SP-Star has made some very interesting switches in recent times, and the SP-Star Meteor White linear switch is one of the company’s more well-known offerings. I recently managed to finally grab this switch, and after putting it through its paces, it is easily one of my favourite linear switches to date.
Not only does the Meteor White offer a unique, smooth typing experience, it is also quite a bit more affordable than its competition. If you’re looking to get a new linear switch, consider the Meteor White…if you can find it in stock.
What It Is
Do note that I got the “new” recoloured version of the SP-Star Meteor White. Previously, it had a dark blue housing; this latest version features a light grey housing instead. But beyond the different colour, the top and bottom housings are still made of nylon with a white POM stem.
Design wise, the Meteor White is a five-pin switch, so you won’t have any issue mounting them directly onto the PCB if you want to, say, do a half plate build. It also has a rather light 57g gold-plated spring with an equally light factory lubing out of the box.
As I’ve mentioned before, the Meteor White switch is quite affordable. I got it from local Shopee retailer NullKeyboards at RM23 for a pack of 10 switches, though it is sold out at the moment. At this price point, the Meteor White is more budget-friendly than the Cobalt POM, for example.
The Good Stuff
When I first started using the Meteor White, the “soft” bottom out of this linear switch immediately stood out to me. This is likely due to the all-nylon housing of the switch, which feels softer than a polycarbonate housing. In fact, this soft, “cushioned” bottom out reminds me of the Anubis – that’s also an all-nylon switch.
This cushioned bottom out is further emphasised after I lubed (Krytox 205g0) and filmed (Deskeys films) the Meteor White, and I honestly can’t get enough of it. Not only does the soft bottom out make for a comfortable typing experience, it has a nice, dampened sound signature too.
Speaking of which, the Meteor White is quite a muted switch; typical characteristic of a nylon switch. However, it still has a clacky sound profile too, just like other SP-Star switches. But after lubing and filming the Meteor White, it has a more “poppy” sound signature instead – I’m really, really fond of this.
I believe that not all switches require lubing or filming, but in the case of the Meteor White, I’d say it’s absolutely worth it to do both. It brings out the best qualities of the linear switch, and in my opinion, it improves the Meteor White’s sound profile quite a bit.
That is not to say the Meteor White doesn’t perform well in its stock configuration. The light factory lubing, for one, does a good job of providing a smooth downstroke. The lubing consistency across the 90 switches I got is relatively good too, though there were a few with slightly rougher feel.
If you care about stem wobble, you’ll be happy to know that the Meteor White is reasonably good in this regard. Though it does have slightly more horizontal wobble than vertical, it’s still a reasonably “stable” switch.
The Bad Stuff
While the Meteor White performs great out of the box with the light factory lubing, the oil-based lube (from what I can tell) can’t quite mask the leaf noise of the switch. Thankfully, lubing the leaf just a tad with the thicker Krytox 205g0 lube is enough to eliminate the leaf ticking.
Aside from that, I wish SP-Star went with a different colour scheme for this recoloured Meteor White. The light grey housing looks a tad too plain, in my opinion; I much prefer the dark blue housing of the original. Then again, this is only my personal opinion. Looks are subjective, after all.
Last but definitely not least is the limited availability of the Meteor White. At the time of writing, only Swagkeys based in South Korea is taking pre-orders of the switch. Beyond that, every other listings of the switch are sold out, including NullKeyboards (Malaysia), Prevail Key Co. (US), and Zion Studios (Philippines).
Is It Worth It?
If you can find the SP-Star Meteor White in stock at a reasonable price – that is, without a huge markup – it is absolutely worth it. Not many linear switches can offer such a unique typing feel and sound profile, which is especially true at this price point.
Hopefully, the Meteor White will be more readily available moving forward. It’s a fantastic linear switch, and given that SP-Star itself has released one great switch after another, I’m really quite excited to see what the company has in store for the future.