SMT Navigation Thumb-switches
Recently, I discovered navigation thumswitches or multi-directional thumbswitches. Fundamentally, they allow the user to switch between UP, DOWN, and SELECT. Up and Down are selected by angling the shaft, while Select is by pushing the shaft in. These are very simple switches and in my opinion, are an elegant solution to add basic navigation functionality.
I found the selection limited at the usual suppliers. This required me to search other channels, and I continued at LCSC to find a wide selection from manufacturer SMTSwitch/HROElectronics. LCSC's parametric search is limited and did not provide me an easy way to compare the switches. So I took it upon myself to gather the data directly from SMTSwitch with a little python web scraping. Here are my results.
All switches are rated for DC 5V 10mA 100,000 cycles, soldering for 260±5°5s, and most forces have a tolerance of ±50/40gf. See the datasheets for more information.
| Part Image | Datasheet | Part Number | Size | Cover | Lever | Push |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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K1-1502SA-04 | 19.7mm*14.8mm | Yes | 80 gf | 205 gf |
 |
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K1-1501SA-01 | 11.8mm*11.6mm | Yes | 70 gf | 200 gf |
 |
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K1-1501SA-02 | 11.8mm*11.3mm | No | 70 gf | 200 gf |
 |
 |
K1-1502SA-01 | 12.4mm*11.8mm | Yes | 70 gf | 200 gf |
 |
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K1-1502SA-02 | 11.8mm*11.7mm | No | 70 gf | 200 gf |
 |
 |
K1-1511SA-01 | 9.5mm*8.9mm | Yes | 70 gf | 250 gf |
 |
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K1-1511SA-02 | 9.5mm*8.9mm | No | 70 gf | 250 gf |
 |
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K1-1502SA-03 | 12mm*12mm | No | 80 gf | 200 gf |
 |
 |
K1-1519SA-02 | 9.5mm*8.9mm | No | 100 gf | 205 gf |
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K1-1508SA-01 | 9.5mm*8.9mm | Yes | 100 gf | 205 gf |
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K1-1508SA-02 | 9.5mm*8.25mm | No | 100 gf | 205 gf |