Key Takeaways
- The Lofree Flow Lite has an understated design that fits well in an office setting.
- The keyboard is small, quiet, and suited for typists with a light touch.
- Its sensitive switches may not be ideal for heavy-handed typists, but they can reduce wrist strain.
I wouldn’t call myself a picky person. Especially when it comes to keyboards, I can see the use of all types of builds and styles, even if they’re not for me. The Lofree Flow Lite wasn’t the keyboard for me, but typists with a light touch may find this low-profile keyboard to be a candidate for their new daily driver.
Lofree Flow Lite
$79 $129 Save $50
“Let your hands relax” is a common desire among long-term keyboard users who have experienced discomfort. The Flow Lite features a lower front height than the original Flow, reducing wrist strain and allowing for faster and easier typing.
- Understated design is great for the office
- More quiet than most keyboards
- Compact size with 84 keys is impressive
- Keystrokes are very sensitive, leading to mistypes
- Colorways aren’t particularly interesting
Price and Availability
The Lofree Flow Lite is currently available on Kickstarter—if you pick it up before the campaign ends, you can save with early bird pricing. Afterward, you can buy up the 84-key model for $129 and the 100-key model for $139. You’ll also have a choice of three colors and two switch types for the Flow Lite.
Small and Understated
The Lofree Flow Lite comes in two models—a 100-key model with a numpad and a smaller 84-key model, which I received for review. The 84-key model is similar in size to my 60% keyboard but managed to have a row of function keys, whereas my daily driver does not. Having so many keys in a smaller form factor is helpful, for sure. It also helps a lot with saving space on your desk, which is always important if you have a small space.
Combine that with wireless connection options like Bluetooth and 2.4Gz, which both work great, and you can fit this keyboard into any workplace. The design is also understated, looking more like a laptop keyboard than most mechanical keyboards. Unlike many gaming-oriented keyboards, the muted colors and understated LEDs can fit right in an office space. This philosophy of being more of a productivity keyboard you bring to the office also extends to how the keyboard sounds and feels.
Whisper Quiet
When I first tried out the keyboard, I noticed how ‘spongy’ the keys (and especially the space bar) felt, and was a bit put off. However, after testing it, I got used to the feel and started to enjoy it. The Flow Lite is one of the quietest mechanical keyboards I’ve used and is truly one of those keyboards you can bring into an office environment and not annoy the people around you with.
The combination of the low-profile switches and dampeners (which contributed to that initial spongy feeling) helps to keep typing quiet, and that’s a big advantage if you don’t enjoy the sound of most mechanical keyboards. Or rather, you may not mind the noise, but if your keystrokes come in through your headphones or you work around people who still use membrane keyboards, they’ll appreciate the Flow Lite not being much louder than their keyboards.
However, as I continued to use the Lofree Flow Lite, I started to run into an issue.
Why So Sensitive?
When reviewing a new keyboard, getting used to the key layout and feel is common, and you’re bound to mistype some things in the first few days. But even after that initial period, I still mistyped more than usual. At first, I couldn’t figure out the issue, but it boiled down to the actuation point and linear nature of the switches being more sensitive than I was used to.
The Lofree Flow Lite’s thin profile means that standard mechanical switches don’t work with the keyboard—instead, the company partnered with Kailh to make smaller, lighter switches. These switches have an actuation point of 40g and a 2.8mm actuation travel distance. What this means is that, essentially, it takes very little pressure to register a keystroke. In comparison, the switches I use on my keyboard, the Drop Holy Panda X, have a 49g actuation point, a 3.5mm travel distance, and a tactile ‘bump’ that makes it obvious when the key has triggered.
In short, the Flow Lite’s switches and general feel are very different from the keyboard I typically use, and it turns out that I have a heavy hand with typing. So often, when brushing my hands over the keyboard or positioning my hands on the home keys, a key would get activated, leading to a lot of typos.
The keys’ sensitivity frustrated me, but there are advantages to this—namely, less wrist and finger fatigue. So, while it’s not a good keyboard for me, it may be a great keyboard for typists who do data entry all day.
Should you Buy the Lofree Flow Lite?
The Lofree Flow Lite is made for a specific audience. If you type all day, the Flow Lite’s small form and shorter actuation points may be perfect for you. However, if you’re a gamer or have a heavy hand when typing, this keyboard may not be for you, and you may want to look elsewhere.
Lofree Flow Lite
$79 $129 Save $50
“Let your hands relax” is a common desire among long-term keyboard users who have experienced discomfort. The Flow Lite features a lower front height than the original Flow, reducing wrist strain and allowing for faster and easier typing.
