What the Cushion 98 is
The board sits in an awkward corner of keyboard naming. PC Guide describes it as a two-in-one for gaming and office work that pairs mechanical switches with a quiet design. The review's spec table calls it a "96% Compact" board. Ducky's own product page calls it a 100-key layout in an 80% footprint. eTeknix also notes that the 96% label can be confusing, because it still has virtually all the keys of a full-size board in a tighter form factor. Treat those percentages as marketing shorthand, not a standard.
Key specifications from Ducky and PC Guide:
- Size and weight: 386.16 x 147.07 x 41.74 mm, about 1,216 g (±15 g).
- Build: Aluminum top case, ABS bottom, aluminum plate and plate-mounted stabilizers.
- Keycaps: Cherry-profile double-shot PBT.
- Switches: Ducky Shush Silent Linear (red) or Silent Tactile (green), both hot-swappable.
- Connectivity: USB-C, 2.4 GHz RF and Bluetooth, with Bluetooth multi-device support for up to four devices.
- Battery: 4,200 mAh. Ducky quotes up to 63 hours with lighting off.
- Colors: Silver (retro white and gray) and Nickel (more subdued, with blue accents).
How it keeps quiet
Ducky uses what it calls a Nest Mount. This is a cushioning layer under the switches, backed by extra dampening on the PCB. PC Guide found the keyboard "very silent". It also reported little rebound noise, which it credits to the combination of rubber and metal plate.
The cushioning is also user-serviceable. PC Guide reports that a few magnets and latches hold the board together, so you can pry it open carefully and avoid the cables. Inside you can swap the nest-mount rubber between gray and black for a harder or softer feel.
Club386 independently reached a similar verdict. Its reviewer used the board as a daily driver for a week and credited a thick cushioning layer with absorbing the clatter of typing. That review adds useful detail on the two cushions:
- The black cushion is fitted by default and is the quietest option.
- The grey cushion is a little noisier but feels firmer.
- The spacebar still thumps more than other keys.
Club386 also recorded typing next to two other keyboards, but PC Guide supplied no measurements. Every acoustic claim for this board is therefore a subjective impression, not a lab result.
Windows-relevant quirks
PC Guide lists these cons:
- No Print Screen key. The key is simply gone. It doesn't even move to a function layer. Club386's reviewer, who uses Print Screen to launch the Windows snipping tool, found this frustrating. He remapped it as a secondary function, and he did the same for media controls using the cursor keys.
- No dedicated media controls.
- Hard-to-see lock indicators. Caps Lock, Scroll Lock and Num Lock light up beneath their keys, and PC Guide found them hard to see depending on room lighting and the lighting effect.
- Secondary functions aren't printed on the keycaps. PC Guide had to look up the online manual to learn what the secondary keys do. The box has leaflets but no full manual.
- Updates and customization can be unintuitive.
If you screenshot all day on Windows 11, plan to remap a key on day one.
Wireless hiccup and software
PC Guide reported a rough start on 2.4 GHz. The keyboard occasionally bugged out, and at one point Ctrl and Delete stuck, which deleted some of the reviewer's work. The reviewer opened the online software, which detected the dongle and offered an automatic update. After that update the dongle wouldn't reconnect to the keyboard until the reviewer found the instructions. The problem then seemed to subside. This is one reviewer's experience, not proof of a widespread fault.
Ducky says configuration is through DuckyHub, a web tool that needs no download, or through VIA. Club386 notes it works on basically any computer as long as you use a Chromium-based browser, and it doesn't work over Bluetooth. Ducky's own page says Windows is fully supported.
Ducky's downloads page lists a manual for the Cushion 98 but no firmware file in its row. The page also warns that an incorrect update can damage a keyboard and make it unusable. Confirm your exact model and firmware version before flashing anything, and contact Ducky if you can't.
Speed claims
Ducky's marketing says a boosted scan rate of 2 kHz delivers faster input recognition. Its spec table lists a 1,000 Hz report rate, and NKRO when wired versus 6KRO wirelessly. The reviews disagree on how much control you get:
- Club386 says the web software lets you set polling from 125 Hz to 1 kHz in wired and 2.4 GHz modes, with scan rate up to 2 kHz.
- CGMagazine's review reports that polling rate is locked at 1,000 Hz in wired and 2.4 GHz modes.
PC Guide says the dongle felt quick and responsive in games, but it ran no benchmarks. Treat any latency advantage as unproven.
Price and value
PC Guide reports $159.99 or £149.99 for either color or switch choice, a bit more than some full-size boards. Club386 also lists £149.99. Its reviewer calls it "not cheap" but well below the cost of building a custom keyboard. He notes that Ducky's OK-M, which also fits a numpad in a small footprint and has Caps Lock and Num Lock indicator LEDs, costs £69.99. Prices vary by retailer and region, so check before buying. PC Guide's page carries affiliate links, as does Club386's.
Who should consider it
Good fit:
- You want a mechanical feel without the noise, in a shared office or a late-night gaming session.
- You use a numpad for spreadsheets and want a small desk footprint.
- You like tinkering with switches and cushions without a screwdriver.
Think twice if:
- You depend on a Print Screen key or dedicated media keys.
- You want clear lock-key indicators.
- You want a bargain-priced board.
Overall, the evidence supports a strong but imperfect keyboard. Two reviews with 4.5 scores agree that the noise reduction is the main selling point. Both flag the missing keys, and PC Guide adds the wireless hiccup.