Lemokey L3 review: Keychron’s first gaming keyboard misses the mark

Price When Reviewed

$214

Best Prices Today: Keychron Lemokey L3 keyboard

Keychron is a favourite right here at PCWorld. The Q1 Pro has had a spot on the high of our best keyboards list ever because it was launched. So the model’s very first shot at a gaming keyboard, together with the brand new Lemokey sub-brand, was a giant deal to me. The L3 may simply be the right intersection of gaming and premium mechanical keyboard designs. 

It is likely to be, nevertheless it isn’t. Despite the brand new label, the L3 is kind of a re-skinned model of the present Keychron baseline design, with an additional USB-based wi-fi possibility. Aside from the quicker wi-fi and the additional programmable keys, there actually isn’t a lot additional to make this board stand out for players particularly. It’s missing per-game programming choices particularly. 

While Keychron’s signature laundry record of options and glorious construct high quality are current, I can’t assist however discover that this primary shot on the gaming market is a little bit of a miss. Those who desire a Keychron with 2.4GHz wi-fi might be happy with the Lemokey L3, however players used to extra sturdy software program choices will discover it limiting. 

Further studying: See our roundup of the best wireless gaming keyboards to find out about competing merchandise.

Lemokey L3: Design that by no means will get outdated

The Lemokey L3 is, in bodily phrases, extraordinarily just like the present Keychron Q3 Pro design. Aside from the marginally retooled macro keys on the left column and some trim items, they’re virtually equivalent. And that’s not a foul factor, when you’re already a fan of Keychron’s chunky, super-heavy aluminum our bodies and high-quality supplies. 

If you’ve learn a evaluation of the Q sequence earlier than, you recognize what this seems to be like. For the sake of brevity I’ll go over the L3’s headline options double-quick: 

• CNC-milled all-aluminum physique (4.3 kilos on my kitchen scale!) 
• Hot-swap change sockets with RGB lighting 
• High-quality PBT keycaps 
• Gateron “Jupiter Red” linear switches 
• Two layers of inner foam for sound and vibration discount 
• Double-layer gasket mounting for a slight “give” to the typing 
• Programming with the open-source VIA and QMK techniques 
• Bluetooth and a pair of.4GHz wi-fi 

That final bullet level is the largest change right here. The Lemokey L3 is Keychron’s first keyboard with an possibility for devoted USB-based wi-fi. Combined with the 1,000Hz normal polling price, this makes it quick sufficient for the demanding inputs of PC players. That, and the tweaked aesthetics and further programmable buttons, is what offers this board its “gaming” pedigree. 

The remainder of the options stay as much as Keychron’s glorious normal. Notably, the keycaps you get with the L3 are an ordinary Cherry profile. That implies that they’re shorter and fewer dramatically curved than Keychron’s typical KSA keycaps on the Q sequence, which mimic the super-high, bowl-shaped caps of basic pre-2000s keyboard designs. I’m ambivalent on this specific change since I prefer even shorter caps myself, nevertheless it ought to make an adjustment from one other gaming keyboard simpler for many customers. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

In the field, Keychron contains two Allen wrenches and a tiny screwdriver for disassembly, the usual keycap/change puller software, and a few alternate keycaps. In addition to the same old PC and Mac alternate options, it contains normal Cherry profile keys for the 4 macro keys, which have a novel type of X-shaped hatch mildew by default (additionally seen on the underside of the case). If this doesn’t tickle your fancy, the alternate options have O, X, sq., and triangle prints — matching the basic face buttons for the PlayStation controller. It’s a pleasant contact. 

The solely different large adjustments from the usual is the shortage of a devoted Mac/PC profile change (no large loss, since you continue to get 4 profiles in VIA) and devoted LEDs for battery, wi-fi, and caps lock standing above the arrow keys. I appreciated the subtly modified look — it’s a bit extra chunky and “military” with out going overboard on the gamer aesthetics. 

How do you open the Lemokey L3?

