Lemokey X0 Keyboard Review: A Great Addition for Any PC Gamer

At first sight

Expert rating

Pros

• Great form factor
• Cheap
• Mechanical switches

Cons

• No adjustable legs
• No profiles for each game

Our verdict

The Lemokey X0 is a great starting point for a fantastic, but sadly forgotten, one-handed keyboard form factor. Give it a try if you’re interested or are on a budget and want to experiment before committing to a more expensive design.

Price when viewing

This value will display geo-referenced price text for a product that is undefined.

Best prices today

A keyboard that’s best for typing is rarely best for gaming. This is why I like small side-mounted keyboards like the Razer Tartarus. I love them so much that I cut GameSir so I might add better switches and a bigger battery because there are no decent wireless options.

But over 100 bucks for essentially half a keyboard is a lot, especially if you’re not sure you’ll be as obsessed with the form factor as I am. Introducing the Lemokey X0, a budget option that has quickly become one of my favorite gadgets of the year.

Like I said, it’s essentially half a keyboard designed for left-handed use only. It’s also pretty cheap – and I say this without any offense – $33. But for that impulse price, I’d recommend it to just about any PC gamer who uses a keyboard regularly.

One hand design

X0 includes six rows of keys trimmed in column F5. It adds a couple of modifiers and a large cross-shaped space bar. Underneath it all, it has a large, durable, rubberized palm pad. It also features mechanical switches (again, pretty cheap) and keycaps (ditto), which are a bit hard to find in this extremely niche form factor. A permanent USB-A cable, red LED lighting, and compatibility with the Lemokey/Keychron online programming tool round out the functionality.

Michael Crider / Foundry

The usefulness of this kind of gadget should be obvious. They’ve been around in one version or another for over 20 years – I think the Belkin N50 SpeedPad was the original that eventually evolved into Razer Tartarus I mentioned earlier. This is a special left-hand-only keyboard designed to be a more focused and ergonomic tool than a regular full-size keyboard, while still allowing the right hand to function as a mouse.

(Unfortunately, this isn’t actually possible to do if you use your left hand to mouse, and I say this sincerely as I’m left-handed. Maybe try fully split keyboard and wrist rest.)

Michael Crider / Foundry

I genuinely love this layout and have been using something like this since I switched from console to full PC gaming in college. Not only is the smaller controller much easier to place for a more comfortable and ergonomic gaming experience, but it also allows me to have a full dedicated keyboard dedicated to typing. Which for someone who writes all day to put food on the table (usually next to the keyboard) is a big deal.

Not much competition

I’ve tried many of these things. I wouldn’t say the X0 is the best – that includes my customized GameSir tablet, and a few seconds later the mechanical (discontinued) Razer Orbweaver. But among the cheap models I’ve tried, the X0 stands out as the best of the bunch.

From a layout perspective, this is exactly what most PC gamers want: an accurate representation of all the keys you’re likely to reach with your left hand. The only exceptions are the dual Fn buttons for increased programming options and the spacebar, which isn’t actually a pad. Like Tartarus and ancient Logitech G13it changes the position of the space bar to more naturally match the position of the thumb.

There’s an important omission here: the D-pad. This feature originally drew me to the Belkin-slash-Razer design as a way to wean myself off console-style movements. And this still persists in some modern offshoots. like Azeron. But as a big fan of this category, I’m happy with its absence, especially on a budget device. If you’re used to much more flexible WASD input for most shooters and first-person games, I think you’ll agree.

Michael Crider / Foundry

Lemokey (née Keychronfor the non-gaming parent company) my review unit came with brown tactile switches. They’re not the best in the world, but they’re light and fast, and certainly good enough to get me up to speed. Fortnite straightaway.

Note that the X0 is also available with red linear switches. although you won’t change them. This is a normal sacrifice for a budget device, especially considering that almost everything else in this price range is completely devoid of mechanical switches. You can also use standard mechanical keycaps on this panel, although the sizing of the extended T, G, and V keys may prove challenging. If you’re okay with the legends not matching, they’re easy to find in the full-size set.

Michael Crider / Foundry

Long sessions with the X0 were much more comfortable than with a standard gaming keyboard – although, again, I should note that I still prefer this form factor. I could use a little more cushion in the palm rest, and I wish there was a way to adjust the angle (I raised the right side of my custom keyboard foot board), but it’s still much more comfortable than anything else I can do . Been using it for a long time.

Programmable… but not very programmable

X0 can be programmed using Keychron browser GUIwhich I recommend, or QMK which I don’t. (Yes, mechanical keyboard lovers, wave your finger at me in shame.) It’s simple and clearly inspired by VIA, which isn’t a bad thing because it covers pretty much everything you’ll need without any complications. This includes up to three sub-levels, although none of them are actually programmed with any alternatives from the start. You can set the keyboard backlight to be red only… although I don’t see much appeal in that. My only big change is remapping Caps Lock to M to make it easier to open the map in shooters.

Here I’ll point out the single biggest problem with X0 from my perspective: both QMK and the Keychron online tool do not have the ability to link specific layout profiles or macros to a running game or program. You could program four layers for four different games and then manually switch between them. But it’s a lot of work and setup for something that is still quite limited – for example, the Keychron tool doesn’t have the ability to program mouse buttons or scroll wheel commands.

Michael Crider / Foundry

This is honestly a bummer, and something I’ve noted with previous Keychron and Lemokey gaming keyboards. Software settings are one of the main features that I consider important in a gaming keyboard, and it would be wise to offer them here. But I’m inclined to forgive the absence, if not completely forget it, for the sake of budget design. I did same concession for G.Skill KM250which I still prefer as a budget gaming keyboard.

If you must If you have programmable profiles that are activated by a game or program, the Razer Tartarus is right here… for more than triple the price and with far fewer keys. And it’s worth noting that none of the other sub-$100 alternatives offer this gaming profile option.

A great impulse buy for PC gamers.

So yes, I would be happy to recommend this little gadget to anyone who wants a basic typing keyboard and a gaming keyboard but can’t find one that fits both. Note software limitations and form factor – I doubt that Starcraft pro would be fine to cut its immediate keys in half, for example.

Michael Crider / Foundry

But even as an experiment, it’s definitely worth the $33 asking price. If you like it and want to take it further, you can climb to Tartarus or consider ReDragon K585 if you want something wireless.

In the meantime, I’ll patiently wait for someone (Lemokey, maybe you guys?) to create a wireless version of this gadget with a big battery, a nice metal body, and hot-swappable switches. Something tells me I’ll be waiting a long, long time.