This is the keyboard that will convert you to the low-profile life

Low-profile mechanical keyboards have always seemed a bit odd to me. I get the appeal — in theory, they offer a slim, visually lighter design similar to a typical membrane chiclet keyboard while maintaining the improved tactility and better typing experience of a traditional mechanical keyboard.

But in my experience, they usually end up as the worst of both worlds. They’re still bigger than a membrane keyboard but don’t feel markedly better to type on. Plus, they are much harder to customize than standard mechanical boards due to a much smaller pool of compatible switches, keycaps, and other parts. My position has been that if you aren’t going all the way to a full-height mechanical keyboard, don’t bother.

This $159 Lofree Flow keyboard I’ve been typing on for the past few days might just change my mind. Its chassis is just 10mm thick, but it maintains a very nice typing experience. It looks cool, with classy keycaps and sharp legends, and works wirelessly with both Windows and Mac computers. It also has an aluminum frame and build quality that rivals fancier mechanical keyboards, and it sounds and feels great right out of the box — no rattly stabilizers or pingy reverberations here.

Lofree sells two versions of the Flow: a white and silver one with linear switches and a black and dark gray model that comes with tactile switches and apes Apple’s space gray motif. (Oddly and annoyingly, you can’t choose the color scheme and type of switch separately.) It’s clear that Lofree is targeting Mac users directly with the style and functionality of the Flow, but it has a Windows mode and dual legends on the modifier keys to support both platforms. I’ve got the dark gray model with black keycaps here, and I really like the way it looks on my desk — it’s sleek and takes up a minimal amount of space.

The Flow has a 75 percent layout, which means it has arrow keys, a function row, and a handful of cursor control keys. Unless you have a specific need for a numpad, this layout gives you all the keys you need in a compact format and is very similar to what’s on a lot of laptops. 

Both colors of the Flow let you swap out the keycaps and switches, but if you were hoping to go wild with customization, there are limits. The Flow’s switches have a different pin layout from other low-profile switches, so you are effectively limited to Lofree’s stock Kailh switches in either linear, tactile, or clicky variants. (I was able to get full-size MX-style keycaps to work on the Flow, but the typing travel was comically low, and doing so kind of defeats the purpose of a low-profile keyboard.) The Flow also doesn’t support popular remapping tools like VIA that let you customize the functionality of the keys exactly how you like them.

For me, none of those limitations have been a problem because I really like both the way the Flow looks with its included keycaps and how it feels and sounds with the Phantom tactile switches my unit came with. I am also able to remap keys using Karabiner Elements on my Mac, so I don’t really miss VIA. The keycaps are a textured PBT material that resists shine and feels nice under my fingers. Their profile is a bit flatter than I’m used to, but I think that makes it easier for those coming from a laptop or chiclet keyboard.