The Flow feeling in plastic
The Flow Lite 84 is the cheaper alternative to the Lofree Flow 2, and it comes in plastic instead of aluminium. I tried it at the same booth as the Flow 2, so what I wanted to find out was simple: how much of the typing feel and the sound do you lose when you go down in price?
Disclaimer
I tried the keyboard at the booth during Moderskeppet, an event by Geeks AB and SweClockers with 1500 geeks on a boat in international waters. Nothing came home with me, so this is a short typing test at the booth, with noise around me. Two of the photos are mine, the rest are press images. Nordic ISO layout.
The volume roller and the receiver underneath
The Flow Lite 84 has a scroll wheel in the top right corner, and you decide what it should do. The Flow 2 has a touch bar in the same spot, so here they went for something more physical, and I like that.
Physical dials tend to be better than touch bars, don’t they?
With this implementation of the roller you avoid some of the problems reported with the Flow 2, like brushing the touch bar with your thumb. Those problems are completely gone on the cheapest model, which is very positive.
The volume roller in the top right. Out of the box it controls the volume, but you can give it another job. / Credit: kaytomas.com
A really neat touch is that the receiver can be stored on the underside of the Flow Lite 84. You cannot do that on the Flow 2, maybe because it could not be done in the aluminium. A tiny detail, but it can be enough to stop you losing the receiver.
The underside with a slot for the 2.4 GHz receiver. The press image shows the US layout, in stores you get Nordic ISO. / Credit: Lofree
Typing feel and sound
In my limited testing, the Flow Lite and Flow 2 offered surprisingly similar typing experiences, both in feel and sound. But the overall build quality is another story. The Flow 2 feels like a solid, premium piece of equipment, while the Lite feels unmistakably like plastic. It’s a noticeable difference when you have your hands on them.
I got to test this a lot at the booth, and I like both the typing feel and the sound.
I experienced a high level of quality here too, even though the materials are cheaper than on the Flow 2. I did not get to check which switch was in the one I tried, but every Flow Lite is sold with Specter, a linear switch at 40 grams. If you want the silent Hades switch, you buy it separately.
It uses a gasket-mount design like the Flow 2, and you get a kickstand at the back with two angles. The weight is 550 grams versus 745 grams for the Flow 2 in aluminium, and you notice that when you lift it.
Otherwise it is 1000 Hz polling over cable and 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth on top, and PBT keycaps with legends the light shines through.
The grey one, which is the other colour you get in Scandinavia. The press image shows the US layout. / Credit: Lofree
I saw it in several colours at the booth. In Scandinavia it is sold in Off White and grey.
Price, on sale right now
The regular price here in Norway is around 1399 NOK. At the time of writing it sells for 949 NOK at Proshop, on sale until October 19. The Flow 2 84 costs 1549 NOK, so you save around 600 NOK by going Lite.
The one I would buy myself
The Lite gives you a good typing feel, a volume roller, Nordic ISO layout and somewhere to keep the receiver, and you pay 600 NOK less than for the Flow 2.
But if I were buying one for home or work, I’d still choose the Flow 2. There’s just something about that solid slab of aluminium sitting on your desk that makes it worth the extra money to me.
