Cherry MX Red or Cherry MX Brown?

[Static]

It's a personal preference. For me, I love browns, but sometimes I fancy the clicky sound of blues, so I keep switching between those two. As for reds/blacks... never liked them.

[Ohmygonzo]

Out of the two, and I have both, I prefer the brown for most tasks.

Agreed, friend has a poker mini with reds, personally, like browns more, especially for gaming.

[Stormspark]

I also recommend brown. My G710+ has brown switches and I love them.

[skatblast]

blues are definitely my favorite, then brown.

[DeltrusDisc]

Neither!

Other than being an answer that says a negative but doesn't give a positive alternative...

What's your gripe with reds and browns, if you actually know what you're talking about?

[Nythiz]

I used to have blues which came with the Razer Widow; didn't like the sounds very much though.

Now I have a TKL keyboard which has reds, i really like them for gaming. I do miss the tactile bump though for typing, so I might get another ones (normal board) with brown switches.

That said, these red switches are just fine. The tactile bump is missing which is the main difference. The tactile bump allows you to put some weight on the key without triggering it, because of the extra bit of force you need to pass that resistance; it can be really nice for WoW as you can prepare you next keypress. Reds on the other hand give you a tiny tad extra speed; which I feel is better on games where you just need speed like shooters.

If you're really unsure, there are a few companies that sell "Mechanical Key Testers", basically they ship you like 6 different versions of the cherry MX keys and you can test it out a bit. It does cost you like €10 / $12 or something; but if that saves you from making the wrong choice on a €/$ 80-200 board it could be worth it.

[Stormspark]

I would be ok with blue switches on a work computer. I would not want them on my personal/gaming computer though. *clicka* *clicka* *clicka*

[DeltrusDisc]

I moved from Reds to Blues on my gaming/workstation rig here at home, pretty damn happy. ^_^

[Roadblock]

For typing and mixed use RED (I have a cherry mx red as I'm a software developer by day and do alot of typing) if primarily for gaming BROWN.

[Finick]

To be honest, everyone else's opinion doesn't really impact your preference. People say browns for typing, some say browns for gaming. I used to use blues, but grew to hate them with a fiery passion, and I type faster and more accurately with reds than I ever did with blues because they're just so light and easy to press.

I'd say order each, and return the one you don't prefer, but give each one a week or two to really get a feel for it. It took me a couple weeks to get used to my reds and I don't think I'd be happy with another switch, although I've had some interest in clears lately.

[DeltrusDisc]

To be honest, everyone else's opinion doesn't really impact your preference. People say browns for typing, some say browns for gaming. I used to use blues, but grew to hate them with a fiery passion, and I type faster and more accurately with reds than I ever did with blues because they're just so light and easy to press.

I'd say order each, and return the one you don't prefer, but give each one a week or two to really get a feel for it. It took me a couple weeks to get used to my reds and I don't think I'd be happy with another switch, although I've had some interest in clears lately.

This is interesting and really furthers the notion that personal preference is king, as I came from Reds. I don't so much hate them as my K90 had a lot of stupid firmware problems. Got a K70 sent to me from another forum poster here and I've enjoyed it. It has its own issues, but they are far less.

[Kagthul]

RED.

Funny that you posted this as I just took back a Corsair K70 with MX Brown, and replaced it with a K95 with MX Reds. I originally went for the brown after reading a review, but I found that it was easy not to press the key all the way down. The reds are better for quick gaming imo and I could feel the difference in key response. In the end, it's probably personal preference - but red does seem more suited to gaming.

Because you're not supposed to bottom the key out. The entire point of the tactile bump is to tell you when the key is actuated so you can NOT waste time bottoming it out.