Compatibility
Despite the fact that mechanical keyboards are more common, they are not always compatible with your PC or operating systems.
Keycount
This is perhaps the most important factor in determining the durability of a mechanical keyboard. Your keyboard can have a sturdy construction, but if it doesn’t offer sufficient key count, then it won’t last long.
Typically, a keyboard should have at least 50 million keystrokes to be considered good. These days good quality keyboards come with 60-80 million keystrokes.
Keycap Construction
If you are a dedicated gamer or a typist that uses a mechanical keyboard for most of your day, the construction of the keycaps will play a huge role in determining your overall productivity.
The keycaps are commonly made of ABS plastic or PBT. Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS Plastic) is preferred more as they require lesser material to build and offer good durability for marathon typing.
On the other hand, Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) is sturdier and lasts a lot longer. It is also heat resistant and waterproof.
Lighting Effects
Although this doesn’t affect the overall performance of the mechanical keyboard, RGB lighting is preferred by gamers for a more intense experience. These lights come with 16 million color patterns and can be integrated with Discord or your game to deliver custom effects.
Most of the gaming keyboards come with onboard controls for adjusting the modes and brightness levels of the LEDs.
If you’re not a gamer, then you can simply use a faded monochromatic background for more visibility.
Price Range
This is another important factor. A pricier keyboard doesn’t mean good specifications. There are many good keyboards out there that cost less money and offer good functions with durability.
These keyboards can cost around 30 to 100 dollars. However, if you’re a serious gamer, you might want to shell out a few hundred dollars more for better gaming components.
Switches
Commonly, the Cherry MX switches are used in mechanical keyboards these days. This switch type comes in three types Red, Blue, and Brown.
The red ones have a linear mechanism without any sound, good touch and actuation force.
The brown ones have tactile feedback that s good for typing. The blue ones are clicky switches that are more preferred by gamers.
Overall Build
The keys are not the only thing you should look into when purchasing a mechanical keyboard. The overall build quality is important too.
Commonly in good quality gaming keyboards, the base is made from metal or alloys such as aluminum. They also have a top plate made from metal to support the keys.
However, some cheaper keyboards may be made from plastic. This doesn’t mean that they are bad. They can still be pretty good for daily use, but not so much for gaming.