Lofree FLOW Mechanical Keyboard Review

Mechanical keyboards have become increasingly popular amongst PC gamers who’ve sought to level up their spaces while also ensuring that their inputs are registered in a tight and controlled manner. Several barriers impact players looking to switch away from typical chiclet/factory default keyboards, namely price, feel, and use case. Mechanical keyboards are pricy, folks. They have a learning curve. And the customization! There’s so much to customize and understand when selecting the best keyboard for one’s needs!

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My own journey with selecting a mechanical keyboard for me has been tough. I work from home and I play video games on my computer (with keyboard and controller, mind you). This means that my dream keyboard should be one that can support day-to-day processing in the form of writing reviews (for DigitalChumps, no less) and other reports, responding to emails, and support casual playing. Prior to this week, my setup was on the simpler side – I had an elevated full mechanical keyboard with blue switches, meaning that they were loud. The key travel was far greater than the usual standard of 1-2mm. The keys’ backlighting could be customized to my liking.

When I got the opportunity to review the Lofree Flow, I was cautiously optimistic. A minimalistic mechanical keyboard? A low-profile mechanical keyboard? What a strange concept! How would it fit in with gaming? Would it work with gaming needs? I had so many questions as I opened up the Flow’s box. It seemed like an interesting combination of specifications that could work, in theory, with gamers’ needs. I needed time to test out this keyboard and answer all of my questions.

After nearly two full weeks of using this keyboard as my daily driver for work and play, I am sold, folks: The Lofree Flow is one of the most delightful mechanical keyboards I have ever used. It feels like I’m typing on the smoothest of pebbles without clacking in an egregious fashion. It looks and feels like something out of a modern office thanks to its brushed aluminum and muted color scheme. It feels premium thanks to its sturdiness – nothing rattles, nothing jiggles. Its Kailh POM switches glide while somehow maintaining a tactile feel. It’s an incredibly strange experience coming from a clackier keyboard, but it’s difficult to go back.

A promotional code is available for 10% off of your Lofree purchase: LF10

The Lofree Flow comes in two versions. Its white model comes with ghost (linear) switches while its black model comes with phantom (tactile) switches. The ghost switches are quiet, whereas the phantom switches have a “gentle” sound that is slightly louder than the white switches. They’re still pretty dang quiet, however. The review unit I was sent was the black model with phantom switches. Coming from linear switches on my personal keyboard, the Flow’s phantom switches feel slightly tactile without needing a meaningful press.

Upon opening the box, I was presented with the keyboard (in all of its minimalistic glory) along with a simple instruction booklet and a nearly 6ft. USB-A to USB-C cord (for charging and connecting the keyboard to a computer). The keyboard’s keycaps and switches are hotswappable, but the box did not include keycap pullers to remove the keys if I wanted to remove them. It’s an odd choice to exclude pullers because it makes it seem like it’s not intended to modify or customize the Flow’s keys/switches even though it’s entirely possible (and encouraged!) to swap the keys/switches out.

The Flow can be used wirelessly via Bluetooth or connecting via USB to a computer using the included cord. Setting up the keyboard via Bluetooth took a matter of seconds. It can be connected to up to three devices, and switching between Bluetooth devices is a matter of pressing two buttons. When not in use, the keyboard falls asleep and wakes back up upon pressing any of the keys. Some users have reported a longer-than-expected wakeup time and/or missing inputs – neither issue occurred during my review period. When the keyboard woke up, it would wake up in around 2 seconds and would remember the key I pressed to wake it up, meaning that if I simply began typing it the characters would show up regardless of the keyboard being “off” and/or disconnected from my computers. I tested the Flow on an Apple Macbook Pro and a Windows 11 PC and had no issues with swapping devices and using on either operating system.

The Flow has a delightfully minimal design, featuring an aluminum frame and a small copper accent with the Lofree branding on the right-hand side. The frame is 10mm and is angled at 3.9 degrees because of two copper-colored brackets on the back corners of the keyboard. It looks like the brackets can be removed, but I didn’t dare meddle with the keyboard.

The keyboard is mostly flat, with very little ridges on the keys. This makes typing on the keyboard a generally comfortable experience, albeit one that feels like I’m typing on a nearly flat surface. The slight angle offers just enough tilt for most users, but I would have preferred a slightly sharper angle given my hands and the mat I have on my desk. By raising the keyboard a bit with some odds and ends on my desk, I was able to hit the desired angle that was most comfortable for my wrists while ensuring my hands naturally resting in position. This ended up not being an issue in the long run. As it stands, the default angle and height is great.

