Best RGB MX Browns Board Under $250

[Intex]

I am in the market for a new board with the following requirements:
- Full size (must have num pad. no TKL)
- Literally any kind of backlighting will do
- MX Brown switches
- under $250.

I am currently leaning toward the Ducky One 2, but I have heard that Ducky started using Razer switches in the Ducky Shine 7: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=96003.0  Does anyone know if this is also the case for the Ducky One 2?

It has been difficult for me to find many details on the Ducky one 2 on geekhack, and am wondering if anyone has anything negative/positive to say about it.

Also, I want to see what other options I have that meet my requirements? Perhaps an older ducky model or something else? Post your recommendations Geekhack!

I have been using an original Das Model S Professional since 2011 and it has been great, but a couple of the keys are finally starting to give me some issues.

[bkrownd]

  If you look at the listings for Ducky One 2 on mechanicalkeyboards.com what info is missing that you need to know? 

[Riverman]

The One 2 still uses Cherry switches.  I can't image that they'd use Razer switches in anything but a special model built for Razer.  If you really need backlit keys, one of Ducky's keyboards is probably your best bang for the buck for a full-sized MX brown backlit keyboard.  They're well-built and come with PBT keycaps that you won't feel the need to replace right away.  You should also look at the IKBC MF108, if you can find one.  It's a beast of a keyboard, and still well under your budget.  Das Keyboard also makes a couple of decent backlit models.  The Prime 13 has always seemed like a good choice, but has ABS keycaps.

[bkrownd]

The One 2 still uses Cherry switches. 

the mechanicalkeyboards site lists them available with at least 13 different kinds of switches.

[Riverman]

It looks like they've added some new options for some models.  I had bought a One 2 Midnight not that long ago, and it was only available with Cherry switches.  Those are still the only options for that one, but I do see that there are Kalih options for the RGB model.  It's nice to have more options.  I liked the Kailh silent box browns I tried out a while back.

[Intex]

  If you look at the listings for Ducky One 2 on mechanicalkeyboards.com what info is missing that you need to know?

main thing i was wondering is if anything has changed. ducky is well known and makes great boards, but so was das at one point, and then they moved their manufacturing out of taiwan and were considered bottom tier for quite a while. changes in manufacturing or materials or build quality (e.g. is more plastic used now than previously vs things like metal or aluminum?) etc. are things that you would not necessarily see on the product page.

[bkrownd]

While you wait for forum member feedback, I just saw that Hardware Canucks put up a (short) review of a Ducky on their youtube channel today. 

[Riverman]

main thing i was wondering is if anything has changed. ducky is well known and makes great boards, but so was das at one point, and then they moved their manufacturing out of taiwan and were considered bottom tier for quite a while. changes in manufacturing or materials or build quality (e.g. is more plastic used now than previously vs things like metal or aluminum?) etc. are things that you would not necessarily see on the product page.

If anything, Ducky keyboards have gotten better.  I used to read about reliability issues with them, but those seem to have vanished.  Same with Das Keyboards.  The issues were limited to the Chinese-made versions of the Model S (mostly sticky space bars), but there don't seem to be the same complaints about the 4 or the Prime 13.  I can't speak for some of their fancier models, like the RGB ones.  The mechanical keyboard industry as a whole has sort of grown up.  People used to recommend Filco over just about everything else because of their build quality, but now they're not that much better than the competition to justify their prices.

[HungerMechanic]

Cherry came out with new Hyperglide versions of their switches that are said to be better.

That includes MX Brown.

Ducky makes some of these keyboards using new Hyperglide MX Browns.

MechanicalKeyboards allegedly sells some of these boards. Like the Ducky Shine 7. You should call them and ask if they have Ducky Shine 7 with Hyperglide Browns. Those have gotten good reviews from actual users.

I tested some Hyperglide Browns, and they are like freshly retooled Browns, which is about as good as it gets for them these days.

[Darthbaggins]

I would go for the Ducky personally, also I would look at the GMMK Fullsize - that way in the long run if you want to swap switches out you can (they are having good deals on them during the holidays as well). 

[Intex]

I ended up going with the Ducky Shine One 2 full size rgb with cherry mx browns https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=4283

The board has the new Cherry MX Hyperglide switches rated for 100 million presses. They feel great. The board does have a good amount of plastic on it, unlike some of the higher end boards whose cases / bases are made of metal. I would expect that though, since high end cases can go for $120-$200 while this whole board was just $130. While the keycaps are nice pbt, there are a few keys where the lettering does not look completely perfect while the lights are off. When the lights are on you can't tell and it looks perfect. As for the stabilizers, they are not 10/10, but they are very good probably 8.5/10. Overall very satisfied with the board for the price, the hyperglide switches feel amazing, the caps feel nice to type on, the rgb looks great. It's a very solid board in this price range