This week I’m talking about another uniform keycap profile: Osume’s Marshmallow profile.

What is the Marshmallow profile?

Marshmallow profile is unique to Canadian maker, Osume. Consistent with their name, Marshmallow keys have gently rounded corners on the sides that give them a slightly pillowy appearance. The alphas and modifiers have a large, square top with a very shallow spherical divot for the fingers. The spacebars are convex, and the alphas, modifiers, and spacebars are all approximately 9.4mm tall. The keys are dye-sub PBT and have a very subtle texture, and the PBT is 1.6mm thick.

How does Marshmallow compare to other popular profiles?

As noted above, Marshmallow is a uniform profile, so all the keys are the same height. This puts it in a separate category than many popular shapes, like Cherry and SA, which are sculpted. However, at 9.4mm tall, Marshmallow is about the same height as medium-height profiles like Cherry (9.4mm), XDA (9.1mm), and KAM (9.05mm).

How does Marshmallow compare to other uniform profiles?

Although Marshmallow, DSA, KAM, and PBS are all uniform profiles, they differ in some key respects.

Materials

Marshmallow, KAM, and PBS are made with dye sub and reverse dye sub PBT, whereas DSA is made with different techniques–- including sublimation, double-shot molding, and pad printing-– and in both PBT and ABS. Marshmallow’s legends are centered, sans serif, and less weighty than the KAM, DSA, and PBS legends.

Height

At 9.4mm, Marshmallow is the tallest of the group. It is taller than DSA’s alphas and modifiers, which are 7.84mm tall, by about 1.56mm; PBS’s alphas and modifiers, which are 7.43mm tall, by about 2mm; and KAM’s alphas and modifiers, which are 9.05mm tall, by about .35mm.

Spacebars

All four profiles have concave alphas and modifiers and convex spacebars, but KAM’s spacebars are bit taller than its alphas and modifiers (.89mm difference) than Marshmallow’s (little to no difference), KAM’s (.48mm difference), and DSA’s (.6mm difference). Marshmallow’s and KAM’s spacebars also appear a bit more convex than PBS’s and DSA’s.

Texture

Marshmallow has a texture somewhere between KAM and PBS, which is buttery and largely texture-less, and DSA, which has a lovely grip to it. If I had to compare Marshmallow’s texture to another profile’s, I would say it feels more similar to GMK’s texture than to KAM’s, PBS’s, and DSA’s. It’s enough texture to keep your fingers from slipping without feeling coarse.

Divot

Marshmallow’s divot is spherical (concave vertical and horizontal sides) like KAM’s and DSA’s, and about as concave KAM’s and DSA’s. PBS’s divot is cylindrical (concave vertical sides and straight horizontal sides) and the deepest. The top of a 1×1 DSA keycap is 11.50 mm, and the top of a 1×1 KAM keycap is slightly larger at 11.95mm. I have not found measurements of Marshmallow’s or PBS’s divots, but Marshmallow’s seems a bit wider than KAM’s and DSA’s.

What’s next for Marshmallow?

Since Osume first announced the profile in December 2023, it’s released Marshmallow versions of many of its classic colorways, including Matcha, Dalgona, Lilac Dreams, and Strawberry Milk.

It has also released sets in Zen and Momo Neko colorways in collaboration with Maisy Leigh and shirouu, respectively. Presently, the Lilac Dreams, Strawberry Milk, and Momo Neko sets are in stock, and although the Matcha, Dalgona, and Zen sets are sold out, Osume has estimated they will be restocked in March 2025.

To follow the latest news on Marshmallow keycaps, but sure to subscribe to Osume’s back in stock alerts, follow its blog and Instagram, and join its Discord server.