Closer Examination

I've covered plenty of 75% form factor keyboards before, but this is still something else entirely. The Lofree Edge is so tiny to hold that it feels like a tablet that has a physical keyboard somehow jutting out of it. The actual length and width are not that different from most other 75% keyboards—in fact, the previous 75% keyboard we reviewed takes up less room on your desk—but the unique selling point here is clearly the extremely low weight (485 g) and how thin the keyboard is (~16.5 mm at the top tapering down to 5.4 mm at the bottom). There are two versions of the Lofree Edge on offer which differ in the color of the magnesium alloy bottom case panel used, but otherwise you can expect to see the same twill weave carbon fiber with 3000 filaments bundled tightly for high strength and lightness in addition to making this feel sporty and premium. I also appreciate the extra space at the bottom to rest your hands on given the slim nature of this keyboard. The Lofree Edge has 84 keys in total, which is more than typical for 75% keyboards in 2024, allowing you to have pretty much the entire functionality of a standard TKL keyboard in a smaller size. Missing are Scroll Lock, Pause/Break, and Menu, and I dare say you'll have everything wanted on dedicated keys here. The stock keycaps are all black with some add-on keycap sets available on Kickstarter. The keycap legends are white—orange for Enter—and in a specific font that feels more like a stylish choice over a functional one. I don't like the inconsistency here—Fn is placed at the bottom unlike the rest, some secondary legends are alongside primary ones and others below them, there's also plenty of wasted space on the keycaps, even accounting for the need to align them to the top center where the backlighting will be most uniform. There is no branding visible in use aside from Lofree engraved in the metal panel on the right side.


The bottom case panel again reminds me of a tablet or laptop with the holes cut in the magnesium alloy. This is not for any cooling purposes though, but it does help cut down mass further. You can choose between the silver finish we see here or a dark gray color to the magnesium alloy which Lofree says is manufactured using the more expensive semi-solid casting process that eliminates any air pockets being formed during die casting and leads to a stable material with uniform density and toughness. Branding and certification info is seen at the bottom and there are four silicone rubber pads at the corners to help add friction against the resting surface and prevent scratches to the metal underbody. There are two feet with rubberized bottom sections at the top to add a second elevation step when raised.


The front side facing you contains a thin plastic strip with an indicator LED behind to help showcase the battery status of the Lofree Edge. The back side facing away from the user contains a 3-way toggle switch in the middle allowing you to physically turn the keyboard off, on (wired), or in Bluetooth mode. The expected Type-C port is alongside with plenty of room for aftermarket cables if you so desire. The provided cable fits in perfectly fine as expect and I like the right-angled connector allowing you to easily position the cable along the length of the keyboard in either direction for cleaner cable management. The cable is the usual 6' in length and goes to an available USB Type-C port on your PC where USB 3.0 (USB 3.2 Gen 1) is recommended for power and data alike.


Here's a look at the keyboard on the provided stand accessory. The angle is too steep to be used for typing, not that the stand was sturdy enough for that, so it's effectively a display stand in case you wanted to show off the Lofree Edge. I know several mechanical keyboard enthusiasts with more keyboards than logic coud ever dictate, so something like this would be right up their alley.


A look from the side shows the built-in elevation of the keyboard, which is most definitely ultra-low in profile. Lofree uses some clever marketing to say the keyboard goes to a minimum of 5.4 mm in thickness at the front, but it is more than 5.4 mm off the resting surface owing to the curved nature of the case itself. Still, this is what pretty much everyone does and, at a 16.5 mm max height with a taper going down further, this is the thinnest mechanical keyboard that I am aware of. Needless to day, there is no need for a wrist rest here! The keycaps are not exactly floating but still hover slightly above the carbon fiber frame to where you can at least use a keycap puller—I recommend a metal wire style puller over the plastic ring-style puller which won't even fit here—to remove and/or replace the keycaps or to clean the keyboard. Lofree is using first-party PBT low profile keycaps that are based off the Cherry keycap profile but are just 5 mm tall compared to the 11.6 mm of the tallest Cherry profile row. The stock keycaps here manage to not be completely flat thus, as typical of such thin keyboards, and you would be surprised how much that small amount of row contouring and surface curvature helps with touch typing. These are still thinner than usual for PBT keycaps at ~1.1 mm wall thickness and are not easily replaceable owing to the different switch design. This is why Lofree has alternative keycap sets available for purchase, although I dare say the stock set is a safe default if you are okay with the inconsistencies mentioned previously. The keycaps are thin enough to allow light from the LEDs through and the legends are also doubleshot-injected in a pleasant surprise to allow longevity at the same time. As with most keyboards on the market, this goes for north-facing LEDs and thus the legends below the primary ones are not as uniformly lit up.


The Lofree Edge only comes with a single switch option in the form of the Lofree-branded Kailh POM Switch 2.0, which is a linear ultra-low profile mechanical switch even thinner than that the Kailh Choc switches from a few years back. This is similar in design and working mechanism to the Cherry ULP switches we saw before. The switches are soldered in place, this is part of what allows Lofree to reduce the keyboard profile further. The stem has a traditional cross-point design but everything else around it is thinner to where typical keycaps won't fit in place without hitting the top housing which is POM, but designed to match the woven carbon fiber around it. There's a circular wall around the stem to add some dust and spill resistance too. The larger keycaps use screw-in stabilizers which are also lubed subtly so we are ending on a good note here.

Disassembly

I said ending, but really I had to add another paragraph here because I simply could not get the keyboard disassembled easily to warrant a whole page to itself. There are several Torx T5 screws on the top securing the carbon fiber frame in place on the metal case panel, but something was quite stubbornly securing it at the bottom and I didn't want to risk damaging this keyboard. Thankfully it did open up enough at the top to showcase the switches, PCB, and the carbon fiber frame better. Lofree also has a render of the various parts that go into making the keyboard which shows the use of silicone and IXPE foam pads for dampening as well as what it calls a PCB gasket mount which integrates standard gaskets on the PCB rather than a separate plate. This further helps reduce the keyboard profile while allowing for decoupling of keystrokes from the case.