Gateron Oil King Review — The Heavy Linear That Built a Reputation on 'Best Stock Switch'
TL;DR
Three years after release, the Oil King is still the linear most enthusiasts cite when they say 'I don't want to lube anything.' ThereminGoat called the factory lube 'impressively consistent.' YouTube reviewers gave them 'one of the deepest sounding switches I've reviewed.' Reddit owners describe them as smooth, marbly, and quiet. The catches are real: a faint stock 'tick,' a slow break-in week, and a colorway that destroys RGB.
Verdict: Buy
Pros
- +Factory lube is genuinely good — ThereminGoat: 'impressively consistent and not over the top'
- +55g actuation, 65g bottom-out — heavy enough to feel premium without fatiguing
- +No north-facing interference — works with Cherry-profile keycaps that other switches conflict with
- +Deep, muted, 'thock-leaning' sound profile — one reviewer called them 'possibly the deepest and thockiest sounding switches I've reviewed'
- +Five-pin PCB-mount, available factory pre-lubed at ~$0.65/switch — competitive with $1+ enthusiast switches
Cons
- −Stock 'tick' is real — ThereminGoat and the 'Worth The Hype' reviewer both noted a faint sluggish/sticking feel out of the bag, fixed by ~1 week of break-in
- −Blackout colorway absolutely destroys RGB shine-through — these are not for an RGB-forward build
- −Topping-out sound is described as 'flat' and 'slappy' by ThereminGoat — the magic is in the bottom-out, not the upstroke
- −$0.65/switch is mid-range, not budget — a 110-key build is ~$72 in switches alone
- −Best-seller dominance fading — Gateron's own newer Type R is now outselling Oil Kings on community vendor data
Ethan Park
Published May 3, 2026
The Gateron Oil King is the linear that solidified Gateron's "no need to lube anything" reputation in 2022 and rode that wave for three solid years. Even now, with newer competitors crowding the top of the sales charts, Oil Kings keep showing up — the Best-selling keyboard switches of March 2026 thread has u/Top_Substance9093 (22 upvotes) noting them by name: "oil kings kinda sleepers in this list. been around for a long time (relatively) but they're so freaking smooth."
I read ThereminGoat's full review, watched two YouTube reviews end-to-end (the third had no transcript available), and pulled comments from three Reddit threads. The picture is consistent — and unusually candid about a specific stock-feel quirk that most marketing buries.
What you're actually getting
The Oil King is a 55g actuation / 65g bottom-out linear with a POM stem, nylon PA66 top, and proprietary INK-blend bottom housing. The factory lube is the headline feature.
Factory lube is the real selling point. ThereminGoat: "With an impressively consistent and not over the top factory lube application, these nylon over Ink-material heavy linear switches really push the boundaries" (review). The "Worth The Hype" reviewer concurred: "the factory lubing is more than adequate and is one of the best I've seen for a stock switch" (video). This is the property that justifies the $0.65/switch price tag versus a $0.30 Yellow.
The bottom-out is deep — quieter than competing premium linears. "Worth The Hype" reviewer: "these are possibly the deepest and thockiest sounding switches I've reviewed so far plus they're also very quiet overall — if you're looking for an ultra thocky sounding switch this one is probably for you" (video). ThereminGoat noted the contrast: "The topping out of these switches tends to be rather flat, medium-high pitched, and with a sort of 'slappy' tone to them" — i.e., the sound character is bottom-out-driven. If you don't bottom out, you're missing the magic.
No north-facing interference is a real practical advantage. The "KING of Smoothness" reviewer specifically called this out: "these do not have any north facing interference no matter if you use cherry profile keycaps... the reason for this is because it has a little rounded part to the switch and that makes it towards where it removes all north facing interference which is awesome for budget friendly boards that may want to use cherry profile keycaps" (video). For anyone running Cherry-profile keycaps on a hot-swap board, this single property eliminates the most common compatibility headache.
How they perform in owners' hands
The "Saturn 60 update" build (1,427 upvotes) is the kind of thread that earns Oil Kings their reputation. The OP, u/piercejenkins (57 upvotes on the build-details comment): "Saturn 60 white case, titan60 pcb (soldered), Gateron oil kings, Durock v2 stabs, G-MKY AFSA red caps, NASA badge. Thocky ASF!!" — that's the signature Oil King outcome. Quiet, premium-feeling builds where the switches do the heavy lifting and you don't need a custom mod.
The cross-product context is also useful. In the "Boba u4ts are cool" thread, u/Enginseer68 (66 upvotes) frames the trade-off cleanly: "U4T tactile bump is really satisfying but I still prefer the deep thock and smoothness of Oil King 😎" — Oil Kings sit at the top of the linear conversation the way U4Ts sit at the top of the tactile conversation.
The 2026 sales numbers nuance the picture: Oil Kings are no longer #1, but they're durably top-tier. Three years on the market, still selling at the top — that's how you know the sound profile and factory lube are doing real work, not just marketing work.
