Let’s talk about the Gateron Oil King switches!
I’m a keyboard nerd who’s built dozens of boards and swapped switches more times than I can count.
I’ve put these things through the wringer for you.
This Gateron Oil King review breaks down their specs, performance, and whether they’re worth your hard-earned cash.
Stick around to see if these switches deserve a spot in your next build!
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Switch Snapshot
Gateron was founded in 2000 and is a manufacturer of mechanical keyboard switches and related components. The company has become a prominent player in the mechanical keyboard market and is known for producing high-quality switches.
The switches I’m reviewing are the original versions of the Gateron Oil Kings. I bought these switches back in November 2022.
Gateron has made some improvements on these switches since I’ve bought them. Most notably, the improvement from the 2.0 pins to the 3.0 pins.
I’ll have more about the pins in the sections below.
Specs
- Type: Linear
- Top Housing: Nylon PA66
- Bottom Housing: Proprietary “INK” Blend
- Stem: POM
- Spring Weight: 55g (Actuation Force)
- Total Travel: 4.0mm
- Lubrication: Pre-Lubricated
- Pins: 5-pin
Specs were sourced directly from the manufacturer’s website.
Wanna get into details about mechanical switches? Learn more about them here.
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Hands On Breakdown
I tried these switches as they came from the factory using the following setup:
Keyboard: Neo Studio Neo65
- Case: Aluminum
- Plate: FR4
- Mount: Gasket
Check out our keyboard case article, plate article, and gasket mount article for more info.
Keycaps: Wuque Studio BOW
- Material: PBT
- Printing: Double Shot
- Profile: Cherry
Learn all about keycaps here.
Note: Neo Studio Neo65 doesn’t have RGB. RGB was tested on a Keychron Q1..
Check the force curve for the nerdy details:
I tested these switches in both gaming and typing scenarios.
Performance
Perofrmance Score: 4
Preferences:
These are the switches I’ve used the longest. So, you can consider them the baseline for what my preferences are.
I like to rest my fingers on the keys when I’m typing. This often leads to keys being inadvertently pressed.
I also type like I’m hammering nails. I bottom out pretty hard when I press the keys.
General:
These switches glided like butter and I didn’t catch a hint of scratchiness.
They have a light initial force but get very heavy quickly.
Take a look at the force curve above and you can see this clearly. The bottom out force is over double the initial force
I’ve also included a close-up picture of the stem in the sections below.
Gaming:
I used these switches every single day for over two years and played everything from Overwatch to Stardew Valley with them. I recently popped them back in to do this review and sailed tons of hours in Sea of Thieves with them with zero hiccups.
While playing, I didn’t notice any delay in my movements and my pirate movements felt snappy.
My crew and I spent the days grinding Gold Hoarder faction rep. We did multiple skeleton camp raids, challenged the Ghost Fleet, and took part in a few Hourglass battles. We were ambushed by a few megs every now and then too.
For those that aren’t familiar, battles involve aiming your ship’s cannons and dodging other players a lot with the WASD keys. Everything felt really responsive to me.
These switches also accompanied me for my first Emissary Grade 5 quest completion. I didn’t even know these quests were part of the game. I’ve just been grinding Orb of Secrets for rep.
I point out in the section below that pins on the switches felt flimsy to me. I want to note in this section that all my keys were perfectly fine and did not have any issues registering the key press.
Typing:
I’m actually writing this review using these switches right now.
I love the way these switches feel. No surprise since I used them for over two years for a reason.
I did notice the light initial force as the switches start to sink every so slightly when I rest my fingers, but they get heavy so fast that the keys don’t move much at all.
I’m always wary of switches that have a light initial force ’cause I think I’m gonna have a bunch of typos, but I didn’t have any typos at all with these switches.
They took quite a bit of force to actuate, which I really liked.
Still, I would have preferred a higher initial force to prevent the sinking of keys while resting my fingers.
Check out the score I got on TypeRacer:
Sound Profile
Sound Score: 5
Sound Signature:
These switches definitely sound clacky to me. It was one of the main gripes I had with these switches (purely subjective). My preference is just as thocky as possible of a sound profile.
Pinging:
I couldn’t hear any pings when I brought individual switches up to my ear to listen. Also couldn’t hear anything when I was typing on the keyboard.
I practically glued my ear to the keys and still heard zilch.
Microphone Usage:
In the past, I regularly had complaints on Discord about my mic picking up keyboard sounds when I was using these switches, but I didn’t get any complaints at all during the play sessions I where I was testing out the switches.
I even told my teammates to specifically listen for my typing as I mashed on the keyboard for them. They said they couldn’t hear anything. Maybe Discord changed the way the mic picks up sound now.
Build Quality
Build Quality Score: 3.5
Socket Fit:
These things looked and felt premium.
However, there seemed to be some resistance when I was seating the switches into the sockets.
Once seated in the socket, the switches felt very secure and didn’t have any unusual amount of wobbling.
