Drop Holy Panda (X) switches in test – The best switches of all time, average or completely overrated?

If you’re into custom keyboards, you’ll come across them sooner or later: The infamous “Holy Panda” switches. Corsair made these switches available as part of the K65 Plus review and, after some delay, we are now finally able to test them.

Some products have a reputation that precedes them. This is also the case with the “Holy Panda” switches, which are advertised by Amazon, for example, as “the most tactile switches in the world”. I can tell you in advance that they are not. But that is of course not the only criterion we want to evaluate in this test. The test was actually supposed to take place as part of the Corsair K65 Plus review, but unfortunately the delivery from America didn’t make it to me in time. Since “Drop” (either directly or via Amazon) seems to be the only source of these switches, you have to accept a certain delivery time until you can hold the coveted switches in your hands. To explain what Corsair and Gateron actually have to do with the whole story, we have to go a little further.

 

The legend

Let’s start from the beginning. What are these Holy Panda switches all about? Originally, the Holy Panda was a hybrid or Frankenstein switch that was assembled by “hobbyists” from individual parts of certain switches. The original Holy Panda consisted of the shaft of an “Input Club Halo” switch and the housing of an Invyr Panda switch. The creation was christened Holy Panda, a portmanteau of the names (Halo and Panda) of both dispenser switches. The remaining parts were then combined to create the “Unholy Panda”, but let’s stay on topic.

The combination was so well received that the scarce stocks of the Invyr Panda Switch quickly ran out and other dispenser switches were experimented with. Due to the growing popularity, the “Drop” platform (formerly Massdrop, now a subsidiary of Corsair) sought to commission a larger quantity of pre-assembled Holy Panda switches and was able to obtain tools and materials that were used for older Invyr switches. After Glorious also launched its own Pandas on the market, a veritable wave of replica and counterfeit Panda switches broke out. In collaboration with the original inventors of the Holy Panda Switch and with Gateron as a manufacturing partner, Drop refined the Holy Panda into the Holy Panda X and also offers a “hand-lubricated” version, which was used in this test.

 

Holy Panda X

The combination of different switches gave the Holy Panda a rather unusual tactile feel. A tactile, non-clicking switch with a relatively high triggering resistance, whose tactile resistance is practically right at the top, while the triggering takes place very far down.

 

Technical data

Designed by Drop, produced by Gateron

Type: Tactile

Top housing material: Polycarbonate

Bottom housing material: Nylon

Stem material: POM

Spring weight: 60 g

MX-compatible, Pre-lubricated, Available in 5-pin and 3-pin options

 

Force-time curve

Here is the curve showing how the switches behave when actuated.

Source: Drop