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The Lofree keyboard is now available in "seasonal" colors and has a tweaked layout

By Kenny Yeo - on 1 Dec 2017, 5:30am

The Lofree keyboard is now available in "seasonal" colors and has a tweaked layout

(Image source: Lofree)

The Lofree is a wireless mechanical keyboard for Macs inspired by vintage typewriters. It was unveiled on Indiegogo last year and quickly became one of the most popular keyboards to appear on the crowdfunding site. It raised over US$700,000 from backers in 107 countries.

Now, Lofree is back with updated colors and an improved keyboard layout.

Called the Lofree Four Seasons, the keyboard is available in four colorways inspired by, you guessed it, the passing of the seasons. There’s Vernal White (Spring), Aestival Blue (Summer), Autumnal Grey (Autumn), and finally Hibernal Black (Winter).

New colors aside, the Lofree Four Seasons has a tweaked keyboard layout. A common complaint of the first-generation Lofree keyboard is that the keys have an unconventional layout (Q is right below ~ and 1) and that some of the keys (Right Shift and Tab, for example) are of a different size as compared to most other keyboards.

The new Lofree Four Seasons fixes some of this issue by repositioning the entire number row to the left so that 1 is to the top left of Q as it is on most standard keyboards. In addition, the Backspace and Cap Locks have been enlarged.

(Image source: Lofree)

It will be interesting to see how these changes will improve the experience for touch typists. I had a first-generation Lofree and I couldn’t get used to the oddball layout of it. I use the “~” key often to switch between multiple browser windows and with the Lofree I ended up hitting nothing but empty space.

Elsewhere, the Lofree Four Seasons maintains much of the features of its predecessor. It features white LED backlighting and comes with clicky Gateron blue switches. It also supports Bluetooth and is compatible with Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows devices. Its built-in battery offers up to 2 weeks of battery life.

The project is live now and early backers can pledge US$74 (~S$100) to get a Lofree Four Seasons keyboard. Or, you can get a pair for US$140 (~S$189).

The Lofree Four Seasons keyboard is expected to ship in March 2018.

Source: Indiegogo

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