That is, till I attempted to open the keyboard. Keychron’s Q sequence has typically been pleasant to the customized keyboard crowd, inviting straightforward modification with a simple disassembly course of. The L3 isn’t tough to take aside…it simply takes a very, actually very long time. In addition to 2 screws on the left and proper aspect of the board, you’ve acquired three separate ornamental aluminum plates on high of the case, every of which requires 4 extra screws, plus one other eight screws on the principle plate beneath it. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

That’s twenty-four completely different screws, with two completely different Allen wrenches (each included, which is sweet!), and a strong 15 to 20 minutes to get this factor all the way down to the bones. Woof. I respect that 95 p.c of customers, conservatively, won’t ever truly do that. But if being modification-friendly is a part of your model, then making precise entry to the keyboard’s {hardware} an afterthought is a particular ding towards the design. 

Here I’ll level out that Razer’s BlackWidow V4 75%, occupying an analogous gamer/customized area of interest, is accessible with simply six Phillips-head screws on the underside of the keyboard. But in Keychron’s protection, they gained’t void your keyboard’s guarantee — normal 12 months — only for opening the case. 

How does the Lemokey L3 carry out for gaming?

Using the L3 for gaming was just about the identical expertise as utilizing a Q sequence keyboard in wired mode, which permits the identical 1,000Hz polling price. The polling price is the variety of occasions the keyboard refreshes its enter detection — the quicker the speed, the extra typically it could detect you urgent the keys.

The most expensive gaming keyboards go as much as 8,000Hz proper now. But when you can press a button 8,000 occasions a second, you’re Commander Data, and also you’re using those weird pulse oximeter thingies to play anyway. More virtually, even probably the most aggressive multiplayer video games don’t refresh inputs greater than 128 occasions a second, so that is all a bit ridiculous. Long story quick: 1,000Hz is okay. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

The Gateron “Jupiter Red” switches that got here with the evaluation unit are strong, if not spectacular. They really feel a bit smoother and extra steady than normal linear Red switches (no tactile bump or loud “click”), however lack the satisfying suggestions of extra unique decisions. Which is okay, since after all you’ll be able to swap them out when you like. I’ll observe that the stabilizers, the brackets that maintain lengthy keys just like the spacebar steady, are properly above the common by way of smoothness and sound. 

Long typing and gaming periods had been glorious, properly in keeping with Keychron’s excessive requirements. The molded macro keys are an excellent alternative, as I can really feel the distinction between them and the left-most common keys with out trying down on the board. I’ll say that the shortage of keyboard toes, a non-feature inherited from the Q sequence, is beginning to bug me. The Lemokey L3 feels significantly extra “shallow” than a Q board, and with out devoted toes, I needed to slide a few bottlecaps beneath the heavy aluminum physique to be able to get it to my desired peak. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

Dear Keychron: Please begin together with some magnetic or screw-in toes with these large, premium our bodies — they actually really feel incomplete with out them. 

Wireless efficiency with the two.4GHz dongle, which I used for many of the evaluation interval, was faultless. And switching to my iPad through Bluetooth was straightforward, I simply slid the {hardware} change (which additionally features as an influence change). Oddly, although the 1, 2, and 3 keys can change between Bluetooth gadgets, and there’s a generic wi-fi emblem on 4, you’ll be able to’t change from Bluetooth to dongle mode with perform keys alone. 

Software: VIA simply isn’t sufficient for gaming

Software is the massive failing of the Lemokey L3. Which is unusual, as a result of that is often the place I reward Keychron for going with standardized and open-source QMK and VIA programming choices. VIA is nice, if a bit fiddly for the uninitiated. You simply go to the VIA web site, add the related JSON file, and get customizing through the graphical interface. Keychron has a guide here, when you’re new. 

