The Ducky Shine 7 is a great keyboard with exceptional gaming performance, amazing customization options, and outstanding build quality. Its doubleshot PBT keycaps feel durable, with key legends that are clear and legible. The Cherry MX Brown switches on our unit provide an outstanding typing experience, with great tactile feedback and responsiveness, and you can get the keyboard with the switches of your choice. The keyboard's settings are easily accessible without the need of its companion software, including customization for the RGB backlighting. There's no USB passthrough or dedicated media controls, but its premium build and sublime typing quality more than make up for it.
Our Verdict
The Ducky Shine 7 is an excellent gaming keyboard. The Cherry MX Brown switches on our unit feel light and responsive, and the latency is very low. You can reprogram or assign a macro to any key; however, there are no dedicated macro keys. It's also available in various Cherry MX switches, so you can choose the switches that you prefer.
- Outstanding typing quality.
- Superb build quality.
- Macro-programmable keys.
- Low latency.
- Cheap USB-C cable.
The Ducky Shine 7 is a very good office keyboard. It's well-built and comfortable to type on for an extended period. Typing feels light with the Cherry MX Brown switches, and you get great tactile feedback, assuring that each keystroke was registered. Also, there are multiple Cherry MX switch options available.
- Outstanding typing quality.
- Superb build quality.
- Quiet typing noise with Cherry MX Browns.
- Cheap USB-C cable.
- Customization software limited to Windows.
The Ducky Shine 7 is a wired-only keyboard and can't be used with mobile devices.
The Ducky Shine 7 is a great keyboard for programming. Typing feels very responsive with the Cherry MX Brown switches. The key spacing and the excellent PBT keycaps make it easy to type with high accuracy, and it doesn't feel tiring to type on without a wrist rest. You can reprogram or set a macro to any key, and all customizations can be done on the keyboard, including the RGB backlighting.
- Outstanding typing quality.
- Superb build quality.
- Macro-programmable keys.
- Cheap USB-C cable.
- Customization software limited to Windows.
The Ducky Shine 7 is bad for use with a home theater PC. You have to run a cable from the couch to the computer since it's a wired-only keyboard, and the lack of a trackpad means you need a mouse for navigation. On the plus side, it's great for dark room viewing thanks to its RGB backlighting.
- Outstanding typing quality.
- Superb build quality.
- Cheap USB-C cable.
- Wired-only.
- No trackpad.
The Ducky Shine 7 offers impressive raw performance, with great single-key latency and very good multi-key latency.
- Outstanding typing quality.
- Superb build quality.
- Cheap USB-C cable.
Changelog
- Updated Aug 30, 2023: We've added text to this review for the new tests added in TBU 1.3.
- Updated Aug 30, 2023: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.3, which overhauls how key input is evaluated. We've added new tests for Single Key Latency, Multi Key Latency, Data Transmission, and Chord Split. We've also introduced a new Raw Performance usage and adjusted how the Gaming and Office usage scores are calculated. You can see the full changelog here.
- Updated Jun 21, 2023: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.2. This update introduces new Backlight Features and Backlight Clarity test boxes. We've also added a new Switches test box, added additional test comparisons to our Hardware Customizability test box that we introduced with our last Test Bench. For an in-depth look at our changes, you can see our full changelog here.
- Updated May 31, 2023: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.1. This update adds several new tests addressing Hardware Customization, Macro Keys And Programming, and Wireless Mobile Compatibility. We've also added new objective evaluations to the Typing Noise test, and we've simplified several tests and removed several others that were no longer relevant. For an in-depth look at all our changes, you can see our full changelog here.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Ducky Shine 7 is available in two colors: blackout and gunmetal gray. There are several switches to choose from, and they're all genuine Cherry MX switches, including Red, Brown, Blue, Black, Silver, Red Silent, and Nature White.
Popular Keyboard Comparisons
The Ducky Shine 7 is a great keyboard for most uses, including gaming, everyday browsing, and productivity. However, it lacks some features like a USB passthrough and dedicated media controls.
For other options, check out our recommendations for the best keyboards, the best gaming keyboards, and the best RGB keyboards.
The Ducky Shine 7 is better than the Ducky One 2 for the most part. The Shine 7 is better-built because it has a metal frame, and it has dedicated software for customization. Both keyboards are available in a wide variety of Cherry MX switches, and even though our unit of the One 2 doesn't have backlighting, it's also available with full RGB backlighting. If you plan on gaming, the Shine 7 has lower latency.
The Razer BlackWidow Elite and the Ducky Shine 7 are both outstanding wired gaming keyboards. The Razer has more features, such as dedicated media controls and a USB passthrough, and its latency is lower. The Ducky offers a better typing quality when comparing the Cherry MX Brown against the Razer Orange switches, though this depends on the type of switches you get, as both keyboards are available in multiple switch options. The Ducky has PBT keycaps, whereas the Razer's are ABS.
For gaming, the Ducky Shine 7 is better than the SteelSeries Apex 5, mainly because it has much lower latency. The Ducky also provides a better typing experience, and it's available in various Cherry MX switches, whereas the SteelSeries only has one option. The SteelSeries has more features, though, like a customizable OLED screen and dedicated media controls, and it comes with a wrist rest. Also, it has software support for macOS, which the Ducky lacks.
