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Head to head · Prices checked Nov 11, 2026

Ducky Year of the Snake vs HP Class 1800 Southpaw

Get the Ducky Year of the Snake for hot-swappable and via.

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Quick verdict

Which one should you get?

Get the

Ducky Year of the Snake

Hot-swappable

Build quality in the top 15% of 75% boards under $200.

Rules this board out

  • South-facing LEDs. Shine-through legends stay dark, and some sculpted keycaps can clip the LED.

Get the

HP Class 1800 Southpaw

Rules this board out

  • Switches are soldered. Swapping them means soldering.

What actually differs

The differences that matter

Skip the 40-row spec sheet. These are the specs that change how each board feels, sounds, and fits your desk.

Ducky Year of the Snake

HP Class 1800 Southpaw

  • Hot-swappable

    Yes

    No

    Switch changes without soldering

  • Ergonomics

    Standard

    Southpaw

  • Case material

    ABS

    Aluminum

  • Mount style

    Gasket Mount

    Top Mount

  • VIA

    Yes

    No

    GUI remapping without compiling firmware

KeebFinder scores

How we score
  • Ducky Year of the Snake
  • HP Class 1800 Southpaw
Performance
80
49
Build quality
81
66
Productivity
95
49
Customizability
89
59
Portability
66
41

What they share

  • Connection: Wired
  • QMK
See every spec side by side

Full specs

Ducky Year of the Snake vs HP Class 1800 Southpaw specs

Every tracked spec, side by side. Rows marked with a dot differ between the boards.

11 of 23 specs differ

Ducky Year of the Snake

HP Class 1800 Southpaw

Typing & switches

Switch options

Clicky, Linear, Tactile
—

Hot-swappable

Yes
No

Mount style

Gasket Mount
Top Mount

Sound dampening

Yes
No

Screw-in stabilizers

Yes
No

Layout

Layout size

75%
—

Layout standard

ANSI
ANSI

Ergonomics

Standard
Southpaw

Display

None
None

Connectivity & battery

Connection

Wired
Wired

Max polling rate

1,000 Hz
—

USB-C

Yes
No

Build & materials

Case material

ABS
Aluminum

Plate material

FR4
—

Keycaps

PBT
—

Weight

—
4,200 g

Typing angle

—
7°

Backlight

RGB, south-facing
None

Firmware & software

QMK

Yes
Yes

VIA

Yes
No

N-key rollover

Yes
No

Mac & Windows

Yes
No

Extras

Released

2025
2025

Where to buy

Compare prices

Live prices from the stores we track, cheapest in-stock offer first.

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Lowest price across stores, Amazon excluded.

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