If you think about mechanical keyboards, there’s a good chance you would imagine a board with switches that click or clack with every key press. Well, there’s actually a lesser-known switch variant that eliminates all of that noise, which is exactly what the Gazzew Bobagum is: a silent linear switch.

Not only does it have excellent housing tolerance, it is also one of the quietest silent linear switches in the market now…out of the box. If you want a silent switch that performs great without the need for lubing or filming, I wholeheartedly recommend the Bobagum.

What It Is

Like with other switches from Gazzew – one of the most reputable switch makers in the mechanical keyboard scene – the Bobagum is a silent linear switch manufactured by Outemu. Even though the company is not quite as well-known as JWK or Gateron, it is steadily delivering some very impressive switches that offer excellent housing tolerance with Gazzew – more on that later.

Anyway, I got the Bobagum with 68g springs from Taobao. Alternatively, you can also get it from Pantheon if you’re here in Malaysia or Singapore, where the vendor is based in. Priced at S$9.50 for 10 switches – that comes up to about RM3 per switch – the Bobagum is honestly reasonably priced for a switch of this quality.

The Good Stuff

As mentioned, one of the best qualities of the Bobagum has to be its tight tolerance to eliminate any form of stem wobble. Out of all the switches I’ve reviewed so far, the Bobagum easily sits at the top in this regard. There’s hardly any horizontal stem wobble, and although the vertical wobble is a bit more pronounced, it is still barely noticeable with keycaps on.

Aside from that, the Bobagum absolutely nails the “silent” part of a silent linear switch. According to Gazzew, the spring and leaf of the switch are lubed, eliminating any form of pinging or ticking for a whisper quiet typing experience. The downstroke and upstroke are also completely muted with the dampeners on the stem.

Speaking of which, I absolutely love the bottom out feeling of the Bobagum. The dampened (but not overly mushy) downstroke is a refreshing change over the harsher, more solid bottom out of non-silent switches. The softer bottom out of the Bobagum actually reminds me of membrane keyboards quite a bit, which is not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion.

Also worth noting is the smoothness of the Bobagum. Despite the fact that the slide rail and rail slot are completely dry, it doesn’t feel scratchy at all, which surprised me quite a bit. Of course, with a bit of lube, I’m sure these switches can be even smoother, but I’m not really in a rush to lube them – they already feel great out of the box.

Last but definitely not least is the bright pink colourway of the Bobagum switch. The dark pink stem and light pink housing lend to a unique, eye-catching design that sets it apart from other switches in the market now. Personally, I’m not a big fan of the colour pink, but I do quite like the aesthetic of the Bobagum.

The Bad Stuff

In order to silent the downstroke and upstroke of a key press, the stems of silent switches have dampeners to absorb the impact. But the thing is, this (usually) reduces the travel distance of the switch. In the case of the Bobagum, it definitely has reduced travel compared to, say, a regular linear switch like the C3 Tangerine V2. Basically, the Bobagum will provide a more shallow typing experience – this can be a dealbreaker to some.

But besides that…there’s really no big major negative with the Bobagum. If I were to nitpick, perhaps the price of the switch could be lower, though at around RM3 per piece, it sits in the same price range as other high-end switches. On top of that, the Bobagum performs just as well as other similarly priced switches in the market now.

In fact, it’s even superior to other switches in certain aspects – not many of them can match the Bobagum’s excellent stem wobble and quiet, dampened typing experience.

Is It Worth It?

If you want one of the quietest silent linear switches in the market now, right out of the box, the Gazzew Bobagum is definitely one of the best options. It is whisper quiet, it has excellent housing tolerance, and of course, it is very eye-catching (but not to the point where it’s obnoxious) in pink.

If there’s any room for improvement, it would be great if the Bobagum’s slide rail and rail slot are also lubed for an even smoother typing experience. That being said, as I’ve mentioned many times throughout this review, the Bobagum still performs great as a stock switch.

I would even go as far as to say that it is the best switch for folks who want an excellent silent linear switch without the need to put any effort into lubing or filming – the Bobagum is that good out of the box.