Lemokey P1 HE Keyboard Review

The Lemokey P1 HE has a fairly standard compact (75%) layout. It lacks a Numpad and several keys from the navigation cluster but takes up considerably less space on your desk than a conventional full-size keyboard.

Also note that this keyboard is quite heavy for its size due to its solid aluminum case design, and its fairly tall profile means it isn't ideal for throwing into bags or carrying with you on the go.

This keyboard has outstanding build quality and features a solid aluminum case with a pleasant, slightly chalky finish that doesn't show fingerprint oil.

It has a gasket mount design that uses small silicone 'beans' inside the case to soften the overall typing feel without dramatically impacting actuation accuracy.

The keycaps have a Cherry profile and are made of slightly textured doubleshot PBT, which tends to be more durable than ABS plastic keycaps.

This keyboard also has several layers of sound-dampening material, including a sound-absorbing foam layer between the PCB and switch plate and a layer of EPDM foam and PET film in the bottom of the case, under the PCB.

The keyboard's underside features an embedded weight with a patterned, mirror-finish and four rubber strips do a good job of keeping it from sliding around on your desk.

This keyboard has a standard, high-profile design. Unfortunately, it lacks flip-out feet for providing typing angle options, but this isn't surprising given how heavy it is with its solid aluminum case.

This keyboard doesn't come with a wrist rest, but Lemokey sells silicone or resin wrist rests to match on its website.

This keyboard has a hot-swappable PCB. However, Lemokey's product page indicates this keyboard is only compatible with Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic Switches and doesn't support other magnetic switches such as the Gateron Magnetic Jade or Gateron KS-20 Magnetic switches.

At the time of writing, this keyboard is only available in a prebuilt configuration with Keychron Nebula switches. Lemokey does sell other Gateron Double Rail options separately, including Gateron Double Rail Aurora and Gateron Double Rail Dawn switches. See the Switches section for details on the differences between these switches.

Just note that the right-side modifier keys are 1u-sized instead of the slightly more common 1.25u size. 

The switches are installed north-facing out of the box. Due to this north-facing orientation, there is always a small possibility of interference with some aftermarket sets of MX style keycaps.

We tested the switches in a south-facing orientation, and they functioned as expected overall. However, this orientation significantly reduces RGB visibility and may impact switch actuation accuracy.

This keyboard has fully addressable RGB backlighting with individually backlit keys. You can customize backlighting brightness and effects directly on the keyboard with hotkey combinations or with finer control using the configuration software. 

The backlighting is bright and clear, with easy-to-read legends and minimal obstructions.

The white-only lighting is impressively close to pure white. However, this is likely influenced by the white colorway we tested. It may appear slightly more muted on the black colorway. Also, note that some configurations of this keyboard lack shine-through keycaps.

The Lemokey P1 HE comes with a braided USB-A to USB-C cable that retains considerable kinks from its packaging. 

The Lemokey P1 HE has a 4000 mAh battery with an advertised working time (backlighting off) of up to 100 hours.

Lemokey doesn't state the connection type used to produce this estimate, but we expect it to reflect the maximum battery life using a Bluetooth connection. The included 2.4GHz wireless receiver connection provides superior stability and performance at the cost of battery life.

This keyboard lacks dedicated macro keys, and you can't record macros directly on the keyboard using hotkey combinations. However, you can program macros to any key using the configuration software.

A switch on the back edge of the keyboard toggles between wired, 2.4Ghz, and Bluetooth connection types.

There's no physical switch to toggle between operating systems, but you can configure a Mac profile in the configuration software.

The control knob in the top right corner of the keyboard controls media volume (and mute when pressed), but you can also change these controls in the software.

While there aren't any dedicated indicator lights, the Caps Lock key backlight is static when enabled.

This keyboard comes with documentation that lists all available hotkey commands. See a digital version of this documentation on Lemokey's website.

• USB-C to USB-A cable
• USB-A wireless receiver
• USB-C to USB-A Extension adapter for receiver
• 1x White ESC keycap (orange ESC key preinstalled)
• Screwdriver
• Hex Key
• Keycap/switch puller
• User documentation

The Lemokey P1 HE offers an outstanding typing experience. Its gasket mount design provides a soft, slightly springy feel without feeling overly spongey. Multiple layers of sound-absorbing material help minimize the pinging sounds typically associated with all-aluminum cases. The pre-lubed switches and stabilizers feel exceptionally smooth and consistent, with minimal wobble and virtually no rattle—a significant improvement over earlier Lemokey and Keychron models.

