Ducky One X Mini Review
keyboard by: Ducky
Photos taken in House by alex
Ducky One X Mini Review
Today, I will be looking into a keyboard that I’ve been itching to chat about for a while now—the Ducky One X Mini and it’s inductive switches. It’s been on my desk for some time now and I want to share to in depth thoughts and opinions on it. I’ve done a bit of a different format to my typical reviews and broken down the article into something easier to digest—the pros, the cons, and whether this board is worth your time and money.
I wanted to share my process and events leading up to looking at this. You can skip this part of the article if you don’t care. But I wanted to really spend time with this board as well as hall effect (HE) competitors before writing this and doing videos on it. So I did that and had the board on my desk since the start of December. But I’ve also been using a variety of HE boards since last summer. To clarify, I’ve been using most of them stock but have modded a few, which I won’t be talking about today.
Normally I build and mod custom mechanical keyboards, so this was fun water to tread.
Full Disclosure and Affiliations
For clarity and transparency, this was a paid review. They are letting me keep the keyboard for the review, as well. With this in mind, all of these thoughts are my own and no one had any say in what went into the article.
Ducky One X Mini in Stock Config
Amendment June 24th 2025
Quick back story. I ended up revisiting the Ducky One X Mini. Why you may ask? Well Ducky announced some changes to their web-ware and it had a big change I was looking for, which is profiles. I was stoked since this board was pretty much my regular on my gaming setup more times than not. Here is what changed:
New Features
• Dual Profile Support
Store and switch between two fully customizable profiles, directly on the keyboard.
• Profile Switching Shortcut
Quickly toggle between profiles using Fn + Right Shift for a more seamless workflow.
Improvements
• Lighting Behavior under Wired Mode
Lighting stays on under wired mode.
• Optimized Fn Layer
Refined behavior for more consistent and intuitive function layer usage.
• Web Config Updates
Improved responsiveness for faster adjustments.
General improvements for a smoother setup experience.
Stability
• General Bug Fixes
Various fixes applied to enhance overall system stability and reliability.
But besides these changes, I have been using this board on the regular for nearly five months. Have my thoughts changed at all? Well, sort of? Let me give you the run down before you dive back into the rest of the article.
I still think this is my favourite board out of the all the ‘analog’ switches I’ve tried. It feels and sounds great right out of the box and I didn’t really need to change much of it (actually nearly nothing other than keycaps) for me to be happy with it. Feeling is the best one, since I use my gaming setup as a hybrid station for work I wanted something I didn’t need to swap out all the time, and this fit the bill and has been perfect. I still find myself reaching for this board and now with the dual profiles it’s really cementing itself on my desk.
However, my grips are roughly the same. I went to do a rebuild on my stream of the board and opening it is frustrating since it has screws and a plastic clip. And I do wish the web-ware got a bit of a visual overhaul. While the updates were great and Ducky is clearly listening, I still feel like the software features are still behind compared to competition for serious gamers. For me though? Well I am not that serious of a gamer and the feature set is perfectly fine.
But yeah, that’s the update! I still like it and use it and this just made it better. Enjoy the rest of the article!
The Ducky One X Mini is offered in a 60% format. A bit of history, Ducky has been around a while and I typically know for the more budget friendly “premium” mechanical keyboards and have stepped out of the spotlight in recent years. Now, Ducky is back with some new tricks! The One X Mini introduces inductive switches. These are an alternative to hall effect switches and work differently from them on a technical level. They are interesting! The board also has some nice backlit RGB and feels great.
Ducky has also expanded the lineup with a full-size version, catering to users who prefer a more traditional layout, which is awesome and I love this.
Inductive Switches?
You might have read the above and thought, wait what kind of switches? There are other articles online and videos that go into more of the science of the switches, but I will try give you the highlights. Traditional mechanical switches rely on physical metal contacts to register keypresses. This means consistent actuation over time with no risk of magnetic drift or degradation. Long-term? I’d say pretty reliable.