Pins:
I checked the pins, and noticed they were unusually flimsy. They didn’t bend during installation, but they would do the “splits” and spread farther apart from each other. I had to periodically adjust the pins back to neutral position to seat a lot of the switches.
This should only be an issue with the original version of these switches, which I have. Gateron notes (very prominently) on their website that they have upgrade the pins for better stability.
The switches were 5-pin design and seated very securely in the socket and plate. This was despite the flimsy feeling pins from the original version of these switches.
Errors:
I had no issues with ghost-typing and all my keys worked on KeyboardTester.com.
Lubrication:
I opened them up to check out the insides and they were nicely lubed from the factory. The lube held up very nicely even after two years of use.
Aesthetics and Compatibility
Compatibility Score: 4
Colorway:
The switches have the following color scheme:
- Black: POM stem
- Black: Nylon PA66 top housing
- Black: Proprietary “INK” blend bottom housing
I’m a fan of the way these switches look. I like modern looking things and “all black” definitely falls into that category.
Keycaps:
I had mixed results on the way keycaps would snap onto these switches. About half of them felt like they went on looser than they should. However, the keycaps felt secure and had the normal amount of wobble.
All the switches also stayed in place when removing the keycaps. I didn’t have a single one get pulled out with its corresponding cap.
RGB:
One very important thing to note is that these switches were not designed for RGB lighting. They don’t block all of the light, but you’re barely gonna see anything after installing these switches.
Quick Comparison
Here’s how the Gateron Oil King switches stack up against some similar options:
| Switch | Type | Actuation Force | Travel Distance | Materials |
| Gateron Oil King | Linear | 55g | 4.0mm | Proprietary Ink/Nylon Housing, POM Stem |
| Wuque Studio Morandi | Linear | 50g | 3.5mm | POM Housing, UPE Stem |
| Akko Rosewood | Linear | 40g | 4.0mm | Nylon Housing, Nylon Stem |
| EPOMAKER Wisteria | Linear | 45g | 3.6mm | PC/Nylon Housing, POM+PTFE Stem |
| Cherry MX Red | Linear | 45cN | 4.0mm | Plastic Polymer Housing |
| Gateron G Pro 3.0 Red | Linear | 45g | 4.0mm | PC/Nylon Housing, POM Stem |
| Kailh Box V2 Red | Linear | 40g | 3.6mm | PC/Nylon Housing, POM Stem |
| Gateron Ink V2 Black | Linear | 60g | 4.0mm | Proprietary Ink Housing, POM stem |
| NovelKeys_ Cream | Linear | 55g | 4.0mm | POM Housing, POM Stem |
| Glorious Lynx | Linear | 40g | 4.0mm | PC/Nylon Housing, POM Stem |
Price and Value
Value Score: 3
At the time of this writing, the Gateron Oil King switches cost ~$0.65 per switch. I consider this mid-range switch pricing.
These things are awesome. They feel amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed using them for the past couple of years.
If it weren’t for their clacky profile, I’d probably just set them and forget them in my keyboard. I have no doubt you’ll love them if you like clackiness.
The price looks like it’s on a downward trajectory, but I don’t see them on sale too often. Regardless, sale or not, they’re worth every penny.
Who Are These Switches For?
You’ll love these switches if you’re a typists looking for a heavier actuation point. This really helps with reduce the errors, especially since the switch starts moving with very little force.
These things are also for those that are into clack. You should still give them a try if you’re into thock. I’m all about thock and ended up using these guys for two years.
Also, the switches are perfect for lazy modders that just wanna pop them into their builds without hand lubing. These things are ready to go straight out of the box and the lubing holds up after years of use.
As a bonus, this switch can also be for those that want to take pictures of their keyboard for that social media flex. They look absolutely stunning!
These switches are NOT for RGB lovers. You’re getting nothing in that department from these switches. You have to look at the perfect angle to see under your keycaps for any amount of RGB light.
Wrapping Up
Performance Score: 4
Sound Score: 5
Build Quality Score: 3.5
Compatibility Score: 4
Value Score: 3
Total Score: 3.9 out of 5
The Gateron Oil King switches, as they came from the factory, are one of my favorite switches and almost perfect.
This is purely subjective, but I would have preferred a heavier initial force and a thockier sound profile.
I really can’t complain about how well they held up over the years. I still enjoyed using them after testing out all these other switches.
I’ll definitely be putting them in another build and throwing them into my keyboard rotation.
So, you ready to give them a spin? Grab a pack and upgrade your typing today!
How We Tested and Our Methodology
Keyboard Forge is a 100% independent publisher.
We purchased these switches with our own funds and were not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
We conducted numerous hours of hands-on testing with these switches in both gaming and typing environments. Majority of the gaming testing was done playing Sea of Thieves. Majority of the typing testing was done writing articles for Keyboard Forge.
We hope this review helps you get a better understanding of these switches. Feel free to reach out to suggest switches to review in the future.
Thanks for the support!
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