Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile
Contents
Overview
Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile is a low profile switch design placed under the “MX” umbrella. While the previous MX Low Profile design was still a self-contained plate-mount switch with solder terminals, MX Ultra Low Profile is an open design with no housing, intended for use in laptop keyboards where the overall height must be reduced as much as possible. The overall height of the switch, not counting the fixing pins, is 3.5 mm. Also unlike the MX Low Profile switches, these are tactile with click feedback instead of linear.
Cherry MX Ultra Low Profile was introduced on the 18th of March 2021. The press release describes the switches as SMD, indicating that instead of through-hole soldering, these switches are soldered to the top of the PCB. It appears that three of the four corners have a fixing pin to hold the switch straight. Although the scissor switch (or pantograph switch) is the most widely-recognised laptop switch design, there have always been alternative designs that do not use scissor arms. MX Ultra Low Profile is one of these designs: two arms pivot from a frame and are pulled together using a coil spring that spans the gap between them. A transparent plunger assembly in the centre carries the keycap and allows RGB illumination from an SMD LED to pass through to the keycap.
Initially there was only a click version; this was complemented by a tactile version:
| Model | Part no. |
|---|---|
| MX Ultra Low Profile Click | MX6C-K3NB |
| MX Ultra Low Profile Tactile | MX6C-T3NB |
The official force curve for both models is as follows:
Specifications
The following specifications cover both the click and tactile models:
| Feedback | Tactile click |
|---|---|
| Total travel | 1.8 mm |
| Pretravel | 0.8 mm |
| Tactile force | 65 cN |
| Actuation force | 52 cN |
| Rated lifetime | 15 million cycles |
| Voltage | 5 V |
See also
- MX Ultra Low Profile Click on the cherrymx.de website