Background:
These switches were designed by Designer Studio, who were a relatively new studio at the time. Hailing from China, they have a background in the antique industry, where they try to blend traditional Chinese elements into their designs, White Jades being their first official release.
While the geekhack page lists the switches for a global run in January of 2022. They ran earlier group buys from China around September of 2021. They had a couple of runs before the Geekhack page was set up in January 2022, then eventually becoming in-stock.
Packaging:
For the packaging, White Jades initially came in a small and simple white box and a plastic cylinder container that has Designer Studio’s logos and some Chinese texts in black. The backside of the box has a QR code that leads to a defunct weibo website. Currently, I’m not sure if they still do include this box. From what I’ve seen, vendors use generic boxes or containers to deliver the switches.
Appearance & Spec:
Designer Studio mentions that they’re using an exclusive mold for White Jades. Though it uses MX latches and has a 5-pin bottom housing. The switches have factory lubing, but only on the rails. The spring is gold-plated and 18mm tall. It feels like there’s a light coat of lube or oil on it though. The leaf also has a tiny amount of lube on it. One other thing about the housing, visible marks can appear if scratched with a sharp enough object. these scratches are noticeable, so be a little gentle with handling these switches if you care about the appearances.
The top housing is made a from white opaque polycarbonate material. You can kind of see through it, but it’s hard to make out anything. No manufacturer or studio nameplate. There’s a wide gap for LED compatibility. There’s also an angular indent at the center of the LED gap. On the interior, there are posts to keep the leaf in place. The latches are kinda flexible once taken apart, but are a little hard to open if they haven’t been disassembled before.
Bottom Housing is made with nylon, and is also a white opaque color. It’s a little clearer in color than the top. Scratches that could occur are less noticeable here. The interior’s flooring is mostly flat, but the area on the rails have small elevations to it. On the exterior, there’s a triangle with a cross striking through it, and a small double digit number near the edge on the bottom (Above the center LED holes). On LED compatibility, the bottom housing has four holes to allow 4-pin LEDs to go through. It doesn’t support surface mounted LEDs though.
The stem is made from white POM, but is more solid in color, unlike the housings. The total length of it is 13.4mm, the thickness of the pole itself is 1.8mm. The end of the pole is rounded. Interestingly, the stem is bigger than many others from different switches.
Tactility & Performance:
The tactility is its strongest appeal. A lot more defined than the Boba U4t’s. It’s more similar to a Dark Jade’s if you’ve familiar with it. The tactility is sharp and well defined. The bump is P-shaped, and its actuation is located at the very top. No pre-travel and almost no post-travel too.
It’s smooth as is at stock, though it’s a little hard to tell if the smoothness benefits from lubing. The bottom out and top up are quick by and large to the 18mm spring, but it does feel a bit heavy when bottoming out, with the weight being 67g. At no point did I feel any pre-travel, though there is a very very small amount of post-linear travel near the bottom.
Tolerance is pretty good. Barely any housing wobble, but there is some stem wobble from the left and right. Moving the stem up and down shows a bit more play than the left and right sides, it has some wobble once a keycap is on, but again, the tolerance is pretty good.
Sound:
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White Jades sound high pitched; clacky and decently loud. At stock, it has little to no scratch. Clicking from the leaf is a little subtle and less noticeable when compared to BBN Tactiles, but it’s still there regardless. Bottoming out makes a strong sound, compared to the top up. The most notable noise is from the spring, it’s crunchy and loud.
Mods & Frankens:
The switches have some light factory lubing, only on the railings though according to Designer Studios. It’s hard to tell if it is actually (Mine could have dried over time). Other than that, the spring does have some form of lube for sure. Regardless, hand lubing improves the overall experience. Once lubed, it sounds much cleaner and arguably smoother. You could also forgo lubing all of the parts and instead just brush the spring over, as it’s the main noise maker.
Adding films isn’t necessary. Little to no stem and housing wobble at stock, but It does make the movement of the keycap a little stiffer in comparison. For sound, using a .125 TX film (The only film I have) eliminates a sort of ‘crisp’ sound they make.
For frankenswitching, these switches might be better off as is. The stem is larger, potentially causing actuation and clearance issues. Then there’s also the bigger cutout for the stem on the top housing, using the top with a smaller stem will cause more stem wobble. The interior of the top also has long posts to keep the leaf in place, so the top might not be compatible with some bottom housings. There’s also the leaf moving a lot, even with the stock bottom housing. You can still definitely use parts of the switch, just be cautious when making frankens.
Price:
The Geekhack page doesn’t mention any initial prices, but the majority of vendors are selling these switches at around $7 to $9 for a pack of 10 pieces (₱385 to ₱500) as of August 2023.
When I first bought these switches in September of 2021, they costed ₱45 ($.9) per switch, or ₱450 ($9) for a pack of 10. So, the current retail price for me in the Philippines is much cheaper now.
Durability:
I’ve had these switches for about 2-3 years now, and they’ve held up really well so far. I have 70 pieces stored inside a bottle and another 30 inside a small ziplock bag. None of the switches have developed issues, no chattering, no yellowing on any part of the switch, no corrosion on the copper pieces either.
If anything, I feel like the latches on the bottom housing were a lot stronger and more secure back when I first got these switches. I might be misremembering. A lot of the switches now either have decent enough latching strength on the plate or are really weak. I can’t properly use these switches on my portal with the hotswap PCB because the o-ring keeps popping the switches near the solid blocker out.
For the latches on the top housing, they’re pretty shut tight, and a little hard to open at stock. they can play a role with wobble, but it's really minor. It’s best to open the switches once, do what you need to do, then gently bend the latches inwards if needed, to avoid degrading them over time. Though I have opened one single same switch over and over again, and the latches have held up well so far, it's still better to not stress them out over time.
My Thoughts:
Having had these switches for over three years now, and experiencing many other tactile switches, the tactility is what makes this switch stand out. I was content with stock, but I do like how they sound and feel more cleaner and consistent when lubed. I’m still a little unused to how tactile these are though, but if I keep using them continuously, I’ll get over it.
I bought these switches at ₱4500 for a pack of 100, or around $90 (give or take) back then, seeing how the price has dropped a bit for my region now, I’d say these switches are worth a shot, provided you have the money to burn. I'd probably recommend trying them out first if possible before committing to buying them. Not everyone will have the funds or like using these switches.
Quick Comparisons
Boba u4T
- Its bump feels shorter / quicker
- Sounds deeper. A bit of scratch can be faintly heard
Harimau
- Has some housing wobble
- Spring and leaf ping is louder
- Also high pitched
- Tactility feels less sharper than White Jade’s, but strength is similar
Dark Jade (Lubed and Filmed)
- Feels like it isn’t as heavy to bottom out
- Sounds and feels more ‘compressed’
- Has a higher pitched sound
- Tactility is more rounded
Voyager
- Isn’t scratchy and no spring ping. Leaf ticking is noticeable though
- Has more factory lubing than White Jade
- Has more stem wobble
- Easier to press on
- Has a rounder bump
Neopolitan Ice Cream
- At stock, scratch can be felt and heard
- Way lighter to press on
- It’s tactility is a lot weaker in comparison
- Latches are weak, it’s very easy to pull out from a plate.
- Has more wobble on North and South
More Information:
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More Sound Test:
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