The Ducky One 2 is Ducky’s new flagship mechanical keyboard, joining the family of the other Ducky One series. In this Ducky One 2 review I am going to talk about the keycaps, build and my overall thoughts.
I have had the board for over a month now which has given me a clear insight on whether it is a GO or a NO.
I can safely say this is a fantastic board and has been a great replacement for my older Ducky.
This is my second Ducky mechanical keyboard, before the Ducky One 2 I had a Ducky Zero SZ with Cherry MX red switches. It was a great board and having had the experience of owning a Ducky keyboard before meant I knew the level of quality to expect.
For those of you interested in picking one up, I got a good deal over at Amazon. Or for more choice, you can check out my list of the best tenkeyless mechanical keyboards here.
The Ducky One 2 comes in a few variants such as the Ducky One 2 Skyline and the Ducky One 2 Horizon. Both are exactly the same keyboard except the frame colour and of course the keycap colour. There are also full RGB and backlit options available for those of you that like the flashy lights.
Each variant can be found in all of your usual cherry mx switch variants from black to red, brown, blue, silver and clear.
Specifications
The Ducky One 2 is available in US QWERTY and UK QWERTY and you can find it in full size or tenkeyless editions.
As standard these days the board does have USB key rollover to prevent ghosting and maintain fluid simultaneous key presses without any key blocking.
Ducky have moved to using USB-C connections for most of their keyboards which is now supported in the Ducky One 2. The keycaps are multi double shot PBT with white legends.
The keyboard has two standard feet for raising the height which can be altered between low and high.
Similar to the other Ducky keyboards, the Ducky One 2 allows for programmable macros. These can be programmed to perform a list of actions such as open ‘My Computer’, mute, volume up and more.
What's Inside The Box?
The keyboard is well packaged, it is contained within a small plastic pocket and a plastic cover for the keyboard to prevent any damage to the keys.
Underneath the keyboard are the extras. This includes warranty information, user manual, key cap puller and extra key caps in blue and dark grey.
Verdict
The Ducky One 2 is a solid keyboard and is perfect for anyone wanting to pick up their first mechanical keyboard. It is an affordable option compared to most of the competition on the market.
The keys feel durable, being PBT and not ABS, they have a nice texture and provide you with the option of altering the look with the extra key caps provided.
The one downside of the key caps is that the quality of the printing is not what I would expect from a keyboard of this price or by Ducky’s standards. Some of the prints look a little inconsistent in places. For example look at the home key below, the ‘e’ looks off. Maybe it is the font of the key caps but it looks lower quality than the other letters.
Also, the icons on the keycaps have an unusual positioning that took me a while to adjust to. Such as the brackets, minus, underscore, plus and equals. This is primarily personal preference but something to consider.
I chose the Cherry MX browns since I previously owned Cherry MX reds and found them to be a little linear and light for me. If you are unsure about what kind of mechanical switch you would like I created a complete guide to Cherry MX switches including the weighting and sounds of the switches.
The switches are perfect and I am really happy with the Cherry MX browns. They have a great tactile feel and I like the actuation force. The keys feel strong and durable. They are definitely preferable over the ABS caps I had on my old Ducky.
- Durable, high quality PBT key caps
- Programmable macros
- Two height settings to choose from
- Cherry MX quality switches
- Extra key caps for customising
- Some printing issues on the key caps
- Dirt is noticeable on grey after long term use
Overall the Ducky One 2 is a great addition to my collection and I can safely recommend it to anyone looking to pick up a new mechanical keyboard. It achieves our GEM Rating Award. Ducky always provide excellent quality keyboards and the new Ducky One 2 is no different.
Hopefully this Ducky One 2 review has helped you in your decision for your next mechanical keyboard. If you are interested in picking one up, check prices here.
1 thought on “Ducky One 2 Skyline Review – Is The New Ducky Worth It?”
Good review but did the tester review the macro function? I just got one of these keyboards and the macro-programming does not work as intended once you enter more than one macro. Other people seem to have the same problem. Unfortunately it looks like you can’t update the device as the firmware update is bugged too. This is a real oversight by Duky and I am really annoyed to have paid so much for a faulty device.