With the tagline, “Less is More, Less is Better,” the Lofree Block wireless mechanical keyboard takes its inspiration from Dieter Rams and the enthusiast keyboard scene. It offers satisfyingly soft keystrokes and solid build quality with Lofree’s unique creativity prominent throughout its design. At $170, it’s not cheap and still has room for improvement, but between its excellent typing and connectivity, it nails the basics so well that it still has a lot of appeal.
Specifications
- Current Price: $169.99 (Amazon)
- Case: ABS
- Keycap: Dye-Sub PBT
- Switch Type: BLOCK Switch, Full POM by TTC
- Structure: Gasket
- Number of Keys: 98
- Number of Multifunction Keys: 13
- Knob: Volume & Connection
- Hot-swappable Support: Yes
- N-key Rollover Support: Yes
- Backlight: White-LED
- Backlight Modes: 14
- Compatible System: macOS/Windows/Android/iOS
- Angle: 4º/ 8º
- Connection: Bluetooth 5.0, 2.4Ghz or Wired(Type C)
- Battery Life: 2000mAh
- Charging Time: 2.5 hours
- Working Time (all lights on): 10 hours (lab test result)
- Working Time (all lights off): Up to 80 hours (lab test result)
- Dimensions: 384 x 126.5 x 19.5 mm
- Weight: 1090g
Lofree Block - Design and Highlights
Lofree has become one of my favorite keyboard brands over the last few years. Though it may not be as well known as massive brands like Logitech or Razer, it has quietly been making some of the best and most interesting pre-built mechanical keyboards you can buy. Right alongside outfits like IQUNIX, Lofree has been a brand to watch for great mechanical keyboards that also carry stylish flair and plenty of features.
The Lofree Block is not a gaming keyboard. Like any mechanical slate, it will work perfectly well for gaming, but its design throws pretty much every convention of gaming keyboards out the window. Based on the “Less, but better” ethos of esteemed designer, Dieter Rams, it adopts a minimalist aesthetic of beige and grey with bursts of red and orange. Its color scheme and tall top bezel lend it a very retro aesthetic, but make no mistake, this is a modern keyboard with all of the bells and whistles that culminate in an excellent use experience.
It’s also packed with personality. That’s no surprise from Lofree; each of its keyboards has accomplished the same. Here, its minimalism is paired with a playfulness in the legends of its accent keys. Two knobs are positioned in the upper right, one for volume and the other to select from between Off, wired, and wireless connectivity options. Around the back, the tilt feet are a matching orange but are flip-out rings with a silicone stopper in the middle. There’s no RGB, but the use of color really is a case of less being more. The orange highlights manage to pop more than even rainbow backlighting does these days.
The keyboard uses a compact full-size layout known as 98%. It removes the middle navigation and editing cluster and squeezes the arrow keys and number pad closer to the main keyset. Four of the removed keys are shifted to above the numpad, including Delete, Insert, Page Up, and Page Down. Home and End are both available through the numpad but Print Screen, Pause, and Scroll Lock are all absent. The keyboard doesn’t support software, so re-adding these keys and other custom keymaps sadly isn’t possible.
The keyboard is constructed of plastic but feels sturdy and well made. It has a decent heft owing to its multiple internal layers and 2,000 mAh battery. The keycaps are made of dye-sublimated PBT plastic and are thick-walled and lightly textured for a comfortable, solid feel under the fingers.
Beneath those keycaps, the keyboard uses custom linear BLOCK switches produced by TTC. These switches are made entirely of POM, which has a very low friction coefficient so are naturally very smooth. Lofree describes these as “self-lubricating” but not because the switches apply any of their own grease or oil. As the switch gets used, the components naturally polish and become even smoother over time.
The switches are lightweight and good for gaming but have a sound profile that makes typing especially pleasant. They operate with a 43g actuation force and a bottom out force of 50 grams. They’re immediately familiar to Cherry MX Red switches but are much nicer to actually use due to their smoothness and lack of any reverberating spring noise. If you do care to try your own, they’re also hot-swappable and easy to change out.
Internally, the keyboard uses a gasket mount structure that isolates and softens keystrokes for a more comfortable experience over time. I feel compelled to note that I'm not one to typically find typing even on very firm surfaces to be fatiguing. Yet the difference to a gasket mount structure is immediately noticeable and, to my tastes, preferable.
Like many enthusiast grade custom keyboards, which I think this can fairly be considered among, it uses multiple layers of sound dampening and acoustic enhancing materials. Surrounding the switches is a layer of PORON plate foam which isolates and draws out the natural acoustics of the switches. Beneath the switches on top of the PCB is a layer of IXPE foam that is purely acoustic And gives the switches a pleasant poppy sound. Beneath the PCB is another layer of PORON case foam that helps remove any hollowness in reverberations from the bottom of the case.
This design creates an interesting dichotomy. You have a keyboard that looks quite retro but that delivers a typing experience that is very modern and refined. It did not sound or feel anything like I expected it to and for the better. Lofree has always developed very pleasant sounding and feeling keyboards and this is no exception.