The Ducky Shine 7 and the HyperX Alloy Origins are very similar. The main difference is that the Ducky feels better built because it has PBT keycaps. Both keyboards are available in various switch options.
Test Results
The Ducky Shine 7 is a large, full-size keyboard. It's also quite heavy, mainly due to its rigid zinc alloy top plate. For a smaller keyboard, check out the Ducky One 2 Mini V1 or the Obinslab Anne Pro 2. If you need a compact board but still need arrow keys, take a look at the Ducky MIYA Pro.
The Ducky Shine 7's build quality is outstanding. It has a plastic bottom with a zinc alloy top plate that feels solid and hefty, showing no signs of flex at all. It has high-quality doubleshot PBT keycaps, similar to the ones on the Ducky One 2 Mini V1. The keys are very stable, although some of the function keys and the spacebar wobble a bit. The rubber feet are very grippy and, combined with its hefty weight, doesn't move when bumped. The main downside is that the included USB-C cable feels a bit cheap, as it tends to retain kinks that are hard to straighten out.
The Ducky Shine 7 has acceptable ergonomics. It has a high profile with a natural four-degree incline, and it provides two additional incline settings. It doesn't come with a wrist rest, but most people should be comfortable without one. The keys are well-spaced and angled in a way that makes typing very enjoyable for long periods.
This keyboard has full RGB backlighting, and the keys are individually-lit. All customizations can be done directly on the keyboard, as the customization software is optional.
Note that the etching on the spacebar may look different depending on the edition, as Ducky often sends an extra spacebar with a random theme. In the case of our unit, the art that's etched into the spacebar represents the Year of the Pig in the Chinese calendar.
The keyboard comes with a rubberized USB-C cable, with cheap-looking printing on it. It's removable, though, so you can replace it with a higher quality one if you want. Unfortunately, Ducky doesn't sell replacement USB-C cables separately.
This is a wired-only keyboard and can't be used wirelessly.
The Ducky Shine 7 is a very customizable keyboard. All of the keyboard's settings can be accessed directly on the keyboard, as it has onboard software. There are switches on the underside of the keyboard, similar to the Ducky One 2 Mini V1, which lets you change the location of the Windows key, the FN key, caps lock, etc. You can also access media controls through a combination of the FN + Windows key + the corresponding alphanumeric key. All of the various settings and hotkeys are detailed in the user guide. Additionally, all the keys are macro programmable.
If you want to lock the Windows key to prevent accidentally minimizing a game, press and hold FN + Alt + Windows key simultaneously for 3 seconds.
If you want a keyboard with dedicated media controls, check out the Razer Huntsman Elite. If you want a keyboard with a USB passthrough, consider the Das Keyboard Model S Professional.
The typing experience on the Ducky Shine 7 is simply outstanding. The PBT keycaps feel great and the keys are extremely stable. The switches provide a good amount of feedback, and the keys are well-spaced, which helps with typing accuracy. Some people may find it fatiguing without a wrist rest, but the additional incline setting does help quite a bit. It's nearly identical to the Ducky One 2 Mini V1 but in a full-size form.
Typing noise with the Cherry MX Brown switches is quiet and shouldn't bother others around you. However, it may be louder depending on the type of switches that you get.
The Ducky Shine 7 can be purchased with your preferred type of switches. Our unit has standard Cherry MX Browns, but there are 6 other types, including Cherry MX Red, Blue, Black, Silver, Silent Red, and Nature White, which will all result in different typing experiences. The Brown switches have a satisfying tactile bump to indicate the actuation, and they don't require a lot of force to actuate. The pre-travel distance matches the 2mm advertised by Cherry almost perfectly. If you prefer having the freedom of easily swapping out your switches, check out the GLORIOUS GMMK instead.
This keyboard has impressive single-key latency performance, making it well-suited for playing games in various genres casually or competitively.
This keyboard has very good multi-key latency with fairly low key press and key release latency with multiple keys held.
This keyboard supports N-Key rollover and can report multiple keys per USB report. It also supports a maximum polling rate of 1000Hz but can only provide an effective update rate of 500Hz, which can act as a bottleneck. Note that this discrepancy doesn't significantly impact the overall raw performance, which remains impressive.
This keyboard has great chord split performance, with low 4-chord and 8-chord split delay.
The Ducky Shine 7 uses the Ducky RGB software for customization. This is optional and only for customizing the RGB backlighting, as all customization options are accessible on the keyboard itself. Furthermore, all macro programming is done on the keyboard. If you want a keyboard with software that allows for macro programming, check out the Corsair K70 RGB MK.2.
Note that the given score only reflects the onboard software, as the Ducky RGB software only allows for customization of the RGB backlighting.
This keyboard has decent compatibility. It's fully functional on Windows, and while all keys work on Linux except for the calculator key, there's no software. On macOS, in addition to not having software support, the calculator button does nothing, the print screen acts as an F13 button, and the pause/break button adjusts your screen brightness.