Mechanical keyboards vs everything else
So what is the difference, then? Well compared to other keyboards, mechanical switches are just that: Mechanical. They have a mechanism inside that moves and creates the action that sends the key-press signal. How this happens changes slightly depending on the switch type, but we will cover this in more detail later on.
The most common PC keyboards are membrane keyboards, while dome boards are still seen in industry quite a lot as well. Membrane keyboards use three layers, with the middle layer just there to space apart the top and bottom conductive layers so that they are not sending a signal to each other constantly. Once you press the key-switch down, the top and the bottom layers touch, complete a circuit, and send a signal. There is no mechanical action involved.
Dome keys are similar to membrane ones, but they have a dome that collapses to give the user some tactile feedback. There are also hybrids, known as memchanical (or membranical, depending on which marketing guru you listen to) keyboards, which are membrane boards that use a clicker to make them feel somewhat similar to mechanical keyboards. This keeps the price down but doesn’t really give the user any benefits over the feeling of using the keys.
Mechanical switches are preferred over other switches because of their reliability, repeatability, and stability. If it has “ability” at the end, a mechanical switch probably does it better than the rest. Mechanical switches have far tighter tolerances, and they should feel more consistent between each other compared to other switch types. This enables users to really get a preference over what they like to use, and this can then improve productivity or performance in gaming.