Ducky Shine 5 vs Planck

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.

You can throw this thing in your backpack. You can take it with you everywhere. If you don't have a lot of space on your desk, this will probably fit.

Don't confuse this for a netbook keyboard though. All the keys are the full size and are as far apart as a normal, regular keyboard. But there are fewer keys. The keys you can't access directly can be found via the "raise" and "lower" keys.

You get to pick your switches. You get to choose your key caps. You get to select your case. You get to pick your layout. You get to reprogram your board. You even get to pick your firmware! This keyboard will be really and truly yours!

This layout is different from a regular staggered layout. Some people really like this change in layout.