Unpopular opinion: Drop Holy Panda v2 aren't very tactile

Submitted by rpo_Mave t3_yewoa5 in MechanicalKeyboards

So I recently purchased a set of 110x Drop Holy Pandas and to my surprise I was quite disappointed. From watching reviews and hearing people praise these switches as almost being the GOAT of tactiles I am dumbfounded. The tactile bump is much more in line with a Cherry MX Brown as it to me feels quite linear and weak.

I personally own three different boards with C3 Equalz Kiwis, Boba U4Ts and Durock Sunflower T1s and all of these are in my opinion way more pronounced in their tactility, not to mention smoothness from top to bottom.

I can't be the only one who feels this way.

What do you guys think?

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slparker09 t1_iu0e7t7 wrote

I haven't been around long, but my feeling is that anytime I see "panda" in the name with a few exceptions, it's all overhype and letdown.

Personally, of the couple dozen tactiles I have tried, so far my choice is the Coffee Chip Ice Cream (using right now, actually) or Neapolitan Ice Cream ones from CannonKeys.

Anubis switches seem good too. I recently picked up the Tecsee Purple Panda's and I like them, not really more than the other heavy ones I use but since they have 67g springs I thought I would check them out; plus...I wanted purple housings for aesthetics.

It's all subjective, really, it just seems like anytime I see anything called holy panda or panda in general I'm pretty skeptical.

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Harke_KB t1_iu0g3av wrote

100% agree. HPs were the most tactile switches like 3 years ago when the next best offering was cherrymx clears. by todays standards they are a medium tactile which is fine but they still retain a lot of the old hype

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faintlymacabre1518 t1_iu0imdp wrote

Agreed. There's so much hype around the "Panda" and they don't stack up.

Get thee some Designer Studio White Jades or track down Harimaus if you enjoy punchy tactiles!

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thelebuis t1_iu0iyyf wrote

My fist board was with holy pandas, really liked it, but figures Ill try some tactiles so my second is with some cherry black hyperglide, it is great for gaming but I figured I like tactiles more. So next build baba u4t? There is a good chance it will be my last keep in a long while

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rpo_Mave OP t1_iu0kavv wrote

Replying to thelebuis (#262,831)

I feel like I can't fault people for liking holy pandas if they haven't tried anything else. And maybe a bunch of people really like a medium tactile switch - I don't know :P But as for whether to go U4Ts or Sunflower/Kiwi/Regular T1s. I would actually go with one of the trio rather than U4T. I find them less noisy and actually a bit more tactile than the U4T and the longer stem pole makes the bottoming out feel a lot harsher - however, that's just my personal opinion. And they're all excellent switches. So you can't really go wrong.

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rpo_Mave OP t1_iu0l9f9 wrote

Replying to faintlymacabre1518 (#262,787)

Yea, it's really contagious and misleading. Because as you say - they really don't stack up. And for the price I paid including customs and handling.. $1.5 per switch.. Ouch..

I will definitely give those switches you mentioned a look, maybe they'll be the ones for my next project :D

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rpo_Mave OP t1_iu0m0im wrote

Replying to slparker09 (#262,104)

Yea, I will definitely be on the fence about those "panda" switches from now on. It really feels like an easy way of attracting people because of the reputation the OG Panda still has.

However, I did hear a lot of good about the Coffee Chip Ice Cream and if it wasn't because they're practically impossible to get your hands on in EU currently, I would have bought some to try out.

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slparker09 t1_iu0rqik wrote

Replying to rpo_Mave (#263,246)

I really like them. I haven't lubed mine yet. I've been using them stock to break them in a bit.

They are very scratchy stock out of the bag. I don't think I need to film them, the tolerances seem tight. But definitely need to be lubed.

I'm thinking about ordering some others soon. I love tactile. I spent many, many years as dasKeyboard Cherry blue user, but once I stumbled into this hobby and community, I've pretty much left clicky in the dust.

There are a few linears I like; especially after I lube/film them. But tactile is where my heart is.

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BucBrady t1_iu1ws62 wrote

It's a rather popular opinion on this sub that the drop holy pandas aren't very good.

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