Cherry Nixie Linear Switch

Introduction

The Cherry MX Black Clear Top, or ‘Nixie’ as it is popularly referred to was a legendary variant of the classic MX Black Linear. Found exclusively in Nixdorf Keyboards back in the 80s, these special MX Blacks were indeed just that - special. Back in the day, Cherry was mostly only producing switches from their OEM catalog, with custom designs few and far apart. These translucent topped switches were very unique, but mostly flew under the radar and gained popularity only decades later, where collectors were trading these rare specimens for well over what a typical MX Black would sell for. Fast forward to 2021, Cherry started teasing a re-run of the Nixies and they eventually hit vendor shelves in 2022 - a whole four decades after the originals. 

Compared to the regular MX Black, the Nixie sports a ‘milky’ top housing and a heavier spring, but that’s basically it. The result? An ever so slightly faster upstroke snap and louder top-out, but that’s really it. Now we know this does not sound like much, but the MX Black is an already well regarded switch with its own unique characteristics, and the Nixie manages to retain all of that character yet bring something new to the table. As with the MX Blacks, expect a crisp & high-pitched bottom out sound, with a full pop on the upstroke. Lubing is mandatory, as these switches are very rough out of the box, much like other ‘first’ generation Cherry switches. 

If you love the signature MX clack, this switch is for you.

Specifications

• Linear
  
• 4.0mm travel
  
• 5 pins
  
• 63.5g operating force
  
• 80g bottom out force
  
• 15.5mm spring length
  
• Cherry nylon housings
  
• Polyoxymethylene (POM) stem
  
• No factory lube

RB's Based Rating scale

Sound: 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱 ●●●●○ 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘺
Smoothness: 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 ●○○○○ 𝘚𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩
Weight: 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 ●●●●● 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺
Travel Distance: 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 ●●●●● 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥
Price-to-Performance: 𝘈𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 ●●○○○ 𝘈𝘭𝘭-𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳

Footnotes

If you'd like to explore the rest of our curated switch catalog and how they stack up to one another, do visit our Switches section. For any questions or for just a quick chat, shoot us a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.