My nephew is asking for a mechanical keyboard for Christmas, he's 17. I got some info, he doesn't care about RGB, and he doesn't have a lot of hands on with them, so he's not particular about the various switches and colors. If he had to choose between a larger keyboard and a smaller one, he would probably choose a smaller one.

I'm looking for some suggestions from those in the know here. I'm guessing cherry Mx red is probably fine, but what are some quality brands for mechanical keyboards? This really isn't my area, I'm only familiar with the existence of these options from watching linus tech tips.

He says it's for gaming, so I would assume wired, but I asked him to make sure

Any help would be appreciated.

There's actually some really good options out there if you're looking to go cheaper. Peruse slickdeals.net and you can often find decent keyboards in the $30-$150 range. You could pretty much get anything. I'm surprise he didn't want RGB though. That's half the fun.

https://slickdeals.net/newsearch.php?src=SearchBarV2&q=mechanical+keyboard&pp=20&forumid%5B%5D=71&forumid%5B%5D=30&forumid%5B%5D=9&forumid%5B%5D=44&forumid%5B%5D=4&forumid%5B%5D=8&forumid%5B%5D=10&forumid%5B%5D=13&forumid%5B%5D=25&forumid%5B%5D=38&forumid%5B%5D=39&forumid%5B%5D=53&forumid%5B%5D=54

I have really enjoyed my Rayzer BlackWidow mechanical keyboard.

https://www.amazon.com/Razer-BlackWidow-Ultimate-Construction-Keystrokes-dp-B01CVOLFEW/dp/B01CVOLFEW/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

How much do you like your brother or sister?
Can get the loudest possible mechanical keyboard or go for something more stealth

I've got a couple black widow with the clicky keys and I like them, but if the nephew is okay with just a nice mechanical keyboard without RGB and doesn't want the clicky keys I have a nice Logitech K840 that has great mechanical keys but no clicking. Love using it at work.

I love cherry MX red linear switches. I started with the HyperX FPS Pro keyboard, and it's a really solid entry level keyboard with red switches. Keys are a little heavy, so I switched to the Razer Huntsman TE with their optical red switches. Also a really good keyboard, keys are just super sensitive and fast, and a little wobbly.

If I was recommending a cheap starter keyboard, I'd be recommending the HyperX FPS Pro Tenkeyless.

I've had a few different pok3r keyboards and love them. It's a small, 60% keyboard but it's easy to remap some of the lost keys (like arrows). As a software developer, I live on this thing and it is great and travels well. I love the tactile feedback so I tend to get the clickiest ones I can given my environment. That changed a few years ago when I went from working in an office to full time remote.

Corsair also makes some mechanical keyboards that have Cherry MX red switches.

Example: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Gaming-Keyboards/Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboards/K63-Compact-Mechanical-Gaming-Keyboard-%E2%80%94-CHERRY%C2%AE-MX-Red/p/CH-9115020-NA

My understanding is that most prebuilt mech keyboards that are marketed towards gamers will have RGB but there's likely some companion software that can be used to turn them off, or make them less crazy.

I use a custom built mech keyboard so I can't speak to the quality of Corsair's stuff outside of the fact that a handful of my friends use them and have positive things to say.

Thanks for the info, very much appreciated. I ended up going with the Corsair K63, the price point is about where I wanted to be. Most importantly, it's in stock and will arrive by Christmas.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XC1WNPT

I have an MK night typist and a MK disco keyboard. Both are great but I absolutely love the night typist. Dimmable white led backlighting and PBT keycaps with blue switches just make for a great typing experience (also a software developer and I use this thing all day). I have brown switches on the disco but I personally prefer the clickier blue.