I love the Flow’s PBT dye-sub keycaps. They look and feel like river pebbles because of their smoothness. While they look and feel smooth, they have a slight texture that creates a grippiness that prevents false inputs. For folks still learning to type, I would be surprised if your fingers were slipping along the keycaps. They feel quite durable, too, never wiggling or flexing. It’s a premium yet durable experience.

The keyboard complemented my desk quite well. With my simple black mat on a dark wood desk, the keyboard shines as a modern highlight of my desk space. With the keyboard’s side accent lights set to white, the keyboard looks as though it’s emitting a white glow on either side. Lofree’s decision to ensure the keyboard utilizing a simple black/white color scheme with some coppery accents ensures that the keyboard can fit in most desk spaces without looking too jarring or out of place. For the price tag, it feels great in hand. Despite being an aluminum mechanical keyboard, it does not feel overly weighty.

The keyboard’s backlight is a muted white, nothing fancy. Its brightness can be customized using the function keys, but that’s about it. The keycaps themselves allow for some light to shine through them above the legends, but it’s not enough to clearly see the keys’ legends in the dark. If anything, the soft white glow is more prevalent around the keys themselves rather than complementing or shining through the caps. The orange legends along the function row look coppery thanks to the backlight, but in some settings it can be misconstrued as yellow. I would have preferred there to be a slightly brighter backlight as well as some additional RBG customization, but this keyboard isn’t about RGB customization. It’s about smooth typing. The accent lighting on the backside of the keyboard should be enough to quench any desire to add some basic colors to your desk space.

Lofree claims that the Flow should last several full working days – around 40 hours along with a three-hour quick charging time. In my experience, I was able to get just over 30 hours of juice out of my Flow before needing to plug it in. I tested out several settings, such as disabling the accent RBGs and the white backlights, but I was never able to hit the 40hour mark. Turning off all the lights pushed the keyboard to over 30 hours, but having all of the lights on full brightness lasted me just over 15 hours. The keyboard did charge quickly, however, so if you’re worried about losing juice halfway through the workday, plugging it in to a charger or simply plugging it into your computer will top it off in no time.

The keyboard’s battery life shouldn’t be something of concern, however. For most home offices and gaming setups, I would most likely recommend that you plug in your keyboard to your computer to minimize input lag. For rhythm, fighting, FPS, and other games that require precision over all else, input lag is more likely to emerge over Bluetooth. While Bluetooth has advanced in many ways over the past few years, it’s still better to err on the side of plugging in the keyboard. However, in all of my testing, there was very little input lag to begin with. This means that if you want a true minimal setup with as little cords as possible, the Flow offers you that setup with no issue.

DigitalChumps is a gaming outlet first and foremost. We know that players use their keyboards for work AND play, so it would behoove me to comment on the Flow’s prowess as candidate for a gaming keyboard.

The Flow is an excellent candidate for a casual gaming keyboard if you’re playing anything other than a precision-based game. This means that if you’re playing something like VALORANT, CS:GO, or a rhythm title, you won’t have the best experience. But if you’re playing anything else, be it a strategy game, a light RPG, or maybe even a platformer with some wiggle room, the Flow is an excellent mechanical keyboard worthy of your attention.

I tested the Flow in several games, including but not limited to Berserk Boy, Gravity Circuit (another platformer), Civilization VI, Teamfight Tactics, League of Legends, Starfield, Ghostrunner II, and Stardew Valley. These games were chosen given their wide breadth of complexity, input volume (as in, the rate and frequency at which players press keys in a short time frame), and genre. When testing keyboards, it’s important to assess its suitability across multiple metrics to gauge its fit for as many players as possible.

Let’s start with casual gaming, meaning games like Stardew Valley, Civilization VI, and Teamfight Tactics. The Flow excelled in registering inputs in these games and was a perfect fit for gameplay. Despite the keyboard’s compressed layout, I had no difficulty in moving my character in Stardew Valley and cycling through turns in Civilization VI. If you see yourself as a casual gamer, meaning that you rarely encounter tests of timing and precision, then the Flow is perfect for you.