Then, you’ve got Hall Effect (HE) switches—these use magnets and sensors per switch instead of metal contacts. The big plus? Adjustable actuation points and switches detect changes in position or movement. Think of a game controller! What’s the catch? Over time, magnets can shift or degrade slightly, which might introduce inconsistencies. Also, not all switches manufacturers may make things to the same spec, so there could be differences in the magnets per switch. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Now, looking at Ducky’s first-gen switches, these are inductive. They uses an inductive coil on the PCB to read disruptions in the switch which has a metal spike on it. This means these are not relying on magnets per switch to work, but instead just a piece of metal. Ducky states these offer longer life spans and precision. There was some talk about power efficiency but as I will mention later, it’s not that significant. That said, first-gen tech always comes with some risk—future iterations might refine things further, meaning early adopters could miss out on improvements.
The Pros
First off, let’s talk about the good stuff because there’s a lot to like here.
Build Quality
The build quality on this keyboard is outstanding. It feels solid and well-constructed, with nothing that stands out as “bad.” It’s made of plastic but didn’t feel flimsy in any way at all. I’m very happy with this.
Sound
I personally love how this keyboard sounds compared to some of its competitors like the Wooting 80HE or BOOG for example. Now, the sound profile is a bit deeper and not quite as loud as some of the other boards, but it sounded fuller and not as oddly sharp sounding as many others I tried. To note, unless you’re modding the boards, I noticed some of the Hall Effect (HE) boards out of the box just sounded plasticky, and it wasn’t to my liking as someone who spends a lot of time modding mechanical keyboards. Keep in mind this whole point is preference.
Typing Experience & Switches
These switches felt great, especially considering this is a first-gen switch. The actuation is smooth due to some nifty factory lubed switches, and the overall typing experience is both comfortable and enjoyable. Although, there are some improvements that can be made for the factory lube I will talk about in the cons section. Whether you’re gaming or typing up long documents, I think you’ll really like this. As far as typing experience goes, they did well with the mounting style of this board but just like HE, you need the assemble to be a bit more stiff here so things align properly with the PCB. That said it feels good and leans to a firmer typing experience.
Performance
Speaking of gaming, this is one of the best gaming keyboards I’ve used that also works well for productivity. I always found myself reaching for this over the other boards I was testing, which has to mean something right? Response times felt great, and latency was also solid—even in wireless mode. I don’t have a good way to test latency comprehensively, but I personally felt no difference between this and other high-end boards. If you want detailed latency tests, check out some specialized reviews that will probably come out about this board eventually. The PCB polling rate is 1000, which to me is more than enough but perhaps you’ll be searching for something more. As a casual gamer, this is plenty to me.
Tri-Mode PCB
Versatility in connectivity is always a win in my books. Whether you prefer wired, Bluetooth, or 2.4GHz wireless, I absolutely love that this gives you the flexibility to switch between different modes depending on your needs.
Software
The software is… simple, web-based, and easy to use. It doesn’t require unnecessary installations, which I’m thankful for. I love this trend for periphial makers, and I hope the bigger brands can follow suite soon too. Software from brands like ASUS and Corsair just feel clunky and took away from the experience. Ducky did mention in their press kit that they’ll be expanding on their web based software, so there’s room to grow in future updates. And I really hope they follow up on this—I’ll talk more about it later in the cons.
Power Efficiency
Compared to Hall Effect switches, this keyboard is more power-efficient. The difference isn’t massive, especially if you’re using this keyboard in wired mode. For those who prioritize battery life, this is a nice bonus… sort of! That said, HE boards have significantly improved their efficiency in recent years making the difference here very minimal but still worth noting.
Precision
Technically, this keyboard is more precise than Hall Effect switches due to potential inconsistencies with magnets over time. Since magnets can decay or shift slightly, traditional mechanical actuation provides a more consistent response over long periods of use. In day to day practice though, I felt no difference. I’m leaving this in the pros of the board section only because while it’s technically true, I doubt many people will notice huge gains from these. But someone may find value in this feature!
