Ducky Shine 3 Tenkeyless Unboxing, Review & First Impression

[Damikiller37]

This review will be about the Ducky Shine 3 Tenkeyless (DK9087) UK Layout Cherry MX Brown with Blue LEDs. I have pre-ordered this

keyboard from Overclockers UK last week and it arrived at aprox. 2 PM today. I have chosen to go with the tenkeyless model mainly because

I have never used the numberpad and I wanted a smaller keyboard. Right so It came in a standard cardboard box and with the 'air bags' to

keep the main box intact.

 

Unboxing

[spoiler=Image of the box]

(Click on the image to see it full sized)

The box itself is pretty nice soft touch. I took the shot of the base of the box so that you can take a read of the features this keyboard has.

Nothing much to talk about here apart from it does look quite high quality.

[spoiler=Here are also some of the shots of the box itself]

(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

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(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

Next up the inside of the box is divided into two sections. One large one for the keyboard to sit in in a separate box inside of the main one and

then the other accessories lay on the left compartment in plastic bags which is a little disappointing and you will see why I think so in the images.

Also the keyboard itself is covered with a nice, quite solid transparent plastic cover which is very nice to use as a keyboard cover when you

don't use it and don't want it to collect dust.

[spoiler=Inside of the box ]

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The space bar didn't survive the postage. It was the one with the Ducky logo and lines either side. The snake one installed on the keyboard

is thankfully fine, either way I wanted to use the snake one. I'll try contacting the retailer and see if they could send me a replacement.

 

One of my favorite features of this keyboard is the lighting and the fact that all of the setup takes place on the keyboard itself using key

combinations. For all of you interested here is the manual. I will retake the picture of the second part of the manual tomorrow since I ran out of

sunlight today Also the feature of having the basic 3 audio adjustment function keys is very handy (as you can see on the Del,End and PgDn

keys) I will find myself using the quite often.

[spoiler=The manual]

(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

Next up the shots of the keyboard itself. My camera seriously doesn't do the justice to how sleek and high quality this keyboard is. The shell of

the keyboard is very soft in touch and matte finished in sort of a extremely fine grain effect. However the the keys are sort of a smooth

finish with a glossy touch to it yet still matte looking. The keyboard has a very solid weight to it and I assume you could knock someone

out with it if you got a good swing. Also the keycaps are about 2mm thick around so the are quite good and to be fair I can't tell much difference

between thick or thin keycaps. Overall a very solid and high quality keyboard which is to be expected from Ducky and for the money you pay

(£108) Lastly as you can see in one of the images the switch is mounted on the backplate and every key is done the same with the exception

of the RGB LEDs under the spacebar which are PCB mounted and there is a whole cut out in the backplate for the LEDs to shine through.

[spoiler=Images of the keyboard]

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(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

Other shots of this keyboard are a the back and the side with and without the kickstands. The kickstands don't have any rubber on the to

grip to the surface but it's not much of a deal since the grips and the front of the keyboard grip insanely well and once you sett your keyboard

still it will not move an inch when you type. there are also three ways for you to route your cable which see a little pointless for me since they

all lead out to the top and not to the sides which I think would make more sense but I'm sure some people would use the once that it has. I

just use the standard center one.

[spoiler=Other shots of the keyboard]

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(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

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...and lastly there is the dip switches on the back to disable and enable different functions. You can read about what they all do in the 2nd part

of the manual.

 

Backlight

[spoiler=Photos of the backlight]

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(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

So as you can see the letters look very sharp on the keycaps when lit up and the space does stand out especially when you disable the center

blue LED so that only the RGB once are lit up. The keyboard is extremely bright so I only use the highest settings during the day since they

don't blind me and at night I usually have it at the 2nd to lowest setting just so that the keys are nicely lit but aren't distinctive. All together there

are 7 brightness modes and even at the darkest mode the letters are quite nicely lit and if someone wants to have as little distraction as possible

then the lowest setting will do the job and will still light the keys more than enough for you too see the characters at night. The ability to have

up to 9 preset colours for the RGB LEDs is very nice however it would be cool if you could program them each separately but it doesn't bother

me too much.

 

Sound Test

For any of you that would want to hear how this keyboard sounds then here is a sound test. The microphone was placed approximately 10cm

away from the keyboard. At first I click my mouse a few times so that you can adjust your volume so that the mouse click in this sound test are

as close in volume to your mouse.

 

Enjoy: SOUND TEST

 

First Impressions

Overall I've been using this keyboard for the past few hours and I have written all of this article on it as well as played some games and I must say,

it is one of the best products I have bought ever since my Corsair M65. It is very high quality feels very sturdy and it is a pleasure to type and

game on.I have found myself mostly adjusting over from my bulky full sized membrane keyboard and really starting to love the tenkeyless

layout. The lighting on the keyboard is very vibrant and the keys are illuminated very nicely. The amount of different effects is kind of nice however

I don't really see myself using many of them. I have my keyboard currently full lit and turned of the blue LED in the space bar so that I can have

one of the RGB colours on it and make it stand out. As mentioned in the unboxing the keys and the 'shell' of the keyboard is very nice in touch

and really feels high quality and definitely another league compared to my previous worn out £8 keyboard. I am very happy with the fact that I

went with the Cherry MX Brown switches since they feel very nice and are lest noisy compared to the Blues that I have tried out on my friends

Razer Blackwidow 2013. It was all a gamble and it looks like I've hit the jackpot The only disappointment was the spacebar being cracked

but hopefully I will be able to get it replaced.

