Frankenswitch: The Holy Hypezilla

Everyone in the range of a hundred feet usually knows how much I enjoy a good thock on either of my mechanical keyboards. I’m probably not exaggerating by saying that up until now the Boba U4T have been the community’s bar to compare thockiness against, even though there are plenty equally respectable contenders, like the JWK x Mechs on Deck Anubis, the JWK Harimau, th SP-Star Dark Magic Girl and the Tecsee Coffee Chip Ice Cream, just to name a few. Yet tactility fans like myself keep constantly exploring new ideas and variations in and endless journey in search of the ultimate thock. Today I would like to show another step in that direction with a frankenswitch I shamelessly named The Holy Hypezilla ^[1]

Holy Hypezillas are inspired by the classic Zykos, which are ZealPC Zealio V2 bottoms, Invyr Panda top housings and Kailh Halo stems. Instead of the Invyr Panda tops, however, the Hypezillas use Cherry MX Hyperglide top housings; Instead of the Zealio V2 bottoms, they are built with identical Zilent V2 bottoms.

The frankenswitch is using Drop Halo Clear stems and 80g Flashquark long two-stage springs for the ultimate feedback. It’s filmed with Durock films and lubed with Tribosys 3204.

The overall typing feel is sharper than on the Boba U4Ts, yet significantly smoother than on the Anubis. The Hypezillas neither have a noticeable ping nor other accompanying sounds that would be off-throwing. They aren’t as muted as a nicely lubed Boba, though, but have a rather clear, maybe even somewhat brazen sound to them. If judged separated from each other, the Hypezillas’ feel and their sound probably wouldn’t be too convincing on their own, yet both in combination make for a quite interesting and unique experience.

On a rigid build like the M60 the Hyperzillas might feel too harsh at times. On a more flexible build like the D60lite or the KARA however they complement the board nicely.

The wobble is comparable to the overall good Harimaus – maybe insignificantly more N/S movement at similar E/W wobble.

The overall neutral look of the Hypezilla make it a good fit for boards where boldly colored switches wouldn’t be beneficial. However, on some boards, including the M60, the transparent bottom, paired with the light blocking top make for a harsher and partially annoying RGB experience, as compared to e.g. the milky white U4Ts. While the black Cherry tops help a bit with light bleeding on especially lighter keycaps, switches like the milky Bobas mute the LED light and make it shine more evenly, allowing for an overall nicer looking lighting. Compared to e.g. fully transparent ZealPC Zilents, the Hypezillas are nevertheless slightly better in terms of light distribution and dimming.

The cost for ten Holy Hypezillas is on average:

• $13.00 for the Zilent V2s
• $3.89 for the Cherry MX Hyperglides
• $5.00 for the Drop Halo Clears
• $0.46 for the Flashquark long two-stage springs
• $0.48 for the Durock switch films

Totalling at $22.83 per ten switches – or nearly $140 for an average HHKB layout – with plenty of leftovers for other endeavors.

The Hyperzillas have been a permanent resident on my M60 for several months now and I still find joy in typing on them. Would I recommend them? Definitely if you’d already happen to have most parts around and wouldn’t know what else to do with them. In any other case it would be highly irresponsible to recommend them, considering the cost… right? Right??