Where they fall short
The first-week sluggishness is real and underdiscussed. The "Worth The Hype" reviewer was honest about it: "they felt quite sluggish to type on during the first week of use as if there was something slowing them down both on the up and downstroke I'm not sure why this happened or what the cause was but I suspect it's the lubrication gatron used or how they applied it" (video). The same reviewer confirmed it resolved after a week of use — but if you typing-test them at a meetup or in-store and they feel sluggish, you're not imagining it. The fix is just type on them.
Stock ticking is the honest cosmetic flaw. The "KING of Smoothness" reviewer documented it carefully: "there is some ticking — there is no ping, it's just like a slight tick on some of the switches that I had and apparently lubing them yourselves removes this ticking but I went ahead and just used some stock and you know the ticking is only apparent if you're looking for it like it's not super obvious or annoying so I don't think it's that big of a deal" (video). It's there. Most owners don't care. If you're sound-test-obsessed, factor it in.
The blackout colorway destroys RGB. Same reviewer: "these switches are absolutely horrible if you wanted them for an RGB build." The whole point of Oil Kings is the deep, marbly, blackout aesthetic — they're not the right switch for a south-facing RGB-forward setup. Plan accordingly.
Should you buy them?
Buy if you want a premium-feeling stock switch that needs no lube work, you're typing more than gaming, and you specifically value sound depth over snappiness. The factory lube quality genuinely does close most of the gap to enthusiast-tier switches at half the price.
Skip if your priority is RGB shine-through, the lightest possible spring weight, or the snappiest possible upstroke — none of those are Oil King's strengths. Skip also if you're sensitive to first-week feel quirks; you'll spend the break-in week wondering if you got a bad batch (you didn't, but it's a real experience).
Wait if you specifically want the latest in stock-smooth linears — Gateron Type R, JWK Vertex V1, and the Sillyworks x Gateron lineup are all newer and competing aggressively at this price point. The kbd.news comparison pages are useful for spec-by-spec head-to-heads.
Sources consulted
YouTube (2 transcripts pulled, 1 metadata-only)
- "Gateron Oil King Switch Review | The KING of Smoothness" (Jun 2022, full transcript)
- "Gateron Oil King review | Worth The Hype?" (Jul 2024, full transcript)
- "Gateron Oil Kings Full Review and Switch Comparison" (Apr 2022, metadata only)
Reddit (3 threads cited, upvote range 1,427–3,510)
- r/MechanicalKeyboards — "Best-selling keyboard switches of March 2026" — 655 upvotes (Oil Kings still in top-tier)
- r/MechanicalKeyboards — "Saturn 60 update: utilitarian plate, gat oil kings" — 1,427 upvotes
- r/MechanicalKeyboards — "Boba u4ts are cool" (Oil King comparison comment) — 3,510 upvotes (linear vs tactile context)
Tech media (2 sources fully parsed)
- ThereminGoat — "Gateron Oil King Switch Review" — the definitive long-form review
- kbd.news — Gateron Oil King switch spec page and side-by-side comparisons with Ink Black V2, JWK Vertex V1
Products covered in this review
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Oil Kings actually as good as the hype suggests?
Mostly yes, with one caveat. The 'KING of Smoothness' reviewer's bottom line: 'I feel like you probably won't need to lube these at all.' ThereminGoat's: 'these switches are worth checking out for many people.' The caveat is the break-in: the 'Worth The Hype' reviewer noted 'they felt quite sluggish to type on during the first week of use as if there was something slowing them down... however I'm glad to report that this is no longer an issue and all the switches have become consistent performers after a constant week of use.' If you mash through the first week, they get better.
Oil King vs Gateron Ink Black V2 vs JWK Alpaca?
Oil Kings are heavier (65g bottom-out) and quieter than Inks (60g, more clack-y top-out). Alpacas are lighter again (62g BO) and more aggressively marbly. The kbd.news comparison page lays out the spec differences side-by-side. For a deep, quiet, work-from-home build: Oil Kings. For a louder, more aggressive sound: Inks. For a lighter typing feel that still sounds premium: Alpacas.
Why do reviewers warn about RGB?
The Oil King's 'blackout' housing has a thin RGB cutout slot but the housing material itself is heavily pigmented to produce the marbly visual effect. The 'KING of Smoothness' reviewer was explicit: 'these switches are absolutely horrible if you wanted them for an RGB build.' If your case has bottom-mount RGB pointed up through the switches, expect maybe 20% of normal brightness. For a quiet, blackout aesthetic build (which is the whole point of Oil Kings), this is a feature.
Why is Gateron Type R outselling Oil Kings now?
Type R is newer, a few cents cheaper per switch, and made from a similar nylon-blend recipe with refined factory lube. The March 2026 best-seller list shows Type R at #2, with Oil Kings still in the top-tier but no longer the king of stock-smoothness conversation. Oil Kings still earn their reputation on bottom-out depth, which Type R doesn't quite match. If you care most about sound, Oil King. If you care most about smoothness-for-the-money, Type R.