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It's often touted that mechanical keyboards have higher quality and longer durability than "regular" membrane (rubber dome) keyboards. In most cases, this is a correct statement, but what's the explanation?
The mechanical switches are the main difference between a mechanical keyboard and a membrane one (hence the name). When it comes to the durability of the switch mechanism, it's usually stated in terms of clicks - how many times you can press a key/switch before it gives up and stops working.
Keyboard with mechanical switches.
For membrane keyboards, the estimated lifespan per key is usually around 5 million clicks.
For mechanical switches, determining the lifespan per switch is a bit trickier because it varies among different switches, and there are countless types of switches on the market. To give you an idea, Cherry, one of the leading manufacturers, suggests that their best-selling switches have an estimated lifespan of up to 50 million clicks. But they also offer switches that can handle 100 million clicks.
This implies that membrane keyboards possess less than 10% of the lifespan of a mechanical switch. Moreover, should a mechanical switch wear out, it is both simple and economical to replace. A single switch can be purchased for between $0.50 and $1.50. Conversely, once the first key fails, most membrane keyboards are discarded.
Keyboard with rubber-dome membrane (you can tell by the height of the keycaps and the board).
To contextualize the numbers 50-100 million, let's convert them into years using the spacebar as a reference. The spacebar is pressed once for each word typed. Writing a text of 5000 words daily (about 12-14 A4 pages), it would take 10,000 days to accumulate 50 million keystrokes. That's 27 years. To reach 100 million keystrokes, it would take twice as long, nearly 55 years.
Not everyone types that much on their keyboard, though. And there will likely be significant differences in the workload on different switches. A key like [Caps Lock] will probably last much longer than [Space] and [Enter].
Considering a fun thought experiment: calculating the time it would take to reach 50 million clicks on a switch. If one manages to click at a rate of 5 times per second, this results in 300 clicks per minute, 18,000 clicks per hour, and 432,000 clicks per day. To hit the 50 million mark, one would need to type non-stop for 116 days, which is nearly four months!
Plastic is undoubtedly the most commonly used material in keyboard construction. ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) is usually preferred because it's inexpensive, easy to mold, lightweight, strong, and easy to finish (can be painted, glued, and given different textures). However, ABS also has some disadvantages. It has low resistance to UV radiation and can yellow, fade, and become brittle with prolonged exposure. The surface can also wear away over time, becoming smooth and slippery.
There are actually quite a few alternatives to plastic, but few are commonly seen in keyboards, mainly due to price and manageability. The most common alternative is aluminum. But there are also keyboards made of acrylic, titanium, brass, wood, and cork. And probably several other materials, too.
Image: The enclosure of Drekiskip, our Premium Mechanical Keyboard.
Aluminum is favored for mechanical keyboards in the high-end market due to its excellent strength and durability, low weight relative to its mass, resistance to rust, and the relative ease (though not always cost-effectiveness) of CNC machining manufacturing. Moreover, aluminum conveys a sense of quality and luxury that plastic simply cannot match. Should an aluminum keyboard be dropped, it is likely the floor that will suffer damage, not the keyboard.
When it comes to keycaps, ABS and PBT are the most commonly used materials. You can read more about keycaps and their properties here. Generally, PBT is considered the most durable, and will have the longest lifespan.
The printed circuit board (PCB) inside the keyboard is well protected from the environment. Environmental conditions (humidity, temperature, and dust) and electrical load are usually not a big challenge for a keyboard on an indoor desk. As long as you avoid spilling coffee on the keyboard, throwing it against the wall, or taking it into the sauna, a printed circuit board of good material quality can last for decades.
Anyway, it's usually quite easy to replace the board itself if it gets damaged. As long as you find a new one that fits, the challenge is more about disassembling the keyboard enclosure. Most mechanical keyboards in the "custom keyboard" category are designed to be modified and customized to personal preferences, including disassembly. Assembly and disassembly was most likely taken into consideration when the keyboard was made. The cheaper variants wasn't meant to be opened at all. Parts may be glued, and the enclosure may contain batteries that complicate things.
A weak point that may break before the PCB itself is the USB port. Fortunately, many mechanical keyboards come with a standalone daughterboard, where the USB port is located. In recent times, a standard has been developed for these daughterboards.
Unified Daughterboard is a separate, small printed circuit board for the USB port, which connects to the motherboard with a JST connector. These daughterboards have protection against static electricity, overcurrent/overvoltage protection, and grounding. If the USB port breaks on a daughterboard, it's convenient not to have to replace the entire motherboard. You can get a daughterboard for around $10.
We've seen that mechanical switches are superior to membrane (rubber dome) keyboards in terms of durability. For keycaps, PBT is the most durable material. When it comes to the enclosure, it's not controversial to say that aluminum has better durability than plastic, although plastic will probably be more than good enough for the purpose. How the keyboard is built - whether it's meant to be disassembled - will be more important. When it comes to PCB's, durability is likely relatively similar across keyboard types, but there may be a slight advantage to having the connection in a daughterboard rather than integrated into the motherboard.
Image: iNVINTIX Drekiskip Custom Mechanical Keyboard.
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