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 an enormous deal to me. The L3 would possibly simply be the proper intersection of gaming and premium mechanical keyboard designs. 

It could be, however 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 choice. Aside from the quicker wi-fi and the additional programmable keys, there actually isn’t a lot further to make this board stand out for avid gamers 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 need a Keychron with 2.4GHz wi-fi can be happy with the Lemokey L3, however avid gamers used to extra strong 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 previous

The Lemokey L3 is, in bodily phrases, extraordinarily much 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 similar. And that’s not a nasty factor, in the event you’re already a fan of Keychron’s chunky, super-heavy aluminum our bodies and high-quality supplies. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

If you’ve learn a assessment of the Q collection 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 inside 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 methods 
• Bluetooth and a couple of.4GHz wi-fi 

That final bullet level is the largest change right here. The Lemokey L3 is Keychron’s first keyboard with an choice 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 avid gamers. That, and the tweaked aesthetics and additional 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 a typical Cherry profile. That signifies that they’re shorter and fewer dramatically curved than Keychron’s common KSA keycaps on the Q collection, 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, however 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 instrument, and a few alternate keycaps. In addition to the standard PC and Mac alternate options, it contains normal Cherry profile keys for the 4 macro keys, which have a singular form 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 massive modifications from the usual is the dearth of a devoted Mac/PC profile change (no massive 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 collection has usually 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 facet of the board, you’ve obtained three separate ornamental aluminum plates on high of the case, every of which requires 4 extra screws, plus one other eight screws on the primary plate beneath it. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

That’s twenty-four totally different screws, with two totally different Allen wrenches (each included, which is good!), and a strong 15 to twenty minutes to get this factor right down to the bones. Woof. I admire 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 the same 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 received’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 collection keyboard in wired mode, which allows 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 possibly detect you urgent the keys.

The most expensive gaming keyboards go as much as 8,000Hz proper now. But in the event 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 essentially 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 brief: 1,000Hz is okay. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

The Gateron “Jupiter Red” switches that got here with the assessment unit are strong, if not spectacular. They really feel a little 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 in fact you may swap them out in the event you like. I’ll notice that the stabilizers, the brackets that hold lengthy keys just like the spacebar steady, are effectively above the common when it comes to smoothness and sound. 

Long typing and gaming periods had been glorious, effectively consistent with Keychron’s excessive requirements. The molded macro keys are a terrific 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 dearth of keyboard ft, a non-feature inherited from the Q collection, is beginning to bug me. The Lemokey L3 feels significantly extra “shallow” than a Q board, and with out devoted ft, I needed to slide a few bottlecaps beneath the heavy aluminum physique with a purpose to get it to my desired top. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

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

Wireless efficiency with the two.4GHz dongle, which I used for a lot of the assessment 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 three keys can change between Bluetooth units, and there’s a generic wi-fi emblem on 4, you may’t change from Bluetooth to dongle mode with perform keys alone. 

Software: VIA simply isn’t sufficient for gaming

Software is the large 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, in the event you’re new. 

And for essentially the most half, VIA works fantastic for the L3, together with its rotary dial and additional 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 exploit them for more often than not) and even switching between keyboard layers, as common. In truth you get two greater than a typical Q collection, since there’s no synthetic distinction between Mac and PC layers. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

But herein lies the weakness: These are keyboard layers, not keyboard profiles. You could assign the third or fourth layer to custom keyboard layouts for specific games. But that’s it, you only get two (assuming you also need a standard function layer, and you do, to control wireless and lighting). So you have a regular typing layer and two custom layouts for games, at maximum. And making full use of that requires some deep work in VIA, a far greater amount of time than setting up per-application profiles in gaming software.

This differs pretty sharply from almost any gaming keyboard on the market. One of the key features of a gaming keyboard is its programmability, not just for standard layout functions, but for assigning specific profiles to specific games. Gaming keyboard software generally runs in the background and activates these profiles automatically when a game launches. It’s not available on every single keyboard — our favorite budget board, the G.Skill KM250, is a notable exception. But it’s so universal that it’s safe to assume anyone spending this much on a gaming keyboard would demand it. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

To be sure, gaming keyboard software is often pretty terrible. Razer’s Synapse is probably the best of the bunch, but a bad software experience is enough to seriously tarnish an otherwise okay design, as with the Asus ROG Azoth. And there are a lot of users — me included! — who generally don’t rely on dedicated software, preferring to customize profiles in-game, for whom VIA will be more than adequate. 

But the most demanding gamers absolutely look for this feature. Profiles and settings are often swapped online among the most dedicated players, and the best gaming software offers a cloud sync option if you want to use them across multiple machines. Keychron marketing the Lemokey L3 as a premium gaming keyboard, and lacking any option to customize profiles and auto-launch them along with a game (or even switch among more than three fairly basic programmed layouts) is a big miss. 

A Keychron representative told me that the company is working on an application that will allow the Lemokey to activate different profiles for specific apps. But I can only review the keyboard as it is now, not as it might be later.

Is the Lemokey L3 a good value?

In hardware terms alone, Keychron retains its excellent value compared to similar designs. At $214 for the full kit and kaboodle ($194 if you supply your own switches and keycaps), it compares favorably to both wireless gaming keyboards and wireless “custom” boards in the same category. 

Razer’s BlackWidow V4 75% is straddling the same line of gamer/custom keyboard, albeit approaching from the other side. It’s slightly smaller and cheaper, and comes with a wrist rest, but since it’s still using a wired connection the comparison isn’t quite one-to-one. Ditto for the GMMK Pro, which is also marketed for gaming and has a lot of the same “custom” features. It’s wired-only, too…and costs $350, fully assembled. Ouch. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

Perhaps the best comparison among gaming brands is the Asus ROG Azoth, which I found lacking in a lot of ways. While it technically has better software for gaming, that software is such a pain to use I can’t recommend the product to anyone, and I found the OLED screen more trouble than it was worth. Keychron beats Asus by almost $40, and delivers a better overall product, even with its own software shortcomings. 

There really isn’t a gaming-specific keyboard that offers a TKL layout, hot-swap switches, and fast wireless, at least not from a major brand. If you’re desperate for a comparison then Epomaker has the far cheaper Ajazz AKC087, which isn’t really a match in terms of materials, and I’ve found that Epomaker’s software is even more limited. 

Should you buy the Lemokey L3? 

If all you want is a Keychron Q-series keyboard with faster wireless and a few macro keys, then the Lemokey L3 is what you’re looking for. It delivers that little extra sliver of functionality that qualifies it as a wireless gaming board, while preserving the brand’s reputation as the best around in terms of “custom” boards at this price range. 

Michael Crider/Foundry

But unfortunately, VIA programming just won’t cut it for the most demanding of gamers, which is a pretty serious oversight for anything marketed towards them. And a couple of other choices — like the lower keyboard profile with no feet, and the extra hassle of opening the case — make the L3 a bit less appealing than Keychron’s usual stellar designs.