Closer Examination

The Ducky ProjectD Tinker 75 is a handful to say and type out each time yet the actual keyboard is easy enough to relate to with a single look from the front. This "classic" version goes for a black top case panel which matches the black keycaps quite well and does not look out of place in any work environment. This 75% form factor provides you with 83 keys on this modified US ANSI layout compared to the usual 87 with the TKL size—all you are missing here is Scroll Lock, Pause/Break, Insert, and R. Win/Menu (Fn replaces one of them). Not a bad deal given I dare say the vast majority of readers here won't miss them at all. Of course they can be added back via firmware customization as we will see later but the net result is a more compact keyboard with the various keys mostly put together. This means more space on your desk, the ability to have the mouse and keyboard closer and lined up with your shoulders, and less finger travel all helping with ergonomic typing. I do wish bezels were on the smaller side though! A look from the side shows the bottom case panel is in white, as are the keycap legends themselves, with further branding on the back side facing away from the user. The keycap legends are uniform and well-sized while the font typeface itself is quite clean. Placement is in the top middle with secondary legends seen alongside the primary ones.


Turning the keyboard around, we see a metal badge that has the various certification logos as well as the serial number, useful in case of any warranty claims. There are four large rubber pads at the corners instead to help lift up the keyboard. This adds some friction against the resting surface while also minimizing any scratches to the plastic case. Ducky has also added two sets of keyboard feet, each with rubber bottoms, to allow a total of three elevation angles when typing on the Tinker 75.


The Tinker 75 only has wired connectivity so it's as simple as just plugging the provided cable into the keyboard. The stock cable is in black, braided with a fabric sleeve, is the usual 6' in length, and goes to an available USB Type-A port on your PC where USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data alike. There is enough room on the keyboard side for an aftermarket cable if you wanted to use your own.


A look from the side shows the built-in elevation of the keyboard, which I would classify as medium-high profile and can benefit from a wrist rest if you are not used to touch typing with hands hovering over the keys at all times. The side view also confirms the use of an OEM keycap profile with the six rows sculpted and contoured accordingly, and they are effectively non-floating courtesy the two-piece case design. The provided keycap puller works well to help extract some of the keycaps for closer examination as well as for cleaning the keyboard itself, if not also completely replacing the stock keycaps. We get thick PBT plastic keycaps (average wall thickness 1.35 mm) with doubleshot-injected legends in a seamless manner throughout, which is good for longevity and won't develop a shine from finger oils over time. But the keycaps are opaque as with most recent Ducky offerings—they claim this is a deliberate design choice—and thus the LEDs used on the keyboard will be mostly for accent lighting only.


The pre-built version of the ProjectD Tinker 75 goes for the new Cherry MX2A when it comes to switch options. Depending on the region and distributor, you may have different switches to choose from. For example, in the USA I see the Tinker 75 being sold with the MX2A Red, Brown, Blue, and Speed Silver switches. I have the latter here on this keyboard and I noted right away that Cherry had decided to finally remove the naming confusion of this switch from the previous version wherein it was referred to as Speed, Silver, Speed (Silver) and other such combinations in the past. These switches are installed in a south-facing configuration thus adding extra compatibility with some lower profile aftermarket keycap sets compared to north-facing PCBs with these full-size switches. The larger keycaps use plate mounted stabilizers which are lightly lubed to help mitigate the mushy feeling they could otherwise have. There is also a hardware reset key accessible when you remove the space bar key.


The switch remover tool is handy to remove the hot-swappable switches off the PCB and to also provide a good look at the hot-swap socket complete with the SMD LED here, allowing for 3/5-pin Cherry MX-style switches to be used on the keyboard easily. Ducky also uses a soft foam switch pad to help dampen keystrokes further. The Cherry MX2A Speed Silver switch is a 3-pin linear switch characterized by its silver cross-point stem. It also has a transparent top housing to aid with backlighting and a translucent bottom housing.