And for probably the most half, VIA works positive for the L3, together with its rotary dial and further macro keys on the left. You can set them to any normal keyboard perform or programmed macro, together with media keys (which is what I take advantage of them for more often than not) and even switching between keyboard layers, as typical. In truth you get two greater than an ordinary Q sequence, since there’s no synthetic distinction between Mac and PC layers. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

But herein lies the weak point: These are keyboard layers, not keyboard profiles. You might assign the third or fourth layer to customized keyboard layouts for particular video games. But that’s it, you solely get two (assuming you additionally want an ordinary perform layer, and also you do, to manage wi-fi and lighting). So you’ve a daily typing layer and two customized layouts for video games, at most. And making full use of that requires some deep work in VIA, a far better period of time than establishing per-application profiles in gaming software program.

This differs fairly sharply from nearly any gaming keyboard available on the market. One of the important thing options of a gaming keyboard is its programmability, not only for normal format features, however for assigning particular profiles to particular video games. Gaming keyboard software program typically runs within the background and prompts these profiles robotically when a recreation launches. It’s not obtainable on each single keyboard — our favourite finances board, the G.Skill KM250, is a notable exception. But it’s so common that it’s secure to imagine anybody spending this a lot on a gaming keyboard would demand it. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

To be certain, gaming keyboard software program is usually fairly horrible. Razer’s Synapse might be the most effective of the bunch, however a foul software program expertise is sufficient to severely tarnish an in any other case okay design, as with the Asus ROG Azoth. And there are lots of customers — me included! — who typically don’t depend on devoted software program, preferring to customise profiles in-game, for whom VIA might be greater than sufficient. 

But probably the most demanding players completely search for this function. Profiles and settings are sometimes swapped on-line among the many most devoted gamers, and the most effective gaming software program affords a cloud sync possibility if you wish to use them throughout a number of machines. Keychron advertising the Lemokey L3 as a premium gaming keyboard, and missing any choice to customise profiles and auto-launch them together with a recreation (and even change amongst greater than three pretty fundamental programmed layouts) is a giant miss. 

A Keychron consultant instructed me that the corporate is engaged on an software that may permit the Lemokey to activate completely different profiles for particular apps. But I can solely evaluation the keyboard as it’s now, not because it is likely to be later.

Is the Lemokey L3 a great worth?

In {hardware} phrases alone, Keychron retains its glorious worth in comparison with comparable designs. At $214 for the total equipment and kaboodle ($194 when you provide your personal switches and keycaps), it compares favorably to each wi-fi gaming keyboards and wi-fi “custom” boards in the identical class. 

Razer’s BlackWidow V4 75% is straddling the identical line of gamer/customized keyboard, albeit approaching from the opposite aspect. It’s barely smaller and cheaper, and comes with a wrist relaxation, however because it’s nonetheless utilizing a wired connection the comparability isn’t fairly one-to-one. Ditto for the GMMK Pro, which can also be marketed for gaming and has lots of the identical “custom” options. It’s wired-only, too…and costs $350, fully assembled. Ouch. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

Perhaps the most effective comparability amongst gaming manufacturers is the Asus ROG Azoth, which I discovered missing in lots of methods. While it technically has higher software program for gaming, that software program is such a ache to make use of I can’t advocate the product to anybody, and I discovered the OLED display extra bother than it was price. Keychron beats Asus by nearly $40, and delivers a greater general product, even with its personal software program shortcomings. 

There actually isn’t a gaming-specific keyboard that provides a TKL format, hot-swap switches, and quick wi-fi, at the very least not from a significant model. If you’re determined for a comparability then Epomaker has the far cheaper Ajazz AKC087, which isn’t actually a match by way of supplies, and I’ve discovered that Epomaker’s software program is much more restricted. 

Should you purchase the Lemokey L3? 

If all you need is a Keychron Q-series keyboard with quicker wi-fi and some macro keys, then the Lemokey L3 is what you’re in search of. It delivers that little additional sliver of performance that qualifies it as a wi-fi gaming board, whereas preserving the model’s fame as the most effective round by way of “custom” boards at this value vary. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

But sadly, VIA programming simply gained’t reduce it for probably the most demanding of players, which is a reasonably severe oversight for something marketed in direction of them. And a few different decisions — just like the decrease keyboard profile with no toes, and the additional problem of opening the case — make the L3 a bit much less interesting than Keychron’s typical stellar designs.