Keychron and its gaming division Lemokey are no strangers to making fantastic mechanical keyboards, many of which have become some of my favorite keyboards ever. At CES 2025, the company unleashed a suite of new keyboards including the new Lemokey P1 HE, an updated version of the P1 Pro I reviewed last year, now using hall effect switches.

Simply put, this may have become my new favorite keyboard. It sticks very close to the Keychron Q1 HE overall, which was already amazing, but the improved aesthetics (in my opinion) make this a more attractive option.

About this review: Keychron sent us the Lemokey P1 HE for this review. The company had no input in its contents.

Premium, yet fun
Lemokey P1 HE

Fantastic build quality paired with RGB

9/10
Wireless
Yes (2.4GHz or Bluetooth)
Backlight
Yes, per-key RGB
Media Controls
Volume knob

The Lemokey P1 HE is a fantastic gaming keyboard with hall effect switches. It's comfortable and quiet to type on and it feels incredibly premium, with a visual experience enhanced byu the shine-through RGB keycaps. Some limited customization options hold it back from true perfection, but for this price, it's hard to imagine doing much better.

Pros & Cons
  • Quiet and comfortable typing experience
  • Fully customizable actuation and features thanks to hall effect sensors
  • Shine-through keycaps and RGB make this one of the flashier Keychron models
  • Spacebar is still a little louder than I would like
  • No Mac keycaps included

Pricing and availability

Keychron officially announced the Lemokey P1 HE at CES 2025, and the keyboard became available to buy immediately on the company's website. Keychron products usually end up on Amazon at some point, but that doesn't seem to be the case just yet with this one.

Pricing for the Lemokey P1 HE comes in at $169, regardless of the configuration you choose. It's available in either white or black with shinet-hrough keycaps, and there will be a black version with green highlights but without the shinethrough keycaps.

Specifications
Wireless
Yes (2.4GHz or Bluetooth)
Backlight
Yes, per-key RGB
Media Controls
Volume knob
Battery
4,000mAh
Num Pad
No
Switch Type
Hall effect
Replaceable keycaps
Yes
Replaceable switches
Yes (only compatible with Gateron hall effect switches)
Number of Keys
81
Wired operation
Yes
Dimensions
12.68x5.51x0,76-1.24 inches (322x140x19.2-31.5mm) (without keycaps)
Material
Metal frame, aluminum plate
Multi-device pairing
Yes (3x Bluetooth + 1x 2.4GHz)
Charging
USB-C (cable included)
Keycaps
Cherry profile, double-shot PBT
Internal Sound Dampening
Yes (multiple pieces)
Wrist rest
No
USB Passthrough
No
Polling rate
1,000Hz (Wired or 2.4GHz)/125Hz (Bluetooth)
Color
White (shinethrough)/Black (shinethrough/Black (no shine-through)
Features
Lemokey Launcher support, QMK/VIA support
Price
$169
Compatibility
Windows/macOS/Linux (mcOS keycaps not included)
Programmable Keys
Yes, using Lemokey Launcher
Actuation range
0.2-3.8mm

What I like

One the best typing experiences I've had

Keychron already has what I'd consider my favorite keyboard so far with the Q1 HE, which has been my main driver ever since I reviewed it. Other keyboards have been good, but not quitre on the same level. The Lemokey P1 HE is the closest I've seen a keyboard come to that same level, and in fact, I'd say it's nearly indistinguishable, though it is slightly louder. The keyboard employs plenty of sound-absorbing materials and a premium, all-metal design to provide a typing experience that feels just about perfect. It's about as quiet as I could hope for, aside from the space bar still being a bit louder than the smaller keys.

Of course, the fact that we're looking at hall effect mechanical switches also has some huge implications. They're completely linear switches, which is, in my opinion, the best kind of switch, which helps it be that much quieter and smoother. It also lets you adjust the exact actuation point you want to use, so if you prefer having the key actuate when it's closer to the bottom of its range, you can do that. Or you can make it actuate with as little as 0.2mm of movement. Myself, I was happy with the default setting, so I left it at that.

