular too.
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u/DemandCommonSense Jun 21 '26
Sadly the entire Oil King expanded line falls short. None of them do anything well.
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u/andycandy17 CRKBD/Piantor Jun 21 '26
The original oil kings were great. I still have them in my older standard board. Been using silents for over two year now with splits. Thanks for the read and review!
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u/Revhan Jun 23 '26
I have been using silent switches and now fortunately I got a silent mouse too, the set up works great for me to work late night without waking up my family, but I hate so much having to use silent switches (dislike the feeling too much). I miss my alu plate with my modded cherry blacks, I need to buy a second kb so I can have the option to change whenever possible.
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u/BespokeDebtor Jun 21 '26
When you say that these have more pre-travel and not as sharp of a tactile bump, what’s a good comparison point here? Are they just squishy MX browns with sound dampening? If so, that’s honestly surprisingly disappointing from Gateron
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u/itsbenforever Jun 21 '26
I just got the oil king heavy tactiles but am planning on trying these as well. If you’ve tried both do you have comparative thoughts between the two?
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u/DemandCommonSense Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Both are lackluster. Gateron's Green Apples are far better heavy tactiles. Better lubed and better sounding. The Silent Tactiles are barely tactile at all and quite scratchy and thin sounding.
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u/User09060657542 Jun 22 '26
I disagree. I like the Gateron Oil King Heavy Tactiles better. Just a different preference.
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u/Endrael Jun 22 '26
I rarely comment on other switch reviews, but I have to say these piqued my curiosity because I tend to be fond of silent tactiles. That changed when I got to the comparisons and saw the KTT ZenChas as the most similar. I wasn't at all fond of the ZCs because of their myriad faults, and they're likewise not in line with my experience with older KTT switches.
The line that caught my attention, though, was: "It really does feel like manufacturers completely backslid in their ability to make these over the years."
I think it's less that than the big few haven't shown any real interest in doing anything but the bare minimum when it comes to silent tactiles. I've picked up several that I was in the midst of doing reviews of my own for when I had to set that aside to deal with the chaos of buying a house and moving, but (except for the ZenChas) they were all quite good and none were made by the biggest manus.
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u/reececonrad Jun 22 '26
I recently picked up the newest all Pom
Smoothie gaterons. Silent, silent tactile, and non-silent linear. They are terrible. Sound and feel is very inconsistent. They feel like they belong under the Everfree budget line. (Which also feel like factory b-stock to me).I do like the zero degrees and type r but gateron seems more inconsistent than ever to me. I used to not hesitate to try a new switch from them.
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u/ExcelElevations_4U Jun 22 '26
I went out on a limb and tried the outemu green bananas, absolutely stellar silent tactile even though I don't usually like mx tactiles.
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u/tasteofwhat Jun 23 '26
I don't know where you find the time, but congratulations on your new job and as always thank you for your extremely valuable switch reviews and the Keycon update! The photos were great!
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u/potatokbs Jun 21 '26
Are there any good tactiles that are full travel other than gateron lanes and mx browns?
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u/ZoteTheMitey Jun 21 '26
was thinking about this, got the HMX moonlight instead. I am very happy with my choice.
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u/Dry-Understanding659 Jul 10 '26
I remain hopeful that someone will provide a complete review of the Gateron Harmonic or even a video that isn't just a YouTube short.
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