Here is my review for anybody who might consider buying Ducky DK2087s Zero. This is the backlit version.
I have used only one other mechanical keyboard before this one, the original Filco Majestouch TKL (Cherry MX Blue). My move from a full size rubber dome to a mechanical keyboard in TKL form was quite a revelation. It is still working as new, never really caring about the shiny keys, and it is only my curiosity in thick PBT keycaps that has lead me to try something else. After getting Vortex Double-Shot PBT thick keycaps I discovered the rubbing of the stabilizer wire on the bottom of the keycaps when the keys are being depressed. I didn't want to modify the newly received keycaps, so it was time for a new Ducky keyboard with cherry stabilizers...
AccessoriesDust cover, cheap keycap puller, WASD gray keycaps, user manual.
Build qualityIn a few words: simplicity and immaculate attention to detail. Both the Ducky Zero and the Filco MJ have rubber on their feet, sturdy plastic cases with minimum footprint, no unneeded plastic coatings that will rub off in time, no unneeded USB removable braided cables. The original Filco MJ has one sided PCB board, while the new MJ2 and the Ducky are dual layered. This mostly matters if one decides to mod the keyboard, as dual layer PCB will minimize the chances of damage to the PCB when soldering and desoldering. Filco and Ducky have switches that are mounted on a steel plate. Still, it is not impossible to imagine that there might be some stress that is not completely absorbed by the plate that transfers to the PCB, and dual layer PCB ensures that the switches have stronger soldered points.
Extra featuresDucky is 6KRO with the ability to turn on a fully functional USB NKRO. It has a lock for the Windows key, as well as the ability to change the key repeats when you hold down a key. It can be set to x1 (normal), x2, x4 and also the delay between repeats. Also there is volume up/down and mute. There is a Fn key for accessing all the extra functions which replaces the right Windows key, so there is still the regular Menu key next to the right Control key. Filco only has 6KRO over USB, but comes with a PS/2 adapter that allows NKRO. I tried to plug the Ducky with the PS/2 adapter and the keyboard did not work. The USB is Full Speed (tested with usbview.exe) and has 1000Hz polling rate.
StabilizersAs mentioned the wires on the costar stabilizers rub on the inside edge of the keycaps if they are made of thicker plastic. It is not very perceivable, but I confirmed it by looking underneath the space bar with a small mirror and a flashlight on the Filco that uses costar. Ducky Zero and Shine 3 come with clipped Cherry stabilizers. There is also a review at
http://www.custompcreview.com/reviews/review-max-keyboard-blackbird-tenkeyless-mechanical-keyboard/19396/2/ and video
that might suggest that Max keyboards also use clipped stabilizers. I have tried Corsair K70 with regular Cherry stabilizers, and I hated the way they soften the stabilized keys. When clipped, however, cherry stabilizers have no difference in feel when the keys are bottomed out compared to costar. The costar seems to do its job of "stabilizing" a little better than cherry when pushing on both ends of those keys and trying to wobble them up and down. The difference is very slight but I believe this to be the case. On the other hand keys with costar stabilizers make this annoying high pitched rattling nose when you tap on them very gently, which is very audible on the space bar when typing. It happens the moment the fingertips touch the keys. Lubing the contact points for the costar stabilizers might help, but I doubt it and didn't bother.
KeycapsFilco and Ducky have OEM (standard profile) thin black ABS keycaps. As such, they are both fairly noisy when bottoming out and on key release. Filco's are printed with white, while Ducky's are made of semi-transparent white plastic that is sprayed over with a relatively thick layer of black paint (or a thin layer of black plastic) that seems to have the lettering laser etched. It is hard to make the case which is better, as both are not of very high quality. Upon buying Vortex Double-Shot PBT thick keycaps this became very obvious:
First, PBT plastic has texture. This is not just for looks, or "better" feel, this actually helps with typing. When the ABS plastic wears out in time and starts to shine, it actually becomes sticky to the skin so that when typing, there is this small almost imperceivable extra force required for the fingers to release and move above the keys. The fingers seem to glide on the PBT, yet feeling somehow less "slippery" and having no resistance on key release. I noticed this by running a few typing tests and swiping between both keyboards, one with ABS, and the other with PBT. Both keyboards have Cherry MX Blue switches and I imagine that this could be harder to detect with heavier switches, but it is there. In long typing sessions, I am absolutely convinced that worn out and shiny ABS plastic can strain the hand muscles faster.
Second, the thicker plastic and possibly the different material significantly changes the noise both on bottoming out and on key release. With PBT the noise is less, and the clack is more muffled.
Finally, I also bought 40A-L Rubber O-Rings from WASD Keyboards to reduce the harsh feel and noise when the keys are bottomed out. There is hardly any reduction in travel, 0.2mm if WASD is to be believed, but the feel of the softer landing and reduction in noise is very significant. With the rings installed, it is just enough to make the OEM keycaps bottom out at the top of the switch with very little reduction in travel. The travel distance is shortened significantly more when o-rings are used with Cherry profile keycaps. I realize this is a very subjective opinion, but for me I feel like this is the optimum setup for a mechanical keyboard with cherry switches.
BacklightingThis is something that I did not care much about, but since the keycaps that I bought have transparent lettering, I decided to get the back-lit version, especially since I can turn it off. I remember wishing for a back-lit keyboard a few times when typing in the dark. One thing I should mention here is that the Filco doesn't have backlighting, but it is one of the few keyboards that have separate LEDs for the Caps Lock and Screen Lock. I like this better than having the LED indicators on the keys, and I would care even more about this if my keycaps didn't have transparent lettering. One of the reasons why I decided to get Zero rather than Shiny 3 was because of the simpler lighting and the less extra lighting functions to worry about pressing by mistake. Next comes the biggest criticism of this keyboard, for which I actually sent an email to the support team in hopes that it will be addressed in the upcoming firmware updates.
First, the default state of the NKRO is off and when I turn it on once inside windows, the key LED indicator lights up and stays on, just like CapsLock. It is quite annoying to have the LED indicator on all the time. Ducky need to change the default behavior for NKRO so its LED indicator is off when NKRO is on. 6KRO is only for compatibility when outside windows.
Second, F1, F2 and F3 control the key repeat times, as mentioned above to x1, x2 and x4, and whichever is chosen lights up the LED for that key. The same goes for the F5, F6 and F7 that control the repeat rate. There is a function to disable those LED indicators, but if I disable them and turn on backlighting, F1, F2, F3, F5, F6, F7 are always lit up at maximum brightness, even if the rest of the keys have lower brightness. This is not ideal, and prevents me from wanting to turn on the backlighting at all. Also the default state of those LED indicators is ON, when it should be OFF.
I received a polite reply from Ducky that they will pass my suggestions onto the support team when doing a firmware update, so hopefully they will fix this. It should be a simple firmware fix, and if anybody else has this keyboard that shares my view, please let them know.
SoftwareNONE! OK, maybe there shouldn't be one for a keyboard, but why not? Razer, Logitech, Roccat, Corsair and SteelSeries all make mechanical keyboards that come with very well developed software. Sadly they all have non-standard key spacing and we don't yet have keycap sets for them. I wonder if there is a market for such keycap sets already, as it seems all 5 manufacturers use the same spacing... A software for a keyboard can do all kinds of things including profiles and on app profile switching, while on the fly remapping of keys, custom LED programming, macros, locking keys and who knows what else. I use such a software for my gaming mouse and I find it invaluable, even though I hardly play games. I am not suggesting that Ducky should start spending resources on software, but at the same time I felt like I should mention it.
