Have you made your way into the world of 40% keyboards? If you have, you probably know the brand LAZYDESIGNERS. If you haven’t, LAZYDESIGNERS is an excellent place to start. I’ve been obsessed with my latest acquisition from them: the Duo40.

Introduction

Duo40 is a 40% keyboard designed by Chinese brand LAZYDESIGNERS. I was lucky enough to speak with the mind behind LAZYDESIGNERS, Jacky, and he told me a bit about the brand’s history, vision, and future. (Note: Although I spoke with Jacky about LAZYDESIGNERS, I did not receive any compensation, product, etc., to write this article — I truly just like my Duo40 that much)

LAZYDESIGNERS was initially founded in 2018 as a collective with the purpose of sharing resources among keyboard and keycap designers and creating cost-effective products. These days, Jacky is behind it all–he designs, shepherds, and fulfills each product–and he remains committed to producing simple, stylish, and cost-effective designs.

Under Jacky’s watch, LAZYDESIGNERS has cultivated a loyal international customer base. All purchases are made through LAZYSDESIGNERS Discord server, which currently has around 2,800 members, and everything about the process and server feels very . . . human. Prospective buyers submit orders by contacting Jacky directly via direct message, explaining what they’d like and any pertinent details (options found on LAZYDESIGNERS’ OnSale page), and Jacky packs and ships the order himself. This process, and the consistently enthusiastic server members, give interactions with the brand and on the server a sincere, personal, and positive quality.

The intimate, loyal circle of LAZYDESIGNERS fans also allows the brand to explore new ideas. The small-batch model gives Jacky creative freedom and tight quality control, and the resulting products are unique, bold, and consistently joyful. And even when a beloved board is re-run, Jacky incorporates thoughtful improvements in each iteration, so each generation is truly unique.

Right now, LAZYDESIGNERS has several designs in the kitchen. Varius is in production, and Apricot r3 is just about to finish production and begin shipping. Bolt r2 is running a bit late overall, but shipping should be completed before the end of October. And Duo40 r2, Dimple r3, Cloud, Cassette-8, and Duo60 (a 60% board!) still have remaining stock for sale. If you’ve been curious to try something new (or expand your collection), you are positively spoiled for choice.

Specs

Like many 40% keyboards, Duo40 is very compact — its footprint is only about 108mm x 250mm.

Its front is 19mm tall and its back is 30mm tall. And although Duo40 looks nearly flat, its typing angle is 6.25°.

Duo40’s aluminum case consists of three parts: (1) a bottom case that is available in PC (with optional underglow), anodized aluminum, or e-coated aluminum; (2) an upper insert that is available in aluminum or PVD; and (3) a stainless steel weight, also available in aluminum or PVD, that is preinstalled into the bottom case.

The top inner and bottom cases sandwich the plate, using gaskets, and the PCB floats beneath the plate under a layer of poron foam. The top inner case is screwed to the bottom case, and the the housing sits on the desktop as a single piece. There is a very thin poron foam in the bottom case.

The 1.6mm-thick PCBs come in staggered hotswap, ortho hotswap, and staggered hotswap with underglow feature.

Finally, plate options include PC staggered hotswap plate (with 2.25+2.75 spacebars), aluminum staggered hotswap Plate (3U spacebar), PC staggered hotswap plate (3U spacebar), aluminum ortho hotswap plate (2x2U spacebars), and PC ortho hotswap Plate (2x2U spacebars.)

Impressions

As I said earlier, I really like my Duo40. I’ll admit I was pleasantly surprised — I have never been much of a 40% format fan. But Duo40 feels so solid and responsive, and I love how it looks. The PVD inner frame contrasted with the matte ano case is so clean, and there are so many options that the potential combinations are endless.

And just as important as looking good, Duo40 feels good. I have mine kitted with DSS Neon Nights, and DSS’s sharp R4 and the concave 2.25 and 2.75 bars feel so responsive on Duo40’s small frame. The 6.25° is very comfortable, and the PC plate has a nice give to it — Duo40’s solid-looking shape had me expecting a stiff, dense feeling, but Duo40 doesn’t feel dead. It is certainly firm, but it is also lively.

It was easy for me to get started, too. The build was very straightforward and quick, and Duo40 was preloaded with a layout that felt shockingly intuitive to me as a non-40s user. However, users can also customize Duo40’s layout using VIAL, including using more advanced functions like tap-dance. You can get up to some really fun stuff — just check out LAZYDESIGNERS’ Discord server to see some of the incredibly creative keymaps and customizations out there.

Conclusion

Overall, I’m really pleasantly surprised by Duo40 and how much use I’m getting out of it. It somehow feels like just the right size… and now all my other boards feel huge when I switch back from using Duo40. Overall, I think Duo40 is a great board; its efficient, creative layout combined with the responsive, solid-feeling typing experience make this a regular in my keyboard rotation. I recommend grabbing extras before they’re gone!