Lofree Flow Dot Foundation
Lofree’s Flow Dot Foundation is a mechanical keyboard aimed at women. While lightweight, it still offers a very sound typing experience.
Keyboards are not exactly an item you could describe as feminine. Off-the-shelf mechanical keyboards don’t tend to lean the design in that direction at all and are usually very utilitarian and industrial in construction.
Of course, a seasoned Mac user could simply switch keycaps out from a mechanical keyboard for something they prefer. But that still leaves the rest of the keyboard unchanged unless you’re prepared to pay a lot for a project to build.
Lofree has developed a keyboard that takes the idea of a feminine keyboard and applies it to practically all elements of its construction.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review – Physical Design
From the outset, the Flow Dot Foundation is a fairly unusual keyboard in a number of ways. A lot of that is down to how much Lofree focused on making it feminine.
For a start, it’s a portable yet small keyboard with a 75% layout using 84 keys. The Function Key row is intact at the top, but they also act as media keys thanks to a function modifier key.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review: A top-down view of the keyboard.
The entire keyboard is encased in a clear casing, with opaque sections inside that match the roundness of the exterior. This aesthetic is nice, with the internal blobs seemingly floating in place.
Underneath the keyboard are four feet. Two large feet are to the rear for angling the keyboard, while the front two are very small.
Lofree also included a pair of extra corner cushions for the front in case the keyboard comes into contact with the desk.
The keyboard’s thickness, the height of the keys, and the angle at which the fixed rear feet place the keyboard may be a bit high for most users, and will almost certainly prompt typists to invest in a wrist rest.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review: The fixed feet cannot be adjusted.
Toward the rear is a small section with two mode switches, a USB-C connector, and a pull-out dongle.
The design of the keys is pretty unusual in that most of them are very custom. Most of the keys are transparent ABS but with a layer of real liquid foundation inserted into the key.
The keys are also made to be circular, with a slight bowl to them. For many of the keys, this gives the effect of typing on rows of upturned foundation makeup bottles, hence the name.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review: The keys are reminiscent of makeup bottle bases.
The main letter keys are a pinker shade than the number and function keys, giving a bit of design variation. Not all keys are treated like this, as the surrounding keys use an opaque peach-colored ABS with simple printing on top.
The space bar is an outlier, as it’s a shiny rose gold key, the only one on there. It matches the metal branding accent to the side of the keyboard quite closely.
It is a bit of a chunky keyboard, but while a bit heavy, it’s not overly problematic. At 972 grams (2.14 pounds), it’s not one you would expect to cart around with your iPad in a bag. But it’s also not too weighty to move around your desk without feeling too light.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review – Switches and Construction
Underneath the interesting round keys are a set of Gateron Baby Racoon switches. These were apparently made color-matched specifically for the keyboard series.
They are largely functionally similar to the Gateron Red as it is a linear switch with a very light 40-gram trigger force. While linear switches are usually celebrated for providing a smooth typing experience, the lighter trigger force means you don’t need to press as heavily.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review: A metal embellishment next to the keys.
The switches have a pre-travel of 1.7 millimeters and a total travel of just 3.2 millimeters. Not only do you not need to press as hard on each key, but they don’t have to travel as far.
Like many other specialist mechanical keyboards, the keys are hot-swappable. If you want to change the switches to another type, you can do so without ruining the rest of the keyboard’s appearance.
The keyboard doesn’t have full RGB, but it does have warm white LEDs. This is somewhat classier for this keyboard’s intended styling compared to what a normal RGB keyboard would look like.
There are seven lighting effects to choose from, complete with four brightness levels depending on your environment. Between the Enter and the Page Up is another purposeful light, which indicates if wireless connectivity is in use.
The clear plastic keyboard enclosure houses a gasket mount design, which means there are elements on the positioning gate between the switches and the PCB to cushion movement. There are other layers as well, including IPXE foam and a silicon pad, which affect how the keyboard sounds when typed.
The result is a decent, low-sounding click of a key press that isn’t overly loud. It’s also a nice, satisfactory experience to press the keys down in regular typing.
The overall chunky construction, despite being plastic, feels quite sturdy. However, it raises the keys to a fairly uncomfortable level to type without a wrist rest.
The fixed legs also mean you won’t be able to adjust the angle in usage either, which isn’t ideal either.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review – Connectivity
Like any other regular keyboard, you could connect it to your Mac or iPad Pro using the included USB-C to USB-C cable. It’s functional, peach-shaded to match the keyboard, and recharges the built-in 4,000mAh battery.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review: The rear switches, USB-C port, and dongle.
Around the back of the keyboard is the USB-C port for that cable, along with two switches. One is to switch between layouts intended for macOS and iOS versus Windows and Android.
The other switch is used to alternate between working off the cable, working off wireless, or turning the keyboard off.
The wireless connectivity is in two ways, with Bluetooth 5.3 support, which means you can connect it to your iPad fairly easily.
The other wireless is using a dongle, which has its own slot on the rear for storage. A neat part of the design is that the dongle snaps into the slot with a magnet holding it in place, so it won’t easily separate in transit.
The 4,000mAh battery is a lot for a typical keyboard, and it shows in its usage time. It is claimed to last for up to 14 days with a single five-hour charge.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review – Pretty but very utilitarian
Lofree has made a keyboard intended for a very specific market. In a product category where gaming keyboards and industrial design aesthetics reign supreme, this one goes a completely different direction.
It’s a feminine keyboard, certainly, but not one that screams it’s girly. It’s rather refined in how it appears, which adds to its appeal.
Its clear enclosure, affected by the warm LED lights, and its fairly unique foundation bottle-style key set help its cause even further.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review: Backlit keys.
There’s little to complain about here, except for the need for a wrist rest if you’ll use it for long periods at the desk.
Yes, many more keyboard options are on the market, and you can certainly find better keyboards out there. What Lofree has done with the Flow Dot Foundation is to stand out with an interesting feminine take in a masculine-dominated world.
It’s a good stab at making an interesting mechanical keyboard, and it’s a risk more manufacturers should be willing to take.
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review – Pros
- Interesting design
- Nice typing experience
- Wireless and wired options
Lofree Flow Dot Foundation review – Cons
- Quite thick
- Not height adjustable
Rating: 4 out of 5
Where to buy Lofree Flow Dot Foundation
The Lofree Flow Dot Foundation mechanical keyboard is available from Amazon, priced at $199.99. It is also sold on the Lofree online store for $189.
