Greetings everyone, Dashan here from Unikeys. Before I get into the topic of the day, I would like to say that Unikeys is fully aware of the vendor fiascos recently. Regardless of the reasons for the current situation, we share a deep empathy with enthusiasts in this community and understand why people are losing faith in GBs. Hence, the form of release we chose for the Z1 switches will be an instock release. The Z1 switches are already on their way to our warehouse, and we will manage the sale based on the inventory we have on hand. That being said, let us get to the Z1 switch right now!
Price
0.15 USD per switch Switch Specifications
Switch type: Linear Designer: MZ Studio Manufacturer: MZ Studio Stem: LY Top Housing: PC Bottom Housing: Nylon Pre-travel: 2.0mm Total Travel: 3.6mm Actuation force: 48g Bottom out force: 53g Spring: 22mm double-stage spring Factory Lube: Yes. 205g0 and 105 mix on stem rails, bottom housing rails, stem legs, and spring.
MZ Z1 Switch
The question you have in mind right now is probably why this switch is so cheap. In order to make this price available, MZ Studio created its own production line and customized its own molds with help from a few existing manufacturers. This way, MZ Studio was able to control their production expense and reuse their production resources for future products as well. MZ Studio was able to balance out the cost and the quality of the product to make sure it is cheap but comes with great value.
The sound and feel of the Z1 switch are not bad at all. Sound-wise, due to the choice of materials and its long pole design, the Z1 switch sounds on the clacky side overall, and the bottom-out sound is concentrated. Did I also emphasize that the Z1 switches will be factory-lubed? MZ told me that the factory lube technique and lubrication oil were learned from BSUN. They used a mix of 205g0 and 105g0 lubrication applied to the stem legs, stem rails, bottom housing rails, and the spring. The precise lubrication made sure the Z1 switch was smoother and good to go stock. However, if you are looking for an optimized typing experience, I would still recommend hand-lubing them again on the leaf spring and spreading out the factory lube to make it more even. Despite all the good things about it, I cannot say that the Z1 switches are perfect. Coming at the price of 0.15 USD each, there were a few shortcomings to them; One of the shortcomings is that the Z1 switches are a bit more scratchy if you compare them to other top-tier linears manufactured by BSUN, HMX, or Gateron. The second shortcoming is the crap sound control. Although MZ tried its best to make the Z1 switches less scratchy and to minimize its spring and leaf spring noises (it is already good enough on this aspect considering the price), they are still audible if you listen to them closely.
Overall, the Z1 switch is a great budget switch considering its price and top-down quality. I would highly recommend them if you are looking to build a budget keyboard that comes with great value. The Z1 switch will definitely meet your needs.