Keycaps
These are the most PBT keycaps I’ve ever used. Yes, the most. They are actually made using less of a blend of plastics and are more pure PBT which you can feel. Honestly out of all the stock keycaps I’ve used on a board that are not ABS plastics, these have to be the best. In the two plus months of daily use, I saw no visible shine or wear on these at all. Impressive!
The Cons
Now, not everything is perfect. There are a few downsides.
Teardown Process
This thing is a drag to take apart. The design makes disassembly difficult, and there’s a real risk of breaking something. Even when I did a teardown off-camera before my live stream to inspect the internals, I found the process frustrating and time-consuming. This is due to having plastic clips around the case to help keep it together, which to me is a miss. They already have six screws on the bottom to hold the board apart, and I would have loved for them to construct the case in a way to not need those plastic clips. And in case you’re thinking, oh I won’t break those, well a few people doing YouTube reviews did!
This isn’t a board you’ll want to mod often. That said, there’s no real reason to take this apart since I don’t see this working in any custom cases like some other HE competition.
First-Gen Switch
Being an early adopter comes with its risks. For one while this keyboard is hotswap, there are no other switches on the market to swap it too currently. I also wish they included one or two extra switches in the box just case something happens to your board. This means in the event something happens, you only can go to Ducky.
While the factory lube was also great and felt good, I do think it needs some more refinement. The lube on some switches was oozing on the bottom, which seems a bit sloppy. My recommendation to them is to consider a dry lube or refining where the lubricant would actually go in the switch. Not a huge con, but definitely an area to grow in.
Also consider that HE boards have a huge catalogue of parts, switches and mods for them. This is a huge advantage that they have in comparison.
Software Limitations
This is a big one for me. While simple, the software is missing some key features:
- No gaming or task-specific profiles, which would have been a nice addition for power users. This is a major miss.
- Lack of in-depth explanations or tutorials, making it harder for beginners to understand all the customization options available.
- Fewer features compared to competitors, meaning advanced users may find it limiting. No snap-tap, for example (which some may see as cheating anyway).
- Only three adjustable RT settings—not as customizable as I’d like. Having more fine-tuned control over these would be ideal.
Again, Ducky did state that they are working on new features which is fantastic but there is no timeline on this. Now, I think it’s important to remind people to consider the following: buy what you see, not what is promised. Meaning, these features may or may not ever come to fruition so don’t just buy on a promise.
Foam Amount
Ducky put a very healthy amount of foam inside, which helps with sound dampening and overall feel. However, I wish it was easier to modify or remove for those who like to tweak their keyboards for a more customized experience. This ties into the teardown of the board I mentioned earlier.
Final Thoughts
After setting up and using multiple other analogue keyboards, I’ve gotten really picky about the small details that make a board great. And here’s where I land on this one:
Who is this for?
The Ducky One X Mini is a gaming keyboard disguised as an all-around board. If you need something for gaming, productivity, and general use—but don’t care about having the absolute most feature-rich software—this is an excellent option. It delivers great performance across the board but lacks some of the more advanced software features that hardcore enthusiasts might want. Despite that, I kept reaching for this over the other boards I have when gaming, which says something about how well done this board was physically made.
Even from Ducky’s own marketing, it’s positioned for gamers, general users, and office productivity. And honestly, as far as stock analog boards go, this is hands down one of the best stock experiences I’ve had recently. And that really means a lot to me.
My personal opinion here is with a bit more refinement in software and time on the market, this could be an absolute powerhouse. And let’s not forget this is the first generation of this technology from Ducky. That’s important to keep in mind from both a positive and negative light! Future iterations could improve upon an already great foundation, making this a board to watch as Ducky refines their design.
So if you need all the bells and whistles most other gaming keyboards and brands offer software wise, then this may be something you skip until they do more with their web based software.
Ducky One X Mini w/ GMK Keycaps