The Noisiest vs. the Quietest: A Complete Decibel Guide to Mechanical Switches

Walk into any open-plan office in London, Manchester, or Edinburgh and you will almost certainly hear one: the unmistakable clatter of a mechanical keyboard. To its owner, it is the satisfying percussion of productivity. To the colleague sitting two desks away, it is forty-five minutes of barely suppressed fury. Whether you are shopping for your first mechanical board or trying to justify a switch swap to your flatmates, understanding exactly how loud different switches are — and why — will save you a great deal of grief.

This guide covers the full noise spectrum, from switches that sound like a hailstorm on a tin roof to ones so quiet you could type through a job interview on mute without anyone noticing. We will look at the acoustics, the mechanisms, real-world usage scenarios, and where to buy in the UK without paying a fortune in import duties.

Why Mechanical Switches Make Noise in the First Place

Before ranking switches by volume, it helps to understand what actually creates the sound. A mechanical switch produces noise from three distinct sources: the actuation mechanism itself, the bottom-out impact when the keycap stem hits the switch housing, and the top-out impact when the key returns upward after being released.

Clicky switches add a fourth element — a deliberate acoustic component built into the design, usually a click jacket or click bar that produces a sharp, high-pitched snap at the actuation point. Linear and tactile switches skip this mechanism, which is why they are generally quieter, though not always as quiet as people assume.

Foam dampening inside the keyboard case, desk mats, O-rings fitted beneath keycaps, and lubing the switch stems all affect the final sound profile. But the switch itself is the biggest variable, and that is where we will focus.

The Decibel Reality: What the Numbers Actually Mean

Measuring keyboard switches in decibels is trickier than it sounds. Results vary depending on the microphone placement, the keyboard case (polycarbonate, aluminium, and plastic all resonate differently), the keycaps used, and the surface beneath the board. That said, independent acoustic testing — including work published by the mechanical keyboard community on forums like Geekhack and the r/MechanicalKeyboards subreddit — gives us a consistent enough picture to make useful comparisons.

As a rough frame of reference, normal conversation sits around 60 dB. A quiet library is approximately 40 dB. Loud clicky switches on a bare desk in a reflective room can reach 65–70 dB at the keyboard surface. Quiet switches on a dampened board in the same room might sit at 45–50 dB. That gap of 20 dB is not subtle — the decibel scale is logarithmic, meaning 70 dB is roughly ten times louder in perceived intensity than 50 dB.

The Loudest Switches: Embrace the Clatter

Buckling Spring (IBM Model M Style)

If you want the loudest typing experience money can buy, stop looking at Cherry MX and find yourself a vintage IBM Model M or one of the modern Unicomp reproductions. The buckling spring mechanism — where a spring literally buckles under finger pressure to produce actuation — generates a deep, authoritative clack that carries across rooms with ease. Measured at the keycap surface, buckling spring keyboards regularly hit 70–75 dB. Unicomp, the American company that bought IBM’s keyboard patents, sells new Model M reproductions, though shipping to the UK adds cost; expect to pay around £120–£160 delivered. Vintage originals occasionally appear on UK eBay for £30–£80, though condition is a lottery.

Buckling springs are beloved by certain programmers and writers for the sheer tactile and auditory certainty they provide. Every keystroke is an event. Your colleagues, however, will likely disagree.

Cherry MX Blue

The switch that introduced millions of people to mechanical keyboards, and the one that has annoyed the most office managers. The Cherry MX Blue features a click jacket mechanism that produces a sharp, high-pitched click at the actuation point (approximately 2mm) followed by a tactile bump. Measured noise levels typically fall between 60–68 dB depending on the board.

In the UK, Cherry MX Blue keyboards are widely available. The Corsair K70 in its Blue switch variant is a perennial bestseller at around £100–£130 on Amazon UK and Currys. The Ducky One 3 with Blues, available from Overclockers UK and SCAN, sits around £120. The sound is bright, crisp, and — to an enthusiast — enormously satisfying. To anyone else in the room, it is simply enormous.

Kailh BOX White and BOX Jade

Kailh’s BOX clicky switches deserve their own mention because they take the concept further than Cherry ever did. The BOX White produces a similar volume to MX Blue but with a crisper, slightly higher-pitched click from its unique click bar mechanism, which also makes the switch more resistant to dust and moisture. The BOX Jade goes further still — its heavier click bar produces a notably louder, chunkier sound that many enthusiasts describe as the most satisfying click currently available. Noise levels on the Jade can approach 68–72 dB.

Kailh switches are available individually from UK retailers including Mechboards.co.uk and 7bit.store, typically at £0.40–£0.60 per switch for BOX Whites and slightly more for Jades, making them accessible for custom builds.

Razer Green

Razer’s in-house clicky switch, found across the BlackWidow line, produces a sound profile comparable to Cherry MX Blue but with slightly higher pitch. It is a perfectly decent clicky switch, though it offers nothing acoustically that Cherry or Kailh do not already provide. The BlackWidow V3 with Green switches retails around £90–£110 at UK gaming retailers including GAME and Amazon UK.

