When comparing Cherry MX Black vs Cherry MX Silent Red, the Slant community recommends Cherry MX Black for most people. In the question“What is your favorite mechanical keyboard switch type?” Cherry MX Black is ranked 4th while Cherry MX Silent Red is ranked 9th.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Linear
Pro Heavy switch
The Black is the heaviest out of the 4 most common switches (Black, Brown, Blue, Red). It requires 60g of pressure for activation.
Pro Ultimately durable
On my 8 year old keyboard, all keys still feel like on day one.
Pro Very sturdy
Pro Shorter Key Travel Distance
3.7mm total travel and 1.9 actuation point make the typing speed a little bit faster than other switches with 4.0mm total travel.
Pro Combine most pros of MX Red
It is a modified version of MX Red. So most advantages of MX Red will exist in MX Silent Red.
Pro Really quite
You could barely hear any sound. Even quieter than some keyboards on laptops.
Cons
Con The sound of the larger keys could be more obvious.
The sound of the switches are quieter, so the sound coming from stabilizers would be easier to notice.
Con Require more force to actuate
The mechanism inside brings more friction, so you need to push the keys harder.