Lofree Hyzen Preliminary Aircraft Report. Beautiful chassis and high degree of perfection, but also some issues to be sorted out

There were some points that were completed but needed to be sorted out.

The Lofree Closing Afternoon – Shinagawa Pop-up was held on March 28, 2026.

This special session is by invitation only and is intended for influencers who will be reviewing new Lofree products.

Greenkeys was also invited to the event and was introduced to the new “Hyzen” product line, which was unveiled on March 24.

Mr. Dennis, a Hyzen designer from Lofree’s headquarters, came to Japan on the day of the event and engaged in heated discussions with the participants.

First of all, if I were to give you my first frank impression, I would say that Hyzen is quite complete.

The beauty of the machined chassis, the presence of the LED bar extending to the front, and even the feel of the keys when you actually touch them made us want to buy this product.

On the other hand, after listening to developer Dennis’ explanation and looking at the structure and software specifications of the actual device, some blurring remained.

One of the biggest issues was how to explain the good sound of the keystroke.

Hyzen has an ambitious design that supports both mechanical and magnetic keyswitches.

However, if we were to talk about the good keystroke sound as a result of the switch structure itself, we felt that the explanation would be a bit misleading.

This is because keystroke sound is not only determined by the switching system itself, but is actually strongly influenced by the overall design, including the mounting system, case rigidity, foam composition, plate material, and even the way the keys resonate inside the chassis.

Rather, it seems that Hyzen’s good keystroke sound and feel comes from the perfection of the overall design, including PCB gasket mounts, enclosure, foam, and plates.

In this article, we will first look at the appeal of Hyzen, focusing on photos, and then sort out what was good and what was not.

The big picture: Lofree Hyzen just looks good!

The first thing that struck me when I saw Hyzen in front of me was the high degree of perfection in its looks.

In recent years, magnetic keyboards have become very common due to the popularity of e-sports.

Many of them are performance-oriented, and we appreciate that many of them are LED-based and glittering in terms of looks.

Hyzen, on the other hand, not only offered performance, but also aesthetics as a product.

The machined aluminum body, including the top frame and bottom case, is beautifully constructed, and the overall proportion lines, which are mainly straight, are really sharp.

Even more impressive was the LED lighting bar that went in the front side.

This was inspired by Tesla’s tail lights.

It was not merely decorative, but seemed to serve as a face to emphasize the Hyzen product.

A design that shines with its quiet appearance

Hyzen appreciates that the design shines with a “quiet appearance” that is the opposite of “flashy”.

The edgy machined aluminum exterior has a rugged beauty reminiscent of Tesla’s Cybertruck, and the diagonal line extending through the 12-degree typing angle to the special palm rest even gives the illusion of a floating mass of metal.

It is not a fancy device that is more like a so-called gaming device, but seems to have been designed to fit on a desk and give a sense of ownership.

It comes in two colors, silver and black, and has a matte surface.

The accessories are also distinctive, including a well-designed carrying case, cyber-inspired replacement keycaps, and a separate 2.4GHz receiver.

The backlight was facing south, and I had the impression that a great deal of care had been taken with the overall visibility, including the LED bar.

The sense is not that we want to show that it glows, but that we are using light as part of the overall form.

The keycaps were not smooth, but had a rough, matte texture.

The keycaps are not slippery and have a soothing appearance, but there are different tastes when it comes to the texture of the keycaps.

Including these tactile sensations, Hyzen was quite carefully crafted.

In addition, regarding the “Hyzen” logo in the space bar, it seemed a bit noisy.

When we informed him of this point, Dennis said that there is a possibility of erasing it in the production version.

These details are unique to the preliminary stage, but if these details are worked out, the overall sophistication of the product is likely to increase even further.

Keystroke feel: Hard keystroke feel with a sense of depth

The actual touch and feel of the keystroke was quite favorable.

The FR4 plate and Nexus switch combination is firm and stiff overall, with a clear core at the input.

The Nexus switch has little axis blurring, giving the impression of a straightforward linear switch.

Furthermore, the entire chassis was very rigid and did not feel cheap or loose.

Not only does the machined body have a compelling appearance, but it also has a compelling sense of density when struck.

Keyswitches: both mechanical and magnetic switches are available

An essential part of understanding Hyzen is that it supports both mechanical and magnetic keyswitches.

Generally, magnetic keyboards are designed exclusively for magnetic switches and are in a different world from mechanical keyboards. Hyzen, however, had a design philosophy that straddled the boundary.

In other words, we are trying to meet the needs of both those who want to use conventional mechanical switches and those who want the responsiveness and setting flexibility of magnetic switches in a single housing.

The explanation was that they are planning to support multiple types of magnetic switches, which will be used while calibrating them on the web application side. In addition, the company will continue to develop hybrid switches, and is considering tactile and silent switches as well as linear switches.

This “use of both” is clearly a strength of Hyzen.

