Lofree Hyzen Magnetic Mechanical keyboard review: Best of both worlds?

Overall, the Hyzen stands above your Razers, Corsairs, and Logitechs, not just in price but also in performance. Despite the few shortcomings, it is a top-tier gaming keyboard.

The Lofree Hyzen packaging offers a premium unboxing experience. Wrapped in a soft cloth and placed inside a pill-shaped hard case with Velcro straps is the Hyzen keyboard and all the accessories. Lofree provides a color-matched braided USB cable, a black dongle (regardless of the keyboard color), some extra key caps, and a key puller.

Lofree is using frosted/ translucent keycaps that partially reveal the switches underneath, as well as the bright RGB lighting. There is also an RGB light strip running across the front (facing the user). Overall, the Hyzen has excellent build quality, with the one shortcoming being the fixed typing angle; more on that later.

Thanks to the mechanical nature, the Hyzen supports actuation adjustments of 0.1mm, along with other features like Rapid Trigger, SOCD, and Dynamic Keystrokes (DKS). No analog inputs here, unfortunately.

There are three connectivity options, i.e., 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth, and wired, with shortcuts to switch between the wireless options. Lofree advertises true 8K polling in wired and 2.4 GHz modes. The customization is handled through a web driver, so there’s no need to install a desktop app, but as expected, it does not support QMK/VIA. There is a massive 10,000 mAh battery backing all these features, which, along with other components, gives the Hyzen its 3.1 kg weight.

That said, the typing feel in mechanical mode and gaming experience in magnetic mode are excellent. In mechanical mode, the keys actuate halfway through the keystroke, but the tactile bump is very subtle. Regardless, the sound is on the satisfying ‘creamy/thocky’ side without any pinging, thanks to multiple layers of dampening. Holding down the Fn key activates the Fn row without having to use the toggle. With the toggle in the 'on' position, pressing the Fn key shows the available shortcuts. This unfortunately makes accessing the media controls a two-stage process.

Despite the fixed 12-degree angle, typing is comfortable with or without a wrist rest. That said, it would’ve been ideal to have adjustable feet with such a premium keyboard. Those who prefer a flatter angle are unfortunately out of luck, while those who like it steeper can just place something underneath.

Gaming in magnetic mode is just as satisfying. Switching to quicker actuation and reset points makes inputs faster than traditional mechanical keyboards. There were no missed inputs during our testing in 2.4 GHz mode at 8K polling. Rapid Trigger, DKS, and SOCD work as advertised.

Coming to battery life, we used the Hyzen in both Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz modes. It lasted about a week on average, sometimes less. The massive battery takes quite a while to fully charge via the awkwardly located USB-C port. The front/base RGB strip drains the battery much more quickly than the backlight, which we realized (and confirmed by Lofree) when the keyboard demanded recharging after just two to three days. It would’ve been ideal if Lofree incorporated a battery percentage indicator somewhere, since the web driver is the only way to know the exact value.

The web driver itself is easy to use. Remapping and actuation adjustments can be done there, while the lighting customization can be done through shortcuts as well. Interestingly, there are two sleep stages, and they can be customized. Lofree also allows customizing the RGB lighting on the receiver, but when the keyboard sleeps or is disconnected, it goes back to its default state (solid white), staying on even when the keyboard isn’t.