What are pudding keycaps? Features, recommendations, before & after images
The best way to light up your gaming setup
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When it comes to Mechanical keyboards, there’s a lot going on. limitless switch varieties, stabilizers, lube, the list goes on. One of the easiest and most affordable upgrades you can make to a gaming keyboard is changing out the caps. There’s a wide range of custom keycap types to choose from, there’s ABS, PBT, Doubleshot, and, the subject of this page. Pudding keycaps.
But what are pudding keycaps? Fear not, dear reader. We will explain everything you need to know about pudding keycaps. Additionally, we’ll have some imagery of our own upgrade, allowing you to see the difference for yourself
What are pudding keycaps?
Pudding keycaps are a specific type of keycaps that feature a dual-layer design wherein only the top of the cap is opaque, and the rest is translucent. This has become increasingly tempting for keyboard enthusiasts since the great wave of RGB began taking over peripherals. Pudding keycaps allow for more illumination, via the translucent body, without sacrificing readability due to the traditional upper section. If you’re an RGB nerd, these caps are 100% your best bet for really getting the most out of your lighting.
What do pudding keycaps do?
As mentioned earlier, their primary purpose is to increase the illumination of the keyboard’s backlight for aesthetic reasons. Other than this their function is identical to that of regular keycaps. Additionally, some very serious keyboard enthusiasts may find them sub-optimal as the materials used to make pudding keycaps is often less-than-ideal in terms of texture. It’s also worth mentioning that the dual-layer design has been known to separate under heavy use which, again, is unideal.
Here we see the before and after of a partial pudding keycap upgrade. The difference is night and day and makes for a far more vivid RGB experience.
What are the best pudding keycaps?
Pudding keycaps are continuing to increase in popularity in line with the rising ubiquity of RGB lighting, many companies have become aware of this and are jumping on the semi-translucent bandwagon. Everyone from big companies like HyperX to the humble Ducky is getting in on it. There are a few different routes to go down. HyperX’s pudding keycap kit is amongst the most popular for its common layout and strikingly vivid resultant color.
Confusingly, not all brands have stuck with the ‘pudding’ naming convention. Razer markets theirs as ‘phantom’, SteelSeries has a ‘Prism’ line of pudding-style caps, even Glorious has theirs named as ‘Aura’. Regardless of who you go with for the caps, be wary of the potential for spurious build quality, particularly at the seam between the layers. We’ve run into a few instances of the layers separating under normal use which wrecks the aesthetic reasoning for buying these exhibitionist keycaps in the first place. We’ve dropped links below for some of the more readily available and commonly compatible caps for you.
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