We’re large followers of Keychron’s premium keyboard designs right here at PCWorld. They persistently stomp the competitors by way of options and construct high quality, all whereas coming in at costs considerably decrease than comparable high-end builds. However there’s a obvious omission in Keychron’s sprawling lineup: Whereas it provides a rising number of wi-fi choices, they’re all Bluetooth, leaving players out within the chilly if they need a high-speed cable-free possibility. Enter the Lemokey L3, the primary board in a brand new Keychron sub-brand.
The L3 provides a well-recognized suite of choices for anybody who’s regarded on the well-liked Q sequence. We’re speaking full aluminum body, gasket mounting, RGB lighting, inner foam, hot-swap change sockets, PBT keycaps commonplace, and programming with the favored cross-platform VIA instrument. , all that stuff your favourite keyboard nerd (responsible) received’t shut up about. However the design has three large adjustments designed particularly to enchantment to players.
Keychron
First and most significantly, you get each 2.4GHz and Bluetooth wi-fi, with 1000Hz polling on the previous, all of which have N-key rollover. That makes the connection speedy sufficient for all however essentially the most caffeinated of eSports execs. The dongle + Bluetooth wi-fi setup is frequent from main manufacturers like Razer, Logitech, Corsair, et cetera — in truth it’s additionally on the SteelSeries wi-fi gaming board I’m reviewing proper now! — so it is a dependable improve. The opposite tweaks are 4 devoted macro keys on the appropriate aspect beneath the radial dial and a chunkier, faux-military look to the keyboard case. Once more, each fairly commonplace selections for a gaming-specific keyboard.
The one potential pitfall I’m seeing is reliance on QMK/VIA. Now, VIA is superior as a instrument for personalization on a regular keyboard and one which’s definitely preferable to among the terrible customized software program provided up on most gaming keyboards. (Taking a look at you, Asus.) And I imagine most players will prefer it as a result of it doesn’t really require any software program in any respect: You may load up customized layouts and macros proper in a browser. However with out an lively Home windows program, the Lemokey L3 received’t be capable of change profiles on a per-game foundation. That’s much less important for a keyboard than a mouse since most PC video games provide customized format choices anyway. Even so, I can see it being a problem for a small slice of PC players.
The Lemokey L3 will likely be provided in three colours: white, black, and blue, with Keychron’s common contrasting keycap choices on high. It’s obtainable for preorder on Kickstarter immediately, with the most affordable “barebone” bundle (no switches and solely 4 keycaps for the macro keys) for $189. The complete bundle is $209, with estimated supply in October.
Editor’s word: This text was up to date when preorders went stay.
