Keychron’s Lemokey L3 is a premium keyboard aimed squarely at avid gamers

Keychron is launching a new keyboard on Kickstarter in the present day that’s notable for being the primary below its new gaming-focused Lemokey subbrand. The Lemokey L3 will probably be accessible through the Kickstarter working this month, and Keychron expects it to ship later this yr. Costs begin at $209 for a totally assembled mannequin, or $189 for a barebones mannequin with out switches or keycaps.

Essentially, the Lemokey L3 is a modified model of Keychron’s current Q3 Professional, a tenkeyless wi-fi keyboard geared up with a quantity dial and 4 programmable macro buttons. What distinguishes the Lemokey L3, other than its barely totally different look, is the inclusion of a 2.4GHz USB dongle, which permits the keyboard for use wirelessly with a 1,000Hz polling charge. As compared, the Q3 Professional solely helps Bluetooth for wi-fi connections, which maxes out at a a lot much less responsive 90Hz.

In apply, that ought to imply the Lemokey L3 will really feel virtually as responsive to make use of wirelessly because it does wired as long as you’re related through its 2.4GHz dongle. In any other case, it nonetheless helps Bluetooth (it may keep in mind connections to as much as three totally different units) in addition to good old style USB. 

Just like the Q3 Professional, Keychron’s Lemokey L3 comes with sturdy double-shot PBT keycaps, although within the L3’s case, they use a extra conventional (on the planet of keyboards at the very least) Cherry profile moderately than Keychron’s retro-style KSA. The 4 macro keys to the left of the L3’s keyboard are additionally sq. moderately than rectangular like on the Q3 Professional. 

In any other case, the Lemokey L3’s specs are largely in keeping with Keychron’s current wi-fi Q Professional keyboards. It makes use of a gasket-mount design that ought to supply a premium typing really feel, has a strong aluminum case and RGB lighting, and is customizable due to its hot-swappable switches. There’s additionally help for remapping utilizing QMK / VIA, which is the way you management what these macro buttons and dial on the left aspect of the board do. The Lemokey L3 has a 4,000mAh battery identical to the Q3 Professional which is rated for 200 hours of use over 2.4GHz in the event you depart its RGB off. That’s barely lower than the 300 hours the Q3 Professional presents through Bluetooth with its backlighting off. Lastly, the keyboard is obtainable with each US (ANSI) and EU (ISO) layouts, however the Kickstarter solely has the ISO structure accessible in a barebones configuration with out switches or keycaps.