So I wrote a longer review for folks who aren't necessarily mechanical literate over
here at Icrontic. You can probably skip it if you care about keyboards, since I went into switch types and so on.
So anyhow, let's talk DK9008G2 Pro with folks who grok the minor details. I've had it for several weeks, logged a LOT of words, and so on.
Build QualityI honestly can't find any major cause for complaint on the Ducky. I'm actually surprised by this - usually I can find SOMETHING that bothers the hell out of me. I won't lie, the flashing on the lock key top surfaces is definitely a screwup on Ducky's part. And I use scroll lock regularly, so it's doubly annoying. But the rest of the keyboard? No complaints. It's very solid, and it's holding up very well.
The Switches and StabilizersI'm on an MX Green here. The weight of the PBT keycaps definitely makes them trend lower than your typical Greens, enough for me to notice, but nowhere near the point of blues. Haven't had a single problem, no incidents of double keystrokes, keys never not registering. USB connect behavior is a bit odd, and always fairly slow, but other than that no issues.
The stabilizers take quite a while to break in, but they
do break in, and once they do? They are pretty much as perfect as it gets. Zero complaints here. Factory lubrication is more than sufficient, there's no rattle and no shift issues.
I'm not going to go do stupid weighting "tests". Frankly, I don't need to. Straight up: the MX Greens are coming in at about 70-75cN effective - with the stabilizers fully transparent once broken in. It's as close to buckling spring weight as I've ever felt in a sprung leaf design. The spacebar also ends up feeling better than buckling spring, as it's missing the wire wobble.
The KeycapsAND LO, the Destroyer of Keycaps did come forth and say unto Ducky, I DARE YOU. And Ducky did look at the Destroyer and did say CHALLENGE ACCEPT.
I mean seriously, even on full PBT M's, I usually see some wear by this point in time. I'm not gentle here. No shine, no wear, they don't even look dirty. I haven't changed anything on my end other than the dust cover when not in use. Texture is flawless on every single key, even spacebar. Color me downright astonished - Ducky just destroyed everyone else. They need to offer these separate. Really.
I STILL hate the narrower spacing of Cherry MX though. It makes my hands feel very cramped and it definitely aggravates my carpal tunnel. I also still have issues with over-reaching leading to the wrong key. Unfortunately the carpal tunnel aggravation also means my left hand frequently can't find the homing ridge - just can't feel it (or anything else.)
The Media KeysDucky. Whoever designed this layout?
FIRE THEM. Seriously. Or at least give us a firmware option or SOMETHING so that we can swap Fn to the left Windows position if you're going to put the damn media keys there. This is absolutely the worst layout decision. Seriously. The whole POINT of these keys is so I don't need two hands to switch tracks or mute things. Instead it consistently feels like I need three. And I have octave+2 reach so I can only imagine how horrible it is for people with smaller hands.
Not to mention, the overall layout is just completely braindead. Mute on the far left, okay. But seriously? Play/Pause goes next to Next/Prev. You do not put STOP at F5 and PLAY at F4. Holy hell.
The RestBacklighting, I couldn't care less. I'm amazed at how clear the keycap lettering is, there's no excessive bleed through, and it looks great if that's your thing. It's not my thing though so I really don't care.
Keycap puller. I like it. It works great on keycaps. I don't use it on my Ducky. The thick PBTs are just that great. I have no reason to even consider a keycap swap.
USB routing is still bad, but it sits on my desk. I don't care. I route straight out the back. The cable could stand to be longer - I have to connect it to a hub because it's not even close to reaching my PC - but that's a minor gripe. I
really like the velcro strap though - it's a nice touch, it's high quality, it doesn't fall apart. What more can one ask?
N-Key Rollover? Beats me. Never turned it on, never will. I don't need it. I've not hit limits with 6KRO so why would I deal with that headache?
The Overall VerdictRootWyrm Likes It! It's well known I'm one of the pickiest around here. I like my keyboards a very specific way. The Ducky DK9008G2 Pro is good enough that I've learned to live with it - and it's required minimal 'just getting over it'. Yes, I hate the media keys with the fury of a thousand suns. I would kill to be able to change that stupidity. But the rest of it? Is just fantastic.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this keyboard to anyone - take your pick of switches. Doesn't matter. If they're all even 80% as good as this one, that would still make them 80% better than QFR.
