Software

There is software support for the Lofree Edge in the form of the newly developed Lofree Configurator. Given the pre-release nature of the keyboard as of the date of this review, I wasn't surprised to see no public release available online. Lofree was kind enough to send the installer allowing me to test the keyboard's software customization. The current version is only available on Windows though and there is a macOS version in the making with a tentatively planned release in Q4 of 2024. The installer downloads as a compressed folder containing the executable as well as a firmware updating tool. The software drivers are already listed as v1.0.0.0 and take up a mere 30 MB of space on your PC—it is quite light on system resources in general.


The minute I opened the program I recognized this as an OEM solution for keyboards that use the EVision VS11 series USB microcontrollers. It's a more budget-centric hardware controller which feels like a letdown on a more premium keyboard, although admittedly the simpler lighting and functionality on board is kept fairly transparent throughout. Unfortunately, this also means the software drivers are clearly not optimized as well as they could be—look at the RGB colors on offer despite this keyboard only having white LEDs under each switch. It can be misleading if people were somehow unaware, and then there is the part where the program window is barely legible on a 4K display since it only pops up as a tiny window without any maximize option or scaling with Windows. In fact, even setting my monitor to 1080p did not do much to improve things and I suspect some of those who are.. ahem.. experienced enough in life to be able to afford this keyboard would have to hunch forward to see what all the menu options do. Also, keep in mind that the software customization only works in USB mode as typical of such implementations.

Speaking of said options, ignore all the different colors you see on the main screen as we see only three lighting options on the Lofree Edge—static on, off, and a breathing mode. You can change the brightness of the LEDs in addition to the animation speed of the breathing mode, but otherwise there is not much else to do on the Lighting section. The settings menu allows you to change the operating language and check for any software or firmware updates, and we can also create/edit/delete software profiles, although you need to manually select it in the program each time. Key mapping allows for a plethora of useful functions and these can be loaded onto the keyboard to where you won't need to use the Lofree Configurator again, and this is the same with macro recording—within the limits of the USB controller—as well as the more general keyboard settings such as having WASD as arrow keys, turning off NKRO, and selecting the polling rate from 1000 Hz or lower.