Ducky outs slim Blade Air keyboard

Mechanical keyboard specialist Ducky Channel has become the first manufacturer to announce a product based around Cherry's new MX Low Profile switch family: The Ducky Blade Air.

Designed primarily for high-end workstation and gaming laptops, the Cherry MX Low Profile family was announced earlier this week. Taking the long-standing Cherry MX mechanical switch design and shrinking it, the MX Low Profile range is claimed to offer a familiar finger-feel in an 11.9mm high package - 35 percent smaller than the standard switches - with a reduced travel distance of 3.2mm from 4mm.

While Cherry confirmed that manufacturers would be building slim keyboards with the switches, the company was quiet on announcing actual partnerships - but Ducky Channel has broken the silence by announcing the Ducky Blade Air, its first keyboard based on the Cherry MX Low Profile RGB switch.

With an overall thickness of just 22mm, the Ducky Blade Air is designed to be considerably slimmer than your average mechanical keyboard. To further enhance its portability, the device offers both USB Type-C wired and Bluetooth wireless capabilities, while the chassis is based around a new-for-Ducky 'floating keycap' design. The keycaps themselves, meanwhile, are double-shot PBT models through which the keyboard's surface-mount RGB LED lighting can shine in a range of modes from reactive and pre-set patterns through to zone-based lighting.

The keyboard is claimed to offer N-key rollover over USB, features Ducky's macro system, and measures a total 441mm wide by 133.6mm deep and 22mm tall. Pricing and availability, however, have yet to be confirmed.