Closer Examination

As we saw before, the MK Night Typist comes in a wax paper wrap to keep it pristine out of the box. Removing it, we get our first good look at the keyboard, and it is a very clean-looking keyboard with minimal branding and a monochrome color scheme to boot. The bezels are smaller than average, but the entire keyboard weighs more even with the predominantly plastic construction owing to the use of a thick steel plate for structural integrity, as well as all those thick PBT plastic keycaps. There is no flex, and it is as solid a keyboard as I could ask for. There is no logo anywhere on the front or sides either, and the keyboard has four extra keys where we typically see indicator LEDs. Here, we have dedicated volume control keys in addition to a calculator key, which is quite reminiscent of recent iKBC keyboards, but as we will see shortly, this is a keyboard built by Ducky.

Secondary legends are placed underneath the primary ones in the num pad section, and alongside primary ones in the alphanumeric section. Single legend placement is top center, and all this hints at LEDs underneath being biased towards the top as well. The legends are doubleshot injected in a loop-less manner, which is another Ducky contribution to the keyboard, and given the clean looks and typeface, the entire keyboard will fit right in place in an office or as part of a gaming station on your desk.


Flipping the keyboard around, we see a metal badge instead of a sticker for the certification and serial number. Four rubber pads on the corners also add friction against the resting surface and prevent scratches to the plastic case. We also see two feet at the top, each with two optional elevation stages, and each stage has rubber lining on the bottom as seen above. The case also has three cable-routing channels, although the two heading left and right are close to the inset port, to where the cable will have to be bent significantly to fit in easily. Finally, there is a cutout to accommodate a set of four dip switches for functionality, and we will get to these again in due time.


Here is a better look at the inset USB Type-C port, and the provided cable works fine with the usual channel coming straight off the side of the keyboard closest to your monitor. It attaches to an available USB Type A port on your PC. USB 2.0 will suffice for power and data even with all the lighting onboard, although there really is no lack of USB 3.1 Gen 1 these days.


The MK Night Typist uses the tried and tested OEM profile with the keycaps. It consists of the usual slanted rows and concave surfaces on top, and the provided keycap puller works great in having a nice base to hold and wires long enough to allow for multiple keycaps to be taken off without removing each keycap individually every time. With not just the same thick PBT plastic as the replacement keycaps throughout (average wall thickness of 1.39 mm), but also predominantly doubleshot injected legends for durability and longevity, the stock keycaps are excellent. The legends are also compatible with backlighting, which will go well with the promised warm white lighting support.


There are three switch options with the MK Night Typist: Cherry MX Blue, Brown, and Silent Red. All switches are non-RGB, having the older opaque black housing and an external LED on top as seen above. This sample has the Cherry MX Brown switches at my preference, and Cherry-style stabilizers with wires are used on the larger keycaps, which helps with their removal for cleaning or even swapping for included replacement keycaps. The thick PBT does mitigate that mushy feeling associated with these stabilizers somewhat, resulting in a heavier feel that is great to type on generally.