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Mechanical keyboards get a significant amount of hype amongst gamers, who prefer and love them. However, the affect that a mechanical keyboard has on your overall gaming performance is pretty marginal. You won’t become a God tier player just because your switched keyboards. Your personal skill, twitch reflexes, and game knowledge will carry you much farther. Let’s assess how a mechanical keyboard might affect your gaming performance.

What’s the Difference Between a Mechanical Keyboard and a Regular One?

There are many types of keyboard mechanisms available for personal use. The most common two are mechanical switch matrices and rubber or silicone membranes. Mechanical switch matrices have many advantages over the standard membrane keyboard. However, membrane keyboards are cheap and easy to manufacture, making them more ubiquitous and significantly more affordable.

To learn more about the difference between mechanical and membrane keyboards, check out my deep dive into the subject.

How Will Getting a Mechanical Keyboard Impact My Gaming Experience?

Switching from a membrane keyboard to a mechanical one will impact your gaming experience, even if it won’t make you better at the game. Firstly, gaming often requires twitch reflexes. This factor is usually what people are thinking of when they ask themselves if a mechanical keyboard will make them “better.” On a very minute scale, a mechanical keyboard will affect your ability to react to in-game stimuli. Mechanical keyboards are more responsive and have a lower actuation force, which makes it easier, smoother, and faster at registering light or repeated keypresses. Thus, you may see a slight increase in functional reaction time when switching between membrane and mechanical keyboards.

Additionally, you may be able to game for longer periods when using a mechanical keyboard, particularly if you choose a linear one. Linear mechanical switches are very light to the touch and require very little pressure to register keypresses compared to membrane keyboards. Thus, you can press the keys much lighter and still get your combo off. Not exerting so much energy when using your fingers can make it possible to game for longer and prevent repetitive strain injuries.