If you’ve been used to cheap membrane keyboards with short keys for years and suddenly start looking into buying a gaming keyboard, you’ll begin to realize that most keyboards designed for playing games have much taller keys than what you’ve been used to.
This can be a little off-putting and might leave you wondering how your hands will fare typing on much taller keys.
Why Do Gaming Keyboards Have Tall Keys?
Most gaming keyboards have tall keys because good ones are usually mechanical and mechanical keyboards have taller keys than standard membrane-type keyboards.
Pressing the taller keys on a mechanical keyboard is easier and much more satisfying than typing on a membrane keyboard that has much shorter keys and much more of a squishy-feeling keypress that offers no feedback in the form of a physical bump or an audible click.
When playing games or typing on a membrane keyboard you may find that you will miss the occasional keypress because you won’t have that instant feedback that taller mechanical keys offer.
You also might find yourself typing a lot more forcefully on a membrane keyboard just to ensure that the keys have actuated with every keypress.
Most gamers find it easier to type and play on mechanical keyboards because you can feel and hear precisely when a key has been pressed and that allows you to input keystroke combinations very accurately.
Not all gaming keyboards have tall keys but the ones that do are usually mechanical and often provide tactile feedback to the user.
This tactile feedback can take the form of an audible click, a bump that you feel through your fingers, or both.
The visual movement of the keycap springing back up can be another form of tactile feedback that these keyboards offer.
Most gamers find that this allows for faster, more comfortable, and more precise keyboard inputs which provide an all-around better gaming experience.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean that tall keys will be best for you.
When Might Tall Keys Not Be Suitable For A Gaming Keyboard?
If you have very small hands that might struggle to stretch across the keyboard and press down tall keys or if you use the keyboard in an environment where taller, more clicky keys may disturb other people, then shorter, quieter keys may be a better option.
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Why Buy A Gaming Keyboard With Tall Keys
Mechanical keyboards that feature tall keys utilize switches under their keycaps, instead of the rubber membranes that most common keyboards use.
These physical switches make mechanical keys much more durable and give them a more tactile feel, making them great for gaming and accurate typing.
Mechanical keyboards are also a lot more customizable than standard membrane ones.
So whether you like a lot of feedback from keys or hardly any at all, you’ll find a mechanical keyboard to suit your needs.
There are loads of different switch types, all with various characteristics that may or may not be to your liking.
Some switches have a bump that allows you to detect the key’s actuation point, some switches are much more clicky, offering additional audible feedback, while some are quiet and soft to press.
So, those taller keys you’ve been noticing on gaming keyboards are mechanical and they really are much better all-round keyboards than the cheap membrane ones with short keys.
If you do decide to upgrade to one of these mechanical gaming keyboards, it’s important to try out as many different varieties as you can so you can find a type that suits you the best.
If you can, try out different well-rated gaming keyboards in computer stores until you find one that feels nice to use.
