Gateron Jade Silent HE Switch Review:
These switches are surprisingly good. This is my second time trying a silent switch, with my first being the XVX Whisper 2-in-1. The Jade Silents are linear, while the Whisper is tactile, so this provides a completely different experience.
The Jade Silents use Gateron’s familiar circular mould, also seen in switches like the Jade Ultra and Jade Dragon, but their approach to silencing the switch is interesting. Initially, I assumed that they were using a rubber stem or a rubber pad in the bottom housing to dampen sound. Instead, Gateron implemented these white rubber rings that wrap around both rails of the stem. This reduces top-out and bottom-out noise quite well.
The material choice also plays a part here. Gateron uses POM for both the stem and housing, which is generally softer than materials like PC/Polycarbonate. This contributes to a quieter sound profile as well.
In terms of wobble, it's about what you'd expect from other switches. It's not the best wobble-wise, but it is still quite decent and has no noticeable issues.
Sound-wise, these are extremely quiet. I've been using them daily, and there is only a barely noticeable rubbing noise from the rubber rings. I had to get really close to hear it.
As expected from silent switches, the typing feel is noticeably softer compared to non-silent ones. I have yet to try other popular silent options like Outemu Peach, Off Studio × TNT Six Realms Silent or NDIY Freya, so I can't directly compare the typing feeling or sound. That said, I do hope that we can eventually get a silent switch that doesn't feel as soft or mushy.
TL;DR: Gateron has created an impressively quiet switch. However, it still feels noticeably soft and mushy throughout the entire travel.
I would greatly appreciate it if you could uses code 'soy' on Gateron to support me!