Drop Holy Panda X Mechanical Switches

After dozens of rounds of prototypes and release candidates, we sent our most promising version to Quakemz, Invyr, and Mech27 for their feedback. The switches were great, but needed some fine tuning to get them to be just right. So we went back to work with Gateron, making a few minor adjustments to the stem and adding a light amount of lubrication during the production process. Our aim was to strike a balance between allowing tinkerers the ability to customize the switch to their exact specifications and providing a great out-of-the-box experience for most users. Being satisfied with the feel of the final switches, we measured their performance and here’s what we saw: And with that, the Holy Panda X switch was born. The harshness of the original Holy Panda had been replaced with a gently rounded press—the difference is extremely subtle but still noticeable. More obviously, the higher tolerance and lubrication makes for a buttery smooth, non-scratchy feel. And lastly, the...

In early 2020, our Drop Studio team began work on an ambitious project: an improved version of the extremely popular Holy Panda switch. Together with the Panda’s original creators, we sought to create an all-new switch, built and designed from the ground up, that retains the signature feel of the first Holy Panda—but with a few subtle improvements. A few of our key goals for this switch included: To create an even smoother and more refined feel than the Holy Panda To have factory-applied lubricant that is great out of the box, but leaves room for improvement by dedicated enthusiasts. To create a switch that Quakemz, Invyr, and Mech27 (the Holy Panda’s original contributors) would all agree is an improvement over the original To create a switch that delivers more consistency than the Frankenstein-assembled Holy Panda While there have been many replica and clone “panda” switches released since the original Panda and Holy Panda, none of them have formally involved or directly...