Ducky Shine 3 vs Ducky Shine 5

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 Ducky Shine 5 comes with Cherry MX mechanical switches. You can choose between the Brown, Red or Black varieties, according to your preferences.

The Shine 5 has all the backlighting effects built into it. To alter the RGB lighting, there are keyboard combinations that can be used to quickly switch between modes.

There are 14 pre-programmed lighting modes available, as well as 2 customizable modes (which you can blend together). To access the first 7 pre-programmed modes, press Fn+F9 - these are the more basic patterns with fewer colors (Solid, Single Color Breathing, Solid Color Change, Red/Green Waves, Snake, Single Color and Single Key Reactive, Radiant Reactive, and Linear Reactive). Pressing Fn+F10 toggles through Solid Color Change, Colorful Waterfall, Color Changing Snake, Color Raindrop, Colorful Single Key Reactive, Colorful Radiant Reactive, and Colorful Linear Reactive. The 2 custom modes can be activated through Fn+F11/F12. On these modes, you can set per-key colors and brightness, and pressing the same button combination will make those keys breathe.

The Ducky Shine 5 has a dual layer PCB, plate mounted switches, laser printed and UV Coated keycaps.

You can easily replace the cable with one of a different color or different length.

Given the popularity of Cherry MX switches, there are many customized keycap options to choose from.

There are two layers of plastic in the Shine 5's keys - the print is part of the underlayer of the keycap, which means it won't wear out and allows light to shine through the printed area.

The default spacebar logo is a simple one, however a replacement spacebar is included, with a symbol that corresponds to the current Chinese year. This adds an optional design flare to an otherwise simple and professional looking keyboard.

The Ducky will remember all your backlighting customization settings snd other profile settings, even if you turn it off or use it on another computer.