Ducky Shine 3 vs Ultimate Hacking Keyboard

The Shine 3 has a dual layer PCB, plate mounted switches, as well as laser printed & UV Coated keycaps. Ducky also has the reputation of having some of the highest quality boards on the market.

The Shine 3 comes with fully programmable LED lights under each and every keycap. There are 6 backlight patterns to choose from: Full (100%), Breathing, Wave Marquee, Snake Marquee, Reactive mode, and Ripple mode. When you buy the Shine 3 you have the option of picking the color of the backlighting LEDS from Red, Green, Blue, White, Magenta & Orange.

The mechanical Cherry switches have been known for 5 decades for their tactile quality and robustness. With the Shine 3, users can choose between Brown, Blue, Black or Red.

The Ducky will remember all your customization settings for the lighting and other profile settings even if you turn it off or use it on another computer.

Some people prefer the design of the Cherry Stabilizers over the Costars as they are arguably quieter (no rattle and less sound when you bottom out). They are also better for frequent keycap swapping as it's easier to remove/add keys. On the other hand, they can be described as "mushy".

The USB cable is detachable and comes with cable routing guides to let you control where the cable comes out of the keyboard.

Without the numpad it takes up less space and allows you to place the keyboard and mouse closer together in a more natural position for your body which can help avoid injuries for people using it all the time.

The spacebar features a unique logo from the year when the keyboard was manufactured to celebrate various animals on the Chinese zodiac. Pictured is the YOTS variant or known as Year Of The Snake. The Ducky comes with a replacement spacebar with no design if you don't like the snake version.

The UHK has a split design, since two keyboard halves result in a more natural typing posture. The halves are connected by a bridge cable, which expands and contracts as needed, occupying minimal desk space. The halves can be merged together as one, which is useful for transportation purposes or if you happen to prefer a one-piece keyboard.

Through the use of an app called Agent, users can configure the UHK to their liking.

You can attach trackpoint, trackball, trackpad and additional key clusters to the board. This allows for extensive feature customization, for increased productivity and convenience.

For maximum touch-typing productivity, one's hands should not leave the home row frequently. With conventional keyboards, this is not the case when navigation and function keys need to be used. On the HKB, via a thumb key press, several function layers can be activated, turning the home row keys into function keys.

The UHK is modular and has disassembly instructions embossed onto components and even printed on the circuit board. It records use data, so when key switches have reached the end of its lifespan, users can replace them.