We take a look at the World’s first inductive keyboard from the legendary premium brand
Updated: Feb 18, 2025 10:03 am
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The Ducky One X is the latest in high-end keyboard tech from the leading premium brand in the game. The board comes with brand-new key switch tech in the form of inductive switches, which come with adjustable actuation plus ‘rapid trigger’ and ‘multi-point trigger’ technology (more on this below). With these features and more the company are aiming to provide a ‘lifestyle board’ with this product, one which has all the flexibility to make it ideal for general productivity, creative use, and gaming.
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This board can be picked up in a full-size 100% variant and also a 60% size model called the Ducky One X Mini Wireless. Both are available in black or white, plus come with Tri-Mode connectivity and the exceptional build quality you’d expect from the brand, and the best thing is they’re surprisingly affordable! Read below for all the details.
Specifications
- Form-factor: 100%
- Actuation Force / Travel: 40g / variable 0.1mm-3.5mm
- Connection: 2.4GHz WiFi / Bluetooth / USB Type-C (braided Cord with silicone cable tie)
- Keycaps: OEM PBT Doubleshot (85% composition)
- Key-switches: Ducky Inductive switches
- Dimensions: 452 x 150 x 41mm
- Weight: 1605g
- Compatibility: PC, Linux & Mac (Intel chipset only); Chrome, Edge & Opera only
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What are Inductive switches?
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Inductive key switches, like the existing hall effect switches, feel similar to mechanical switches when typing on them but actually operate via the movement and detection of magnetic fields. Unlike mechanical switches, their sensitivity can be altered via onboard software, allowing you to customize features like the actuation point without having to manually swap out the switches for alternatives.
So how do inductive switches differ from hall effect ones? Explaining the actual difference in terms of how they operate is a bit difficult unless you have a grasp of physics and/or electronic engineering, however, it can be boiled down to the hall effect switch interacting with a field produced by an external magnet and detecting changes in it, whereas the inductive switch generates its own magnetic field and the changes made to that.
In terms of the actual benefit this brings to the consumer, inductive switches typically offer more consistent performance and less degradation over time, with Hall effect switches being known to sometimes suffer from decaying magnet strength after a while of use.
Adjustable Actuation Point
Simply put, the actuation point is the distance a key needs to travel before it registers your key press as a keystroke. A shorter actuation distance effectively means more sensitive keys, which are better suited to lighter-touch typists or those who want a more responsive experience when gaming for instance, however, they are more susceptible to typing errors as very short actuation only requires a slight brush of the fingers to register as a stroke. Conversely, heavier, less precise typists may prefer a longer actuation distance.
Normally, cheaper keyboards are fixed with their standard actuation point, with most mid-range and above gaming keyboards being ‘hot-swappable’ – where you can manually remove the individual switches and swap them out for ones with a different actuation (which you generally have to buy separately) for a different typing experience. With the Ducky One X that is not the case though!
The adjustable nature of the inductive switches means that you can actually change the actuation distance of the switches at will, within a range of 0.1mm to 3.5mm, going up or down by degrees of 0.1mm. This not only means you don’t have to buy multiple sets of switches, but saves you an enormous amount of time in having to manually switch between them. It allows you to set up different actuation presets and easily flit between them when doing different sorts of tasks (e.g. typing a document, gaming, coding, video editing) or have alternative setups for the different people that might use the computer.
Rapid Trigger
As the name suggests, ‘rapid trigger’ allows you to more rapidly depress the keys of the board – particularly useful for gamers who want to increase their reaction speed.
In a standard key switch, there is a fixed ‘reset point’ which the key must get past as it rebounds upwards from being pressed down, before it can be depressed again and reach the actuation point, causing the keystroke to be registered. Rapid trigger detects when your key moves back up from your custom set actuation point, resetting the action so you can repeat the key press ‘mid motion’ without having to let it travel all the way back upward again.
4-stage Multi-Point Trigger
Multi-point trigger functionality is not uncommon among high-end keyboards, however the Ducky One X comes with four different programmable stages, which certainly isn’t something you see every day.
For the uninitiated, multi-point trigger is a feature that allows you to assign different actions to a key depending on the depth to which you push it. For instance (as detailed in the image above) you could keep your W key as-is for the first stage (commonly used for moving forward in games), but assign the second stage of the key to be the equivalent of Shift+W (commonly used for sprinting in FPS games), which means you can make your character walk or run depending on the depth to which you depress the same single key. You could also use it to assign different actions within productivity software that you might be using, to further maximize efficiency.
Four stages allows you to assign four different actions to the same key, depending on the depth to which you press it, which is pretty crazy.
Specifications
- Form-factor: 60%
- Actuation Force / Travel: 40g / variable 0.1mm-3.5mm
- Connection: 2.4GHz WiFi / Bluetooth / USB Type-C (braided Cord with silicone cable tie)
- Keycaps: OEM PBT Doubleshot (85% composition)
- Key-switches: Ducky Inductive switches
- Dimensions: 308 x 124 x 39mm
- Weight: 895g
- Compatibility: PC, Linux & Mac (Intel chipset only); Chrome, Edge & Opera only
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Materials, Construction & Additional Features
As you’d expect from a Ducky keyboard, the One X is built to a very high standard, with the main chassis feeling thoroughly solid. The board uses a gasket mount structure, and is constructed from seven different layers constructed from various materials (all of which can be seen in the image above), which gives top-notch dampening performance. All the switches and mount stabilizers come pre-lubed for a smooth action.
You get doubleshot PBT keycaps with the One X as you do with lots of high-end boards but these are of a particularly high standard: made of 85% PBT composition – well above the typical 40-60% standard. The surface of these keys is textured, which aids in typing – minimizing finger slippage, and they’re shaped to an OEM profile, which is our personal favourite.
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Included with the keyboard is a Ducky brush accessory that features as both a nice desktop mascot, featuring the company logo, as well as a tool to clean your keyboard. You also get a set of extra bonus keycaps (in a Peach Fuzz color) which includes a different Return key option, directional keys, and more.
Connectivity
‘Tri-mode connectivity’ signifies that the keyboard can be connected via WiFi (specifically a 2.4GHz RF connection), via Bluetooth, or via wired connection using the included braided cable. You can switch between these modes easily using the slider on the rear of the keyboard. When Bluetooth is enabled the board can support connections with up to four separate devices, and you can switch between these by holding the Fn key and pressing either Q, W, E, or R. This is ideal for productivity users or creatives that might be operating multiple displays and devices and wish to flit between them with ease.
Pricing & Availability
The Ducky One X Wireless and One X Mini Wireless will both be available to buy on the 18th of February, 2025. If you’re in Europe you’ll be able to buy them from the Overclockers UK store as soon as this date rolls round. The pricing for each model is listed below (whether you go for the white or black option, they both cost the same).
