Ducky One 3 is my recommendation if you love mechanical gaming keyboards but find the noises terrible

Ergonomics

The advantage of small keyboards (TKL and smaller formats) is that they are significantly more ergonomic than large full-size keyboards. Because you can keep your right arm with the mouse closer to your body, which corresponds to a healthier posture.

Thanks to the feet on the underside of the keyboard, you can adjust the keyboard to three different heights. This provides me with enough room in everyday use when I want to reposition the keyboard. This is also necessary since the keyboard does not come with a wrist rest, which I did not necessarily miss in everyday use.

However, I privately purchased a wooden wrist rest that I use with gaming keyboards. That makes the Ducky One 3 significantly more comfortable than using the keyboard without a wrist support.

The Keys

Under the keycaps of my keyboard are “Baby Kangaroo” switches from Gateron. These are heavily based on brown switches. The pre-travel and total travel are quite similar, but the “Baby Kangaroo” requires a bit more force for activation than normal brown switches.

Name	Activation Point (cN)	Pre-travel	Total Travel	Type
Gateron Brown	55 ±15gf	2 ± 0.6 mm	4 ± 0.6 mm	Tactile
Gateron Baby Kangaroo	59 ±8 gf	2 ± 0.5 mm	3.4 mm	Tactile

How do the keys feel? In everyday use, I type with the keyboard for several hours a day, and here the switches perform outstandingly. The higher force needed is noticeable in everyday use. Especially for typing, I find the increased force comfortable as it gives me more precision. My fingers feel incredibly comfortable on the keys and switches anyway.

How loud is the keyboard? For a gaming keyboard with tactile switches, this one is surprisingly quiet. Especially in comparison to the competition:

• Blue switches from Cherry or Logitech are great for typing, but you can hear every keystroke and every switch.
• The green switches from Razer, which you find in the Blackwidow V4 Pro, are really loud and pop like gunshots through the room every time.
• I personally appreciate Roccat’s Titan switches, but here you always hear a slight metallic ringing, which can be annoying over time and drives my partner crazy.
• However, as quiet as the “Rezo” keyboard from Trust or other membrane keyboards, Ducky’s gaming keyboard is not.

The multi-layer padding that the manufacturer has integrated into the keyboard also makes a difference here. This dampens sounds, and you mainly hear the impact of the fingertips on the plastic keys. The spacebar is the only key that you can distinctly hear “pop”. Otherwise, you get a surprisingly quiet keyboard, despite the built mechanisms.

Conclusion: Good keyboard, but at a high price

For a price of around 180 Euros, you get a very good gaming keyboard from Ducky. Especially the switches and the workmanship of the keyboard can impress me in the test. However, it is a shame that such a high-priced gaming keyboard does not offer software. The wrist rest is also missing for me.

I am also impressed by the comparatively low noise level. In everyday use, you really only hear the impact on the plastic caps and not the switches.

What alternatives are there?

• The SteelSeries Apex 3 is a suggestion if you do not want to spend more than 50 Euros. However, here you get rubber dome keys and no mechanics. For that, the Apex 3 is almost silent.
• With the Logitech G413 TKL SE, you get a good gaming keyboard for around 70 Euros. With blue switches and PBT keycaps, you have a good offer.
• For just under 100 Euros, you can now get the Roccat Vulcan TKL. The keyboard offers great switches with a unique design and a detachable cable. Unfortunately, Roccat does not use PBT keycaps.
• The Akko 3068B-Plus is my secret tip under 100 Euros, if you are looking for an excellent gaming keyboard for under 100 Euros with many premium features.

More gaming keyboards: Are you looking for further recommendations in the peripherals area? Then take a look at the following buying advice on MeinMMO. Here we explain which keyboards are currently the most worthwhile:

The best gaming keyboards you can currently buy