The Middle Ground: Tactile Switches with Moderate Noise

Cherry MX Brown

The Brown is perhaps the most controversial switch in the mechanical keyboard world, often mocked on enthusiast forums for its relatively weak tactile bump. Acoustically, however, it sits in genuinely useful territory: quieter than Blues by roughly 10–12 dB, producing a soft thud rather than a sharp click. In open-plan offices, Browns are noticeably less intrusive than any clicky switch. Measurements typically land in the 52–58 dB range.

Browns are found on dozens of mainstream keyboards in the UK. The Logitech G413 TKL SE (around £50–£60 at Argos and Amazon UK) uses Romer-G switches with a broadly similar profile. For pure Cherry MX Brown boards, the Keychron K2 or K4 from Keychron’s UK store or Amazon UK sits at £70–£90 and represents excellent value.

Gateron Brown and Yellow

Gateron’s budget-friendly switches have earned a strong reputation for smoother factory feel than equivalent Cherry switches. The Gateron Brown offers a comparable noise profile to Cherry Brown, while the Gateron Yellow — a linear switch with an exceptionally light actuation force of 35g — produces soft, low-pitched thuds that many typists find less fatiguing. Neither will turn heads across the office, but neither is silent. Expect 50–56 dB for both.

Gateron switches are stocked by Mechboards.co.uk and The Keyboard Company (keyboardco.com), often at £0.25–£0.40 per switch for budget variants.

Holy Pandas and Tactile Custom Switches

The custom keyboard scene has produced a range of high-end tactile switches — most notably the Glorious Panda and various Holy Panda configurations — that offer a pronounced tactile bump without the click mechanism of clicky switches. When properly lubed (a rite of passage in the hobby involving Krytox 205g0 or Tribosys 3203, available from KeebsForAll UK), these switches produce a deep, satisfying thump rather than a sharp crack. Noise levels sit around 50–58 dB depending on case and lubing. Glorious Pandas retail at approximately £30–£40 for a pack of 36 from Overclockers UK.

The Quietest Switches: Office-Approved Silence

Cherry MX Silent Red and Silent Black

Cherry’s Silent switches add internal dampeners to their linear Red and Black variants, cushioning both the bottom-out and top-out impacts. The result is a noticeably muffled sound that measured tests put at around 45–50 dB — approaching the volume of a standard membrane keyboard. The Silent Red (actuation force 45g) is the lighter of the two; the Silent Black (60g) suits typists who prefer more resistance. Keyboards using these switches, such as the Cherry MX Board 3.0S Silent, retail around £80–£100 in the UK through Amazon and specialist retailers.

These are a sensible choice for home workers on video calls, library regulars, or anyone sharing a desk space. They are not the most exciting typing experience, but they do the job without causing a diplomatic incident.

Gateron Silent Red and Silent Yellow

Gateron’s silent linear switches use a similar dampening approach to Cherry but at a significantly lower price point. The Silent Yellow in particular has a devoted following for its combination of extremely light actuation, smooth travel, and near-silent operation. Measurements consistently come in at 44–49 dB. You can pick up a bag of 70 Gateron Silent Yellows from Mechboards or 7bit.store for around £15–£20 — making them one of the most cost-effective routes to quiet mechanical typing.

Topre Switches

Topre is

Topre is often treated as a category of its own, sitting somewhere between a mechanical and a rubber dome design. It uses an electrocapacitive mechanism with a conical spring and rubber dome, which gives it a rounded, cushioned keypress rather than the hard bottom-out typical of many MX-style switches. In practice, that means sound levels are usually lower than clicky or standard tactile switches, commonly landing around 45–50 dB depending on the board, keycaps, and how heavily you type. The character of the sound is also different: more of a soft “thock” than a sharp “clack”. High-end boards such as the HHKB and Realforce are prized precisely because they manage to feel premium without announcing every sentence to the entire room.

What Actually Makes a Switch Loud or Quiet?

Raw decibel figures only tell part of the story. A switch’s stem design, whether it includes dampening pads, the spring weight, housing material, plate material, and even the keyboard case all affect perceived noise. Aluminium cases and steel plates can amplify higher-pitched sounds, while polycarbonate plates, gasket mounts, desk mats, and foam can significantly reduce resonance. Keycaps matter too: thick PBT tends to produce a deeper, less piercing note than thin ABS.

Technique is another major variable. A heavy typist who bottoms out every key will make even a relatively quiet switch sound louder, while a lighter touch can tame surprisingly noisy boards. In shared spaces, the difference between 48 dB and 55 dB is often less important than whether the sound is sharp and clicky or muted and low-pitched.

So, Which Switches Are the Loudest and Quietest?

If maximum noise is the goal, click bar and click jacket switches still reign supreme, with Kailh Box Jade, Box Navy, and Cherry MX Blue among the most conspicuous offenders. If silence matters most, dedicated silent linears such as Cherry MX Silent Red and Gateron Silent Yellow are among the safest choices, with Topre offering an excellent middle ground for those who want refinement without complete muting.

Ultimately, the best switch is not just about decibels but context. For gaming alone in a home office, a loud, characterful switch may be part of the fun. For open-plan offices, late-night sessions, or shared households, a silent or softly tuned board is usually the better investment. Mechanical keyboards do not have to be noisy — but if you want them to be, there are plenty of gloriously indiscreet options.