Key spacing follows a standard layout, and the doubleshot PBT keycaps have a pleasant textured finish. Unlike many keyboards from its parent brand, Keychron, this model uses the more common Cherry profile, which may feel more familiar and preferable to most users.

The Lemokey P1 HE is very quiet and unlikely to bother those around you, even in noise-sensitive environments.

We expect all currently compatible Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic switches to produce similar typing noise. For more information on compatible switches, see the Switches section.

This keyboard uses Gateron Double-rail Magnetic Nebula switches, which are analog, Hall effect switches that come pre-lubed from the factory.

At the time of writing, you can only purchase a fully assembled configuration of this keyboard with Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic Nebula switches. However, Lemokey sells two other compatible switch options: linear Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic Dawn switches, which are slightly more lightweight, and linear Gateron Double-Rail Magnetic Aurora switches, which have a slightly heavier feel. All three switch options are available directly from Lemokey.

We conducted all tests using the following actuation settings:

• 0.2 mm actuation
• 0.1 mm Rapid Trigger enabled (press and release)

The default actuation settings are:

• 2.0 mm actuation
• Rapid Trigger disabled.

We took additional measurements at various actuation points and confirmed settings are typically extremely accurate at lower actuation settings, often within 0.2 mm of the advertised range, which is outstanding. However, higher actuation settings are much less accurate, although this likely won't be an issue for most people as lower actuation points are generally preferred for competitive gaming.

• Setting 0.50 mm: actuation 0.55 mm
• Setting 0.80 mm: actuation 0.83 mm
• Setting 1.00 mm: actuation 1.01 mm
• Setting 1.20 mm: actuation 1.15 mm
• Setting 1.50 mm: actuation 1.38 mm
• Setting 1.80 mm: actuation 1.61 mm
• Setting 2.00 mm: actuation 1.79 mm
• Setting 2.50 mm: actuation 2.18 mm
• Setting 3.00 mm: actuation 2.63 mm
• Setting 3.50 mm: actuation 3.16 mm
• Setting 3.80 mm: actuation 3.48 mm

The Lemokey P1 HE maintains exceptionally low single-key latency, providing a highly responsive gaming experience across all genres and competitive levels.

We conducted this test with the following settings:

• 0.2 mm actuation
• 0.1 mm Rapid Trigger enabled (press and release)

The Lemokey P1 HE has excellent multi-key latency performance. It's well-suited for games in which you need to press additional keystrokes while already pressing and maintaining multiple keys.

We also conducted supplementary Multi-Key Latency using a wireless receiver connection, which shows only a marginal increase in key press latency.

• Receiver Key Press: 4.8 ms
• Receiver Key Release 7.2 ms

We conducted all tests with the following settings:

• 0.2 mm actuation
• 0.1 mm Rapid Trigger enabled (press and release)

This keyboard has a maximum polling rate of 1000Hz, with no data transmission bottlenecks from other latency components.

When connected via Bluetooth, the polling rate is limited to 125Hz, which is standard and expected.

By default, the keyboard supports 6-key rollover (6KRO), but you can enable full NKRO using the FN + N shortcut.

The Lemokey P1 HE delivers decent chord split performance, making it a viable choice for playing rhythm games or other titles that demand many simultaneous inputs.

The Lemokey P1 HE uses Keychron Launcher, a web-based configurator that you can access using any Chromium-based browser. This software is well laid out and intuitive and allows you to change a range of expected settings alongside Hall effect (HE) settings, including actuation and reset distance.

HE settings can only be adjusted when using a wired connection. However, once saved to onboard memory, they remain accessible even in wireless mode.

This keyboard also supports several additional features related to analog key settings, detailed below. Many of these features are still in active development, so their behavior may change with future updates.

• Rapid Trigger: This setting can dynamically adjust your switches' actuation and reset points based on distance rather than being fixed at a specific point along the keystroke. This allows for faster follow-up inputs, which can be especially beneficial in scenarios like counter-strafing in FPS games.
• One Key Multiple Commands: Allows you to map up to four different actions to a single key based on actuation distance.
• Snap Click: Actively monitors two keys, prioritizing whichever input you press further downwards.
• Gamepad Analog: This feature mimics the gradual controls of a gamepad or joystick, which can be particularly helpful for playing racing or flight sims.

Lemokey has a guide for HE mode adjustments on their website.

Note: This software works in Windows and MacOS environments by default, but if you're a Linux user, you may need to adjust udev permissions first. A member of the community has posted a helpful guide for this process in a Reddit thread.

The web-based software is compatible with Windows and macOS by default, but Linux users may need to adjust their system permissions before using it. For more details on Linux compatibility, see the note in the Configuration Software section.