Introduction

Ducky made a strong impression with its ProjectD lineup of new keyboards and keyboard kits when I visited them at Computex last year. The ProjectD Outlaw 65, for example, is a premium keyboard kit you assemble yourself allowing a lot of customization and modding potential in addition to different colors and associated switches/keycaps you can go with. This allows you to have a custom keyboard at a reasonable price, but such kits can still be either too expensive or take up more time and effort than what many would prefer. Some would rather get pre-built keyboards and that is where Ducky's ProjectD Tinker series comes in with the same internals but paired with a more affordable chassis.


As the name suggests, the Ducky ProjectD Tinker 75 is a 75% form-factor gasket mount keyboard which has been gaining a lot of popularity lately given it gives you most of the user experience of a larger TKL (tenkeyless) keyboard in a smaller form factor that should help with typing ergonomics. The ProjectD Tinker 75 is quite new too having come out after the Tinker 65—the direct analogue to the Outlaw 65—did. Note the plastic case this time round, although here too Ducky adds some flair by going with a two-tone chassis in black and white. The keyboard is wired only but goes for an open-source controller offering easy firmware support with QMK/VIA for those who want something ready to go, in addition to the ability for people to program the keyboard entirely to their liking. The Tinker 75 comes as a barebones kit that is ready to go for your switches and keycaps or as a pre-built keyboard that uses Cherry's new MX2A switches. Thanks to Ducky for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp as we begin with this review with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

The D in ProjectD might well stand for Ducky itself so perhaps that's the branding taken care of when we see the front of the product box. There's also a simplified render of the keyboard here which also hints towards the RGB lighting on offer and "Tinker" at the bottom confirms which series this keyboard belongs to. On the back are product specs in a tiny font compared to the hilariously numerous warnings in multiple languages above. Cherry makes its presence known with confirmation of the use of MX2A switches on this pre-built version and the exact switch type is seen on another label on the side. The "Classic" sticker here indicates there may be another color scheme version, similar to what Ducky did with the Tinker 65 and its white POM edition. Two double flaps help keep the contents in place during transit and opening the box reveals the keyboard placed underneath a hard plastic dust cover and then again inside a wax paper wrap to help keep it pristine for your unboxing experience.


The other accessories are found underneath (user manual and stickers) or separately packed in above where we see a USB Type-A to Type-C keyboard cable, a Ducky-branded metal wire keycap puller, and a switch remover tool that indicates the use of hot-swappable switch sockets here.