 

I would rate this keyboard 10/10 so far since it is exactly what I have expected it to be. We'll see what I think of it after a month or so. I will write

a impression after that time or so.

 

My Photography Setup

Most of you have probably figured out that it isn't anything too good since I could not capture all of the detail that I wanted to. So as you can see in

the images below I have took 6 A3 pieces of paper and taped them together and then set them out on the table to use as a white screen. It mostly

did it's job and in some places I had to edit out the random grayness or any other unwanted effect with either Photoshop or Paint.NET. For the

shots I have used the Samsung ES75 which isn't too good of a camera but it was the best I had at the time. I would have used my dads Fujifilm

S2000HD but I couldn't find it at the time Also the for night shots I have used my friends Sony Xperia Z1 since I couldn't get the Samsung to focus

and get the detail I wanted. Feel free to have a go at me for the suckish pictures, but keep in mind I'm an amateur in every meaning of that word

Also for the light source I have used the sunlight during day

 

[spoiler=Photo of the Photography Setup]

(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

 

The Replacement Space Arrived With a Little Something

So today I have received my replacement spacebar that was cracked in the original box as well as a key ring! I have messaged the Ducky

Keyboards UK Facebook page to ask about a replacement for the cracked spacebar and they have told me to email their RMA email with all

of the required details (fault, address, keyboards serial number,etc) and 3 days later I have received them. At first I thought I will have to wait for

them to respond yet they haven't and just sent me them free of charge. I will let all of the photos below to do the talking. As you can see the Ducky

green keycap is very nice but with the backlight it looks a bit odd since it only lights up the top part of the keycap so I have decided to place it

instead of the console key (the one on the left hand side of 1) and turn of the backlight for it. Also to take out the spacebar I have took off the Alt

keys and put my index fingers under the either side of the space bar and slowly started to pull them up until I could feel that it has came off the

stabilizers and then I could just pull it of from the switch.

 

[spoiler=Photos of the Replacement Parts]

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(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

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(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

(Click on the image to see it full sized)

 

[NohbdyKnows]

Wow...Nice review. Cant wait for more pictures

[gastew15]

Glad you like it! I love my fullsize Shine 3 myself a whole lot. Happy Typing! (Good review too by the way)

[miyabwah]

I hope you and her have a wonderful life together.

[Mooshi]

All of the envy..I needs some ducks.

[Damikiller37]

All of the envy..I needs some ducks.

Trust me worth every penny. I love it so much so far

[GamerDude]

I have a few Ducks myself, love each and every one of 'em! :wub:  Eyeing one more Duck, the all yellow special edition DS3, ETA: next month. So looking forward to it! BTW, excellent unboxing and review, and yes, try to get the  damaged space bar replace. It's a rather nice looking space bar, I actually prefer it over the snake one...

[FlakeyBanana]

Any chance we could get some shots of your setup?

[Damikiller37]

Any chance we could get some shots of your setup?

Do you mean my SICK photography setup or my PC in general? I'll do them later when I'm back home

[MariusJS]

Can not wait for mine, normal sized with Browns, blue led and wristwrest!

[Damikiller37]

Can not wait for mine, normal sized with Browns, blue led and wristwrest!

Brown switches and blue LEDs are so good I love them. Browns really feel good pretty much like blues bit a tiny bit less clicky in touch and significantly in sound. You can definitely see a quality difference between a cheap membrane keyboard

[MariusJS]

Yeah, want it so bad, now

I am coming from an G510

[Damikiller37]

Yeah, want it so bad, now

I am coming from an G510

I had this before I got my Ducky. I used it for 5 years and nearly all letters completely faded or yellowed up and quite a few multimedia things didn't work anymore. But considering that I got it for £8 back then it did a good job for the money

[Damikiller37]

Update: Added some picks of the backlight and of my 'sick photography setup

[Damikiller37]

Update: Spacebar arrived with a little something (pics added to the main post)

[Damikiller37]

Update: Added a sound test

[BRiteBak]

NICE! Love the review!

 

you do need to update your sig though

[Guest]

Awesome Review

[Pounds]

How do you (or anyone else) feel about that big fatty "Enter" key?

[GamerDude]

How do you (or anyone else) feel about that big fatty "Enter" key?

Huh? Nothing wrong with that as it depends on where you're from, that 'fatty' Enter key means TS's from Europe, and uses ISO keys. In the US and Asia, you'd get an ANSI layout keyboard like the one below...

[Damikiller37]

How do you (or anyone else) feel about that big fatty "Enter" key?

Perfectly fine with it since that's the UK/ISO Layout and I have grew up using it so now if I were to use a US layout I would keep pressing \ instead of enter. Also I don't mid a shorter left shift You can get the Shine 3 with US layout just in case you were wondering.

[Shahriar Mahmood]

Nice review, always wanted a Ducky 

[Guest]

Its kinda odd, some versions of the keyboard come with a shorter left shift while others skimp on the backslash. I personally need that longer shift, but I'm worried if I accidentally buy one with a backslash key D:

[Damikiller37]

Its kinda odd, some versions of the keyboard come with a shorter left shift while others skimp on the backslash. I personally need that longer shift, but I'm worried if I accidentally buy one with a backslash key D:

There are different layouts mine is the UK/EU key layout the US one is the one with a slim enter that is the same height as Shift, longer left shift and backward slash above Enter.