Moving onto intermediate gaming, meaning games like Berserk Boy, Gravity Circuit, and League of Legends. This keyboard worked just fine for platformers, but there were several instances where my hand accidentally shifted and resulted incorrect inputs. I attribute this to the keyboard’s size. The Flow is 316mm x 126mm x 24.5mm, so it’s smaller than most 75% keyboards I’ve tested over the years. If anything, it’s slightly bigger than a 60% keyboard but still smaller than other 75% competitors. In my League of Legends tests, the Flow fit fine for most champions, but I would be cautious to recommend this keyboard for those who play input-intensive champions such as Riven, Kalista, Aphelios, Nidalee, or Azir. This isn’t to say that folks will struggle with this keyboard, I just have concerns with false inputs for those who play these games and happen to have larger hands like lil’ ol’ me.

Finally, let’s chat high-intensity games like Starfield and Ghostrunner II. I know that Ghostrunner II (and its FPS compatriots) are far more intensive than the likes of Starfield, but first-person titles require a degree of minimal input lag that exceeds other titles and genres. The Lofree Flow was a suitable keyboard for these games in our testing, but like my experience testing intermediate intensity games, I encountered slipups with the condensed nature of the keyboard. The keys’ travel distance were adequate in registering inputs overall, but I occasionally mistyped and registered false inputs. The Flow’s actuation point is greater than most membrane keyboards and gaming laptop keyboards (for comparison’s sake, my Lenovo Slim 7 boasts 1.5mm of travel whereas the Flow boasts around 2.8mm). Some mechanical keyboards boast up to 4.0mm, decreasing the likelihood of false inputs overall but making button presses require additional force and intention. This is all to say that high-intensity players wanting precision input for the purpose of competitive gaming may encounter struggles that other mechanical keyboards won’t create.

My gut instinct is to recommend the flow as a casual gamer’s keyboard simply because of how well it exceeds the bar in offering quick inputs, smooth button presses, tactile responses, and an aesthetically pleasing complement to one’s desk. The fact that I had little issues until I was playing mechanically intensive games tells me that most players, especially those who use their computers for work and play, will have an enjoyable experience with this keyboard compared to clackier and flashier keyboards. Personally, the phantom switches sounded excellent and were never picked up as background noise in my calls with friends, making this keyboard an easy recommendation for those wanting a quieter and potentially smoother gaming keyboard experience.

Your mileage will vary, however. Everyone’s hands are different sizes. Some players prefer additional keys on their keyboards for the purpose of additional customization and niche use cases. The Lofree Flow is a minimalist keyboard, so you won’t get the glitz and glam of customized inputs (like knobs!) or full RGB effects. If you don’t mind that a minimal keyboard, however, the Lofree Flow has everything else and more that will satisfy a player wanting an incredibly smooth mechanical keyboard.

Personally, I love typing on the Lofree Flow. I love using it as a keyboard for playing PC games. It slid into my life just as effortlessly and smoothly as its overall experience. Since I’ve been using this keyboard as a daily driver for the past two weeks, it’s become incredibly difficult to go back to my previous mechanical keyboard. I’ve become accustomed to its tactility and sound, even without the number pad of my review unit. There have been some small learning quirks mostly related to the keyboard’s layout and key positions, but it’s been easier to relearn than my initial struggles transitioning from membrane keyboards to mechanical keyboards.

It is my understanding that Lofree is making a V2 of this keyboard, and it’s releasing soonish. I don’t know what changes they’ve made, but it’s hard for me to imagine what they could have done to improve an already fantastic low-profile mechanical keyboard. This version is an excellent keyboard to begin with, and my small critiques of some of its features, like its lighting, battery life, and lack of height customization, shouldn’t dissuade you from considering the Flow. It’s worth relearning how to type on a flatter and minimal keyboard just to experience the smooth experience of typing on keys that feel and sound like river stones.

The Lofree Flow is one of the finest and delightful mechanical keyboards I’ve used in a hot minute. Its Kailh full POM switches are worthy of the hype because of how they contribute to a quiet yet tactile experience. For casual players, the Flow should be the top of your list if you want a mechanical keyboard that looks fantastic on your desk and feels great when in use. Consider me converted to the low-profile lifestyle of mechanical keyboards!

A review unit was provided by the manufacturer for the purpose of this DigitalChumps review,.