Aimpad™ vs. Flaretech Technology
Switch Types
Aimpad supports a large variety of popular mechanical switches including Cherry MX RGB, Gateron, Zealios, and Matias switches. Several different varieties of “linear”, “tactile”, and “clicky” switches have been validated, but the Cherry MX RGB switch is the recommended switch.
The Flaretech switches currently consists of only 2 types: Linear “Red” and Clicky “Blue” switches.
Analog Sensing Range
Aimpad can sense the entire range of the key press from the very top to the very bottom. Due to the design of the Flaretech switch, it is not possible to measure the entire key press. Only the switch position between 1.5mm and 3.6mm of the key press can be measured. In other words, a user has to press the switch down 1.5mm before any response can be detected and the effective range is 2.1mm compared to Aimpad’s full 4mm range:
 |
Flaretech Switch |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Analog Range: 4mm Initial Activation: 0.01mm |
Analog Range: 2.1mm Initial Activation: 1.5mm |
This is not a trivial difference. If you want your game character to move slowly, or steer a vehicle slightly, your instinct would be to press the switch down a small amount. However, with the Flaretech Switch you have to press the switch 37% of the way down before you would even begin to start moving slowly. This is essentially a very large hardware limited “deadzone” where no analog activity can be detected or used. This creates a significant usability issue for the user because it is not clear how soon the switch will respond until after it starts responding. This leads to issues with over correction and under correction and creates a frustrating and non-intuitive gaming experience.
Analog Performance
The following graphs compare the typical analog performance of an analog keypress using an Aimpad enabled Keyboard using Cherry MX switches and the analog performance of a keyboard using Flaretech Analog switches.
Due to a variety of inconsistencies in manufacturing and sensing methods the analog performance provided by the Flaretech switch is not smooth or consistent. By contrast, the consistency and reliability in performance of a Cherry MX Red switch combined with per key calibration from Aimpad provides the best analog keyboard performance possible.
Interference/Noise
Both the Flaretech switch and Aimpad’s solution use Infrared (IR) Light to determine the position of the switch. There are many unintended sources of IR light including desk lamps and sunlight. The Flaretech switch is susceptible to these other sources of light causing unintended movement or unintended keys to be pressed if the keyboard is placed under a desk lamp or in direct sunlight. The Flaretech switch uses transparent stems. External IR light can enter the switch housing through theses transparent stems and cause interference with the normal operation of the switch. Aimpad’s solution does not have this issue and can even be used in direct sunlight.