Did this keyboard prevent me from making far too many typos? No, but that's just par for the course for me, as I'm a very clumsy typist that tries to write faster than my fingers can know what they're doing. It happens with every keyboard, so I'm not the best person to evaluate the words-per-minute score.

Finally, some fun RGB

A problem I've consistently had with Keychron keyboards is that they don't embrace RGB enough. I know it's completely superficial, but I like adding a touch of color to my setup, and most of Keychron's boards have RGB lighting that isn't very bright and gets covered by the keycaps.

The Lemokey P1 HE finally fixes this thanks to the addition of shine-through labels to the keycaps, and I love that. The per-key RGB lighting makes this a much more fun keyboard to look at and use than other Keychron models, and that alone makes this a better option over the Q1 HE in my opinion. Considering there's no real downgrade to any other part of the experience, it's a no-brainer.

Otherwise, the design here is nearly identical to that of Lemokey P1 Pro (or the Keychron Q1 HE). It has the exact same sets of keys, except the keycaps are also squared-off rather than having the more traditional rounded look Keychron usually goes for. Conversely, the volume knob is more rounded and it looks a little less cool, but it feels just as good to use.

All the connectivity options

It's nothing new for Keychron at this point, but the Lemokey P1 HE also has the benefit of being very versatile in its connectivity options. The keyboard includes both a USB cable and a 2.4GHz dongle so you can use it in either mode, plus it supports up to three devices over Bluetooth. That means you could use this keyboard with up to five devices by simply switching between modes as needed.

When using one of the wireless modes, the USB cable just charges the keyboard, so you don't have to use it with the computer it's connected to. It's still great to see this kind of feature, even if it's not exclusive to Keychron.

What I don't like

No love for macOS at all

I reviewed the Lemokey L4 recently, and one of the main complaints I had about that keyboard is that it didn't have a mode switch for Mac devices, which meant I hate to manually change profiles in the Lemokey Launcher app to move from Windows to macOS.

Well, the Lemokey P1 HE makes this even more frustrating by now acknowledging Macs at all. With this one, there are no Mac keycaps included, and even weirder, the Lemokey Launcher configuration tool doesn't even seem to offer the option to change key mappings to the Mac functions. It makes this cumbersome to set up if you don't already know what each Windows key does on a Mac, though you can get used to it (and I have). It just seems weird to cut back so much on macOS support here, even removing options from the software.

What's even weirder is that some Mac-specific features are available in the remapping interface, but the Option and Command keys don't seem to be.

RGB customization is still limited

As much as I love the fact that this keyboard has RGB keycaps, I have to say, I don't understand why Keychron keeps offering such limited options for setting up the RGB lights how you prefer. You can choose from a decently long list of preset effects, but if you have per-key lighting, why can't I customize the lighting for each of the keys?

It's just odd to me that we still don't get full cusotmization even though RGB is such a big part of this keyboard's identity.

Should you buy the Lemokey P1 HE?

Simply put, yes. Combining the excelelent typing experience and customizability of the Keychron Q1 HE with a more appealing design thanks to the brighter RGB lighting and shine-through keycaps makes this the ideal keyboard in my opinion. Even better, this one is actually cheaper than the Keychron Q1 HE, and there isn't a huge sacrifice to be made in the typing quality. It's not as quiet, but it's very close. I'd honestly recommend this over the Q1 HE if you want something that looks a bit more fun.

You should buy the Lemokey P1 HE if:

  • You want a fairly quiet and comfortable keyboard
  • You're looking for something with premium build quality
  • You appreciate RGB lighting

You shouldn't buy the Lemokey P1 HE if:

  • You want the absolute quietest keyboard around
  • You want to use it with a Mac
Top-tier keyboard
Lemokey P1 HE
Wireless
Yes (2.4GHz or Bluetooth)
Backlight
Yes, per-key RGB
Media Controls
Volume knob
Battery
4,000mAh
Num Pad
No
Switch Type
Hall effect

Offering an excellent typing experience and fun RGB lighting, the Lemokey P1 HE is one of the best keyboards you can get at this price. It's not perfect, but it's close enough that it's hard to complain.