Alienware gaming laptops just got Cherry MX keyboards — and it’s exactly what they need

Alienware gaming laptops but got Cherry MX keyboards — and it's exactly what they need

(Paradigm credit: Dell)

The Alienware m15 R4 and Alienware m17 R4 laptops will soon have a feature that no other gaming laptop can avowal: accurate Cherry MX mechanical key switches. If you're a mechanical keyboard fan — and even if yous're not — this is a big deal.

Cherry arguably makes the best key switches in the business, and to take a switch thin plenty for a laptop keyboard represents a huge breakthrough in portable gaming technology. In fact, this innovation could arguably solve the biggest problem with gaming laptops today.

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The info comes directly from Dell, Alienware'southward parent company. Alienware and Cherry MX worked together to develop the Carmine MX Ultra Low Contour switch, which is only three.5 mm tall. Compare and contrast to the Ruby MX original switch, which is 18.v mm, or the Ruddy MX low contour switch, which is 11.9 mm.

For laptop aficionados who may non be familiar with the wonderful world of mechanical keyboards, a little explanation is in order. Most keyboards on the marketplace — including the vast bulk of laptop keyboards — are "membrane" models. These cheap keyboards work by passing a point through two electrical membranes every fourth dimension you depress a key. While they're cheap and easy to produce, they're also prone to failure, and don't provide much satisfying tactile feedback.

cherry mx ultra low profile

(Image credit: Dell)

Mechanical keyboards, on the other mitt, work more like a typewriter. Each cardinal houses a switch with a mechanical leap. When you lot press down on a primal, that switch sends a signal directly to your figurer, rather than relying on two big gelled slabs of conductive material.

The trouble with mechanical keyboards — apart from the fact that they cost more coin — is that, for obvious reasons, fundamental switches have up a lot more space than membranes. As such, mechanical keyboards are well-nigh impossible to incorporate into laptops.

MSI experimented with adding fully mechanical SteelSeries keyboards into its Titan laptops a few years agone. While the keyboards did indeed office beautifully, it meant the laptops had to be both thick and heavy. That arguably defeats the point of having a gaming system than tin can come up with you anywhere.

The Cerise MX Ultra Low Contour switches are no thicker than the average membrane laptop keycap. Dell claims that these switches offer a comfortable 1.eight mm of primal travel, and tin can withstand upward to 15 million keystrokes apiece — more than what many full-size mechanical keyboards offer. Also, like many popular mechanical central switches, the Cherry MX Ultra Low Profiles will brand noise when you type on them, although not quite as much as the company's famously loud Bluish switch.

Tom's Guide has already reviewed the Alienware m15 R4 laptop, which impressed us with its powerful hardware, stiff gaming performance and lightweight pattern. Having a mechanical keyboard, in theory, could just make this system even better.

We promise to go hands-on with the new fundamental switch soon. Until nosotros practice, be enlightened that the Cherry MX Ultra Low Profiles will add an additional $150 to any m14 R4 laptop you customize, putting the accented minimum toll of such a system at $2,300.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a scientific discipline writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on archetype sci-fi.