First, the origin. Lemokey is Keychron’s gaming brand, offering keyboards and mice aimed directly at gamers, rather than Keychon’s theoretically more “enthusiastic” offering. Let’s be truthful, the differences between gaming fans and enthusiasts are pretty slim – and only really fascinating because our Jacobs love to argue about it – but when it comes to gaming mice, the distinction should be more clear.
Although Keychron does sell “gaming” mice on its own website (as well as this Lemokey rodent), which makes such a clear statement a little harder to parse. Regardless of the semantic differences between brands, however Lemokey G1 is still an absolute classic Keychron because it offers a high-end feature set at a truly affordable price.
The most obvious of these is the 8,000Hz polling rate on offer, a feature that is usually the domain of high-end gaming mice from the likes of Logitech or Razer, often at twice the price of the G1. So does this make Lemokey the perfect mouse for beginners, professional gamers, super competitive gamers?
Whenever an author asks a question like this in a review, you already know that the answer will be a plain “no.” So it was almost a redundant gimmick on my part. I’m really sorry for treating you with so little respect. Still, it’s worth noting that despite Lemokey’s claims that his little mouse has a full 8000Hz polling rate, this absolutely should not be considered a killer feature of the G1.
G1 specification
Communication: 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 5.1, wired
Buttons: 5
Transducer: Pixart 3950
Max Resolution: 30,000 DPI
Max speed: 750 pixels per second
Max acceleration: 50 gr
Libra: 55 gr
Price: $69 | 69 lbs
I tested the performance of the Pixart 3950 sensor in a Lemokey mouse and during general operate at 1000Hz the mouse works great, as soon as we escalate it to 8000Hz the data points start to look really weird. This is because it is not actually polling at a specific rate; I measured the inputs and where there should have been eight times per millisecond polling, I saw three to five counts. But it’s never the full eight that count.
But while this flaw is critical to any of the few ultra-competitive gamers who might notice and base a purchase on an 8K polling rate, spending more time looking at this miss does the Lemokey G1 a disservice, as it really is a great little gaming mouse.
And I mean not much. The Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro has been my favorite gaming mouse since its release, but after using the G1 for a few weeks, I found that going back to the DeathAdder seemed like a good idea. massive. Relatively speaking, of course, but still noticeably heavier. As an avid claw catcher, Lemokey’s diminutive stature really suits me.
It’s also super lightweight. In fact, it’s super lighter than the latest Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 Dex and has the same overall weight as the Razer DeathAdder V3 Hyperspeed we love so much. And that’s without that awful cut-out casing that makes many other dedicated, lightweight gaming mice a trypophobic nightmare.
Picture 1 With 6
This reminds me a lot of Logitech’s humble projects lately; hiding profile switches, avoiding RGB, and generally making it mercifully distracting. It feels great in your hand and glides across the desktop with grace and poise. But that’s not quite the finish of the Logitech mouse. The finish of the plastic casing where the seams meet is much sharper, suggesting poorer build quality. It’s only noticeable when you look for it, when you run your thumb along the edges, but it’s there.
But while this plain, stripped-back design makes it look and feel like a very basic mouse, the Lemokey G1 has absolutely everything you’d expect in a wireless gaming mouse, and at a very reasonable price. The 2.4GHz connection is solid – with a slight dropout when I first boot up and everything is loading – otherwise there’s no lag in the game. Tracking is also top notch, with a pace and acceleration of 750 IPS and 50 G. Basically, it will follow all your crazy movements and spasms, regardless of the tense gaming situation you find yourself in.
Picture 1 With 8
What if it’s not that stylish? This means there is no RGB lighting to reduce battery life, and only a symbolic lightweight around the overhead DPI/profile switch shows which setting is enabled. Even if you were to only operate it with the 8000Hz exhaust mode turned on, you’d still get 40 hours of battery life. I’d expect twice that at 1000Hz, and Lemokey promises 140 hours if you don’t care about lag and are elated to put up with the Bluetooth 5.1 connection.
Maybe that’s fine for Keychron, but here in Lemokey land we like our 2.4 GHz connection, thank you very much.
I will say that I am not sure about the online configuration application. And I find it a bit strange that I can only apparently access the settings when I’m connected via a USB Type-C cable
When I first took the G1 out of the box and started playing around with it and its somewhat novel, slightly wonky 8K polling rate, I thought it would simply be a cheaper wireless mouse that simply Thin. But I walked away with a much more positive attitude towards this little guy. I’m not keen on a cheaper option, but I still have the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro in the box next to me and find no reason to switch to the Lemokey, especially considering how massive the Razer rodent is in my hand now.
This is always a key thing for me when I review anything: How gutted will I be if I have to return it? In the case of the Lemokey, I won’t necessarily be gutted when I have to put it back in its packaging, but I will miss it and until that time comes, I don’t see any reason to replace it.
