are they different than the other machines?
No but given the profuse user feedback I was hoping that they would use something more durable going forward.
When I spoke to the support about this issue I was answered:
I will make sure to forward your request to our developers. Please note that offering non-rubberized buttons is not something that can be easily done, and with the low fail rate we see with the rubberized buttons - we still find that the nice feel is worth it. This could, of course, change if the fail rate would go up.
So maybe this issue is overinflated, but I had Elektron and some other devices going sticky so I’m now avoiding this material.