Ducky is bringing back their beloved Year of Horse keyboard with a refreshed design for 2026, and I got my hands-on look at it through PC Gamer's first impressions — honestly, after trying out several gaming keyboards over the years (I've been tracking everything from Sennheiser's open-ear earbuds to how NASA is investing in space hardware), this one feels genuinely worth getting excited about. Their 2025 model already had cult status among keyboard nerds for good reason — Ducky nails build quality like no other manufacturer I know, and this new iteration looks significantly more polished from the get-go with their signature minimalist aesthetic dialed up to eleven.
The Year of Horse gets all your favorite details you'd want in a premium gaming board: RGB underglow that actually glows through properly thanks to Ducky's PBT doubleshot translucent keycaps (no fading, no cheap plastic), hot-swappable switch sockets so I don't have to solder my switches like it's 2015 anymore — which means customizing feels has never been easier. They're offering Cherry MX mechanical options for that tried-and-true reliability, plus their own optical-mechanical variants if you want ultra-fast actuation with no debounce lag during intense gaming sessions (which is something I really care about after using keyboards through some wild Dota matches). The Gasket mount design gives it a softer, more cushioned typing feel compared to traditional plate-mounted boards — my wrists have thanked me personally for years of this.
My honest verdict? If the new horse model truly feels sleeker and refined in hand like PC Gamer's first impressions suggest, then Ducky really nailed what their customers love while actually evolving rather than just doing a yearly paint job on last year's design (not unlike how Sennheiser improved their dynamic EQ at low volumes). For people thinking about upgrading from an older board or getting their very first Ducky — whether you're gaming competitively, grinding through MMOs like me, or working remotely all day with that NASA space-tech mindset — this might genuinely be one of those "it just works" boards worth your money.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-keyboards/we-got-eyes-on-duckys-sleek-year-of-the-horse-gaming-keyboard-and-i-can-say-i-like-it-more-than-its-last-horse-one/
The Year of Horse gets all your favorite details you'd want in a premium gaming board: RGB underglow that actually glows through properly thanks to Ducky's PBT doubleshot translucent keycaps (no fading, no cheap plastic), hot-swappable switch sockets so I don't have to solder my switches like it's 2015 anymore — which means customizing feels has never been easier. They're offering Cherry MX mechanical options for that tried-and-true reliability, plus their own optical-mechanical variants if you want ultra-fast actuation with no debounce lag during intense gaming sessions (which is something I really care about after using keyboards through some wild Dota matches). The Gasket mount design gives it a softer, more cushioned typing feel compared to traditional plate-mounted boards — my wrists have thanked me personally for years of this.
My honest verdict? If the new horse model truly feels sleeker and refined in hand like PC Gamer's first impressions suggest, then Ducky really nailed what their customers love while actually evolving rather than just doing a yearly paint job on last year's design (not unlike how Sennheiser improved their dynamic EQ at low volumes). For people thinking about upgrading from an older board or getting their very first Ducky — whether you're gaming competitively, grinding through MMOs like me, or working remotely all day with that NASA space-tech mindset — this might genuinely be one of those "it just works" boards worth your money.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-keyboards/we-got-eyes-on-duckys-sleek-year-of-the-horse-gaming-keyboard-and-i-can-say-i-like-it-more-than-its-last-horse-one/