The vast majority of laptops have membrane keyboards and very few have any type of mechanical keyboard. The few who have the privilege of having key systems typical of desktop systems. However, this might have come to an end thanks to the Cherry MX ULP or Ultra Low Profile. Which are switches that portable keyboards could arrive in future designs and that could completely redraw the entire sector.
Those of us who work with a laptop and write hundreds and even thousands of words every day know the enormous disadvantage that the classic keyboards that are integrated into laptops are for us. That is why it is not strange to see how many users usually have an external mechanical keyboard connected to the laptop. Another option is the use of existing mechanical switches. Which brings a problem, since they cannot protrude to touch the screen, they affect the thickness. That is, either they limit the amount of available area since they have to sink or they end up making a laptop thicker than expected. This is where the new Cherry MX ULPs take on value.
What are Cherry MX ULPs like?
The solution to the lack of mechanical keyboards on laptops by Cherry has been clear, to create a low-profile version of their Cherry MX mechanical switches. And no, we mean worse specifications but the height of the switch that does not exceed the 3.5mm thick, making them ideal for replacing the membrane keyboard on many designs. So we have two variants of this mechanical switch for laptops.
- The first variant has the same functionality as the Cherry MX Blue and is called MX ULP Click.
- The second version is equivalent to the Cherry MX Brown and receives the name of MX ULP Tactile.
Both variants of the Cherry MX ULP have a 1.8mm total travel with a response point at 0.8 mm, giving them an additional 1mm of travel. Its acting strength? 65 centiNewtons. In addition, both types of switches can be soldered without problems, by the laptop manufacturer thanks to the connection pads that each one of them has. Although they are not the famous Cherry MX Red, the fact that Cherry mechanical switches can be mounted on laptops of different brands is excellent news for those who prefer to use a mechanical keyboard to type on their computer.
The Cherry MX ULP are not a promise for the future, since we can find them on laptops like the Corsair Voyager A1600, among many other high-end laptops from different brands. And this without affecting the industrial design that these computers usually have. Let’s not forget that the trend now is to go for the so-called ultra-thin gaming. So the adoption of the Cherry MX ULP will be something that we will see at least in the advanced models of various brands.
