Add to Chrome
Add to Edge
Add to Firefox
Add to Opera
Add to Brave
Add to SafariWhen comparing Ducky Shine 3 vs Topre Realforce 87U EK Edition, the Slant community recommends Topre Realforce 87U EK Edition for most people. In the question“What are the best mechanical keyboards?” Topre Realforce 87U EK Edition is ranked 10th while Ducky Shine 3 is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Topre Realforce 87U EK Edition is:
The Topre switches used on this keyboard allow for quiet typing.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Great build quality
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.
Pro Highly customisable backlighting
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.
Pro On board memory for profile/setting storage
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.
Pro Cherry MX switches
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.
Pro Uses Cherry Stabilizers
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".
Pro USB cable is detachable and replaceable
The USB cable is detachable and comes with cable routing guides to let you control where the cable comes out of the keyboard.
Pro Compact tenkeyless design
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.
Pro Unique "logo" on spacebar to celebrate Chinese zodiac signs
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.
Pro Quiet
The Topre switches used on this keyboard allow for quiet typing.
Pro Great build quality
Probably the most well-built keyboard after the KUL-87
Pro Good feedback
The Topre switches are precision-tuned for each key, giving great feedback.
Pro Compact
Since there is no number pad, this keyboard takes up less space on the desk than typical keyboards.
Cons
Con No calculator button
There's no calculator shortcut button.
Con Keycaps error (in AZERTY at least) and no contextual menu key
Two little quirks in the layout:
1) The < and > keys are inverted (not a huge deal, but a bit annoying for a high end keyboard);
2) Even though most of the "interesting" special functions are on the right hand, they put the Fn key on the right, removing the contextual menu. Fortunately there is a duck key (for the right Windows key), which can be reprogrammed by creating a new driver.
Con No numpad
This keyboard lacks numpad.
Con 1 year only warranty
The warranty is limited to 1 year.
Con Text on the ABS Keycaps can fade
The keycaps in the Ducky Shine are made from ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) so that backlighting is possible, however this material is known to quickly fade out after prolonged usage. To keep your keyboard looking like it's in top notch condition, you may need to replace the keycaps periodically.
Con Characters difficult to read
With black character text printed on black keys, inscriptions can be difficult to read unless in a well lit room.
