You don’t associate mechanical keyboards with sleek portability… and you don’t associate portable compact keyboards with great tactile feedback or mechanical travel. Lofree’s somehow managed to blur both those worlds into a keyboard that offers the best typing experience while weighing just a pound and being 0.6 inches (16.5mm) thick at its thickest point. Crafted from a combination of magnesium and carbon fiber, the Lofree EDGE reinvents the wheel. It uses unique aerospace-grade materials for their strength-to-weight ratio, redesigned keycaps that are thin but still feel ergonomic, and redefined Kailh mechanical switches that provide a great tactile feel that gives you the mechanical feedback of a much thicker keyboard, but in a highly portable, sleek form.
Designer: Lofree
Click Here to Buy Now: $129 $249 (48% off) Hurry, only limited units at a discounted price. Raised over $270,000.
Over the years, Lofree’s developed its brand reputation for designing wonderfully retropunk tech peripherals. Whether it’s the Touch mouse with PBT buttons, the Wavy Chips mouse that looks like Italian automotive design from the golden ages, or even its Foundation and Block wireless keyboards that reinvent classic designs from decades ago to give them a proper modern revival, the company’s always pushed the boundaries of visual aesthetics, striking a fine balance between classic and contemporary. It’s no wonder that they have, as a result, developed a viciously loyal fan base of design enthusiasts and tech nerds who coalesce around the company’s vision for making great-looking tech that performs remarkably too.
The EDGE is unlike anything Lofree’s ever made before, given that its design brief is distinctly different from the company’s previous approaches to industrial design. Lofree’s thinnest mechanical keyboard yet, the EDGE boasts an ultra-low profile, with a design that’s equal parts utilitarian and aesthetic. Every material is chosen carefully, and every design detail has meticulous thought behind it, resulting in a keyboard that’s just 485 grams (1.06 pounds) light and just 15mm at its thickest point – making it both thinner and lighter than the Corsair K100 Air, which previously held the title of being the thinnest mechanical keyboard. At its thinnest point, it’s a staggering 5.4mm, making it just marginally thicker than Apple’s newest M4 iPad Pro.
The title of the thinnest mechanical keyboard doesn’t come without some intense design and engineering, backed by solid R&D. Lofree basically designed the entire keyboard from the ground up, removing non-essential components, choosing materials like magnesium and carbon fiber for their strength and low-weight, and even using custom switches. The EDGE’s construction removes components like the positioning plate, silicone pad, and IPXE foam that you’d find in most keyboards, instead opting for a unique PCB gasket structure that holds the keyboard’s internals in place. The base of the keyboard is made from machined magnesium alloy, which then gets capped off with a 3K twill weave carbon fiber upper plate that not only gives the keyboard a solid upper surface but also gives it the distinct carbon fiber aesthetic that people know and love.
The keys themselves have a unique redesigned profile that’s a combination of thin yet ergonomic, and come made from grease-resistant PBT polymer. They come with a concave top, allowing for error-free typing, and have a specially formulated Kailh POM Switch 2.0 that’s just 9.8mm thick (your average mechanical keyboard switches are 18.5mm) – and even though it’s just half the size of a mechanical switch, it still boasts a healthy amount of travel so you feel like you’re using a mechanical keyboard and not one of those uncomfortable keyboards you’d find on slim laptops. The EDGE’s wedge design does, however, reinforce a sense of slimness, which means you can even carry your wireless keyboard with you in a laptop bag.
The EDGE works in both wired and wireless formats, and is compatible with Windows as well as Mac devices. In wired mode, the keyboard operates at a staggering 100Hz polling rate, practically making latency a thing of the past for gamers. The wireless mode helps keep desks clean, and reduces cable clutter, suitable for all other professions. The EDGE also comes with Lofree’s Configurator software, which lets you change the RGB backlight, remap keys, and set macros/shortcuts (the Configurator is only available for Windows, with a Mac version rolling out at the end of this year). A built-in 2000mAh battery offers 10 hours of wireless use with the backlight on, and a staggering 130 hours if you switch the backlight off. A USB-C port charges the keyboard in just under 3 hours.
Lofree’s products don’t come without a design twist. While their previous keyboards and mice boasted quirky retropunk aesthetics that gave a distinct flair to your workplace, the EDGE comes with its own carbon fiber vertical stand that holds either the keyboard or your laptop when not in use. Each stand comes cleverly machined from the blank rectangle that gets cut out of the center of the EDGE’s carbon fiber upper plate, helping reduce waste and repurpose the material to create something functional. Each EDGE comes with the stand flat-packed, which can easily be assembled in under a minute, giving you a convenient place to dock your device when you’re done with it, so your table remains clean and clutter-free. The $129 EDGE also ships with a connecting cable, extra keycaps, and a keyboard sleeve that’s only available to people who back the keyboard on Kickstarter. The world’s slimmest mechanical keyboard ships globally starting July 2024.
Click Here to Buy Now: $129 $249 (48% off) Hurry, only limited units at a discounted price. Raised over $270,000.
The post Lofree EDGE – The World’s Thinnest Mechanical Keyboard is just 16mm, less than two iPhones thick first appeared on Yanko Design.
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