Cherry MX Honey Silent
Cherry MX Honey is the brand's first silent tactile MX switch: 45g actuation, short 1.9mm pre-travel, factory-lubed. Our hands-on take.
How it feels
How it sounds
mutedFull review
Quick Summary
The Cherry MX Honey is the brand’s first crack at a silent tactile MX switch, and it is a credible one. It has a 45g rounded tactile bump with effective housing dampening, a short 1.9mm actuation, and factory lube that makes it feel finished out of the box. It’s a sensible pick for anyone who wants Brown-style tactility without the office-disturbing clatter, though the effective force toward the bottom of the stroke is heavier than the 45g number suggests.
Specs and Feel
Honey actuates early at roughly 1.9mm and bottoms out around 3.7mm total travel, so it feels a touch snappier and shorter than a standard MX layout. The tactile event is a gentle, rounded bump rather than an aggressive pre-travel snap, closer to a refined Brown than to a sharp tactile like a Holy Panda. Smoothness is strong straight from the box thanks to the factory lube, with little scratch to speak of and no meaningful stem wobble in well-toleranced sockets.
The caveat is the force curve. While it’s rated 45g at actuation, the spring ramps up firmly past the bump, so the switch feels heavier than its headline number near bottom-out. Heavy-handed typists who slam keys may find it stiffer than expected; lighter, more deliberate typists will appreciate the controlled resistance. The dampening keeps both downstroke and return genuinely muted. This is one of the quieter tactiles you can buy.
Tuning
There’s little to do here. Honey arrives factory lubed and silenced, so most builders should run it stock. If you want to fine-tune, lightweight films can tighten housing fit on looser plates, and a faint stem lube pass can polish the upstroke, but neither is necessary for a satisfying result.
Verdict
Buy the Cherry MX Honey if you want a quiet, factory-finished tactile for a shared space or a late-night setup and you don’t mind a firmer-than-rated bottom-out. It covers the silent-tactile brief that Cherry historically left to third parties. Skip it if you prefer a punchy, sharply defined tactile bump or a truly light 45g feel throughout the stroke. The rising spring weight means this one rewards a measured typing style.
Frequently asked
Is the Cherry MX Honey a clicky or silent switch?
It's a silent tactile. Honey is Cherry's first silent tactile MX switch, pairing a rounded bump with dampened housing so both downstroke and upstroke stay muted.
How does the Honey compare to the Cherry MX Brown?
The bump character is in the same family as the Brown, but the Honey is noticeably quieter thanks to its silencing pads, and it actuates earlier at 1.9mm instead of the Brown's 2.0mm.
Does the Cherry MX Honey need lubing?
No. It ships factory lubed and is smooth out of the box. You can film or add a touch of lube to the stem if you want to chase marginal gains, but it's unnecessary for most builds.
Compare Cherry MX Honey Silent against another switch
Stack specs, sound profiles, and feel side by side.