I mentioned that the keyboard doesn't have RGB lighting but it does have backlighting. The light is a cool white. There are more than a dozen different effects but it will not be a rainbow showcase on your desktop. The keys are not translucent, so you'll still need to be some of a touch typist to use the keyboard in the dark, but it creates an underglow effect that matches the minimalist aesthetic of the keyboard quite well. One small touch that I really like is that the keyboard swells between different brightnesses so the transitions are very smooth.
It also supports tri-mode wireless connectivity. You can connect to up to three different devices over Bluetooth using easy to remember shortcuts. Once a device has been paired it will reconnect automatically. It also supports 2.4GHz wireless for gaming grade wireless latency. It's another point in its favor if you do want to use it for gaming and aren't the kind of gamer that needs to program your keys.
The battery is a bit of a downside. At only 2,000 mAh it's on the small side. This is where the lack of RGB lighting works to its benefit. The single color backlight is more power efficient, which means It can last longer and then if it were full RGB. Even still, at full brightness it is only rated to last ten hours before needing to be plugged in. If you turn the backlight off, which really isn't that big of a concession given that it is a simple white, that rises to 80 hours. Still, depending on how you use it, you'll need to plug it in once every other day or every other week.
Lofree PBT Mouse
Along with the Block, Lofree is bundling its PBT wireless mouse. This mouse is unique in multiple ways. First, it’s made of PBT plastic and has an exceptionally durable feel. But even more strikingly, it uses two keyboard keycaps for the left and right buttons (the underside is a bit different but they certainly appear like keycaps from the top).
Like the Block, it supports both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connectivity, as well as a traditional wire. It uses a PixArt PAW3805 sensor that reaches up to 4,000 DPI and is customizable on board. Its 2.4GHz connection is limited to 500Hz, so like the keyboard itself, it’s best for productivity instead of gaming. Battery life is also similar. Since there’s no lighting, it’s rated for up to 75 hours between recharges.
The mouse uses an ergonomic 6-button design. On the left, you have Forward and Back buttons as well as a small wing to support your thumb. It’s taller than it is long which seems to encourage a claw grip but will work with either palm or fingertip too. It’s not light, however, weighing in at 105 grams.
It’s also color matched to the Block, so it makes sense that it would be sold as a set. Together, they make for a unique looking desktop. Even though the keycap buttons look a little strange at first, they work surprisingly well and are quite comfortable!
Lofree Block - Typing and Gaming Performance
The Lofree Block is a very good keyboard for typing and productivity. The minimalist nature of its design really appeals to me, as does its retro aesthetic since I grew up in the age of beige keyboards. It's a good fit for an office setting because of its design and also because it is on the quieter side for a mechanical keyboard. It shouldn't bother anyone sitting next to you or a cube over. Likewise, you could easily use this in the dorm or a library at college.
The POM switches have a somewhat light sound that is accentuated by the deepness of the spacebar. This is somewhat typical of POM plastic being used for a whole switch and certainly works to the Block's benefit. There is an almost raindrop-like quality to the sound signature of the alpha keys. It’s very nice and much better than anything currently being offered by Logitech. In fact, the sound signature is closest to something like the ROG Azoth, which was highly regarded for its sound.
The typing experience isn't exceptionally flexible or bouncy. There is enough give and isolation that keystrokes do not feel stiff but the gasket action isn't such that you'll notice movement when typing normally. It’s non-fatiguing and certainly softer than keyboards with metal plates or those that physically fasten to the top or bottom case, but the implementation is largely about sound here.
I also have to commend Lofree on the tuning of their stabilizers. Larger keys can sometimes stand out negatively from the rest as the stabilizing wire rattles unpleasantly below. The Block’s come pre-lubed are are mostly very well done. I only experience a small amount of rattle on the spacebar which was quickly fixed with just a little more of my own. As a keyboard builder, I’m exceptionally sensitive to even a small amount of rattle, however, and I believe most people wouldn’t have even noticed a difference. Still, the overall tuning is well done with some small margins left for improvement in consistency.
Have a listen at this typing test below:
Without any kind of programmability, this isn’t a keyboard I would recommend for gamers that like a lot of customization. Many games allow you to remap keys in the settings menu and the Block is compatible with these changes but it would have been nice to see some options for creating custom layouts or even VIA support. With that said, since the keyboard has nearly all of the keys of a standard full-size, the only thing I really missed was a dedicated screenshot key.
For typing, productivity, and games that don’t benefit from custom remaps, however, it’s a winner.
Final Thoughts
The Lofree Block is yet another unique, high quality keyboard from a company that has made its name on delivering exactly that. While it leaves a bit to be desired when it comes to gaming and battery life, its typing experience is very good and is responsive enough to play any game on that doesn’t require programmability. I love its aesthetic, especially when paired with the Touch PBT mouse. At $170 for just the keyboard, but if you love its looks, you’ll find that it’s even better to actually use.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes. Some articles may contain affiliate links and purchases made through this will result in a small commission for the site. Commissions are not directed to the author or related to compensation in any way.