At present, there are still few options for magnetic switches, and there are situations where mechanical switches have the edge when it comes to key sounds and key feel preferences.

In this sense, the idea of showing the future of the magnetic type while not cutting off existing mechanical assets is reasonable.

Software aspect: The web application is highly flexible. Mod-Tap as well as magnetic adjustment can be set.

The software area was also quite an interesting part of the project.

The web application we were shown this time allows not only simple keymap changes, but also magnetic switch adjustments, mode settings, and various key function assignments. In addition, it also supports Mod-Tap settings.

Moreover, this can be remapped not only with a wired connection, but also with a 2.4GHz connection. In addition, Mod-Tap itself can be used with all connection methods.

The design of shortcuts and multifunctionality in the 65% array greatly affects the experience, and Hyzen was quite well thought out in this regard.

There is also an explanation that the FN key area can be switched to numeric input/multifunction operation by means of a side switch.

Note that the actuation point is fixed in mechanical keyboard mode, so there is a difference in the range itself that can be set between magnetic and mechanical modes, more than just the name.

Sense of challenge felt by Lofree Hyzen in the field

Regarding Lofree Hyzen, the editorial staff felt that while the design was very well done, there was a disconnect between the existing product and its appeal.

We will try to sort out the discrepancy.

What makes a good keystroke sound?

Hyzen’s good keystroke sound is not only due to the newly developed keyswitches.

This is where I personally was most caught up this time.

Dennis said that magnetic keyboards in general tend to be at a disadvantage in terms of keystroke sound compared to mechanical keyboards.

One of the reasons cited was that the distance between the switch plate and the PCB is difficult to change significantly with magnetic systems due to their structure, resulting in designs that tend to be rigid and top-mounted.

The explanation is that as a result, the keys tend to have a hard hitting feel and a metallic resonance.

This logic itself is understandable.

In fact, many magnetic keyboards have “rigid” configurations such as top-mount x aluminum plate, which in combination with sensing accuracy can easily reduce the degree of freedom of construction.

However, I had the impression that connecting this context to “that’s why we developed the hybrid switch” would be a bit far-fetched.

This is because when looking at the keyswitch alone as the source of the keystroke sound, whether it is a mechanical or magnetic switch, the structure is basically the same: the sound is basically the result of the stem making contact with the bottom housing.

In addition to this, the switch plate, switch plate mounting method, sound-absorbing material, case, and resonance of the internal space all play a large role, and the keystroke sound should be formed as a result of a combination of acoustic characteristics.

In other words, it is difficult to say that the hybrid structure of the switch itself is the main cause of the direct improvement in keystroke sound.

Rather, it is more natural to view the good keystroke sound and feel felt with Hyzen as the result of the overall design, including theuse of PCB gasket mounts, the rigidity of the chassis, the acoustic design including foam, and the choice of FR4 plates.

In other words, even if Hyzen’s keystroke sound is better, it would be closer to the reality if it were explained as “the overall structure including the hybrid switch is well put together” rather than “because it is a hybrid switch.

This is the most important point we wanted to organize this time.

Hybrid support is a benefit, but also a danger of becoming either/or.

One of Hyzen’s appealing points is its “nice-to-have” structure, so to speak, with a PCB that can be used for both magnetic and mechanical keyswitches.

On the other hand, this hybrid design has the disadvantage of making it difficult to see the product axis.

If the keyboard is to be separated as a magnetic keyboard, it could be presented in a sharper, more performance-driven manner.

If you want to push the mechanical keyboard experience, you can also “optimize” the keyboard by changing the mounting method and plate material.

Because Hyzen is trying to incorporate both, users have a wide range of choices, which is a big advantage here.

However, it also creates a concern that it will be either/or.

Hyzen could appear ambiguous as to whether it wants to show a different future for magnetic keyboards or whether it wants to capture mechanical assets and migrate them to magnetic keyboards.

Let’s put it another way.

Hyzen is designed to be greedy.

This greed is both interesting and dangerous at the same time, as it appears to be neither.

This may be an area that needs to be looked at as both a strength and a weakness.

The “Work Mode / Game Mode” presentation may be misleading.

Another thing that caught my attention in this explanation was the presentation of “Work Mode” and “Game Mode.

The product description gives the impression that the mechanical keyboard mode is for work, the magnetic mode is for gaming, and there are only two options available.

However, when we look at the actual specifications, Hyzen is not such a simple product.

In fact, the operation is to switch between multiple presets by pressing Fn + Enter, and the current mode can be identified by the LED color.

Moreover, the contents of each preset are quite flexible, and it seems that you can have not only mechanical/magnetic but also lighting and actuation settings all together.

Up to seven presets can be registered, and the preset mode can be identified by the LED indicator next to the arrow key.

At the moment, it is in the form of a toggle-style transition from 1 to the next.

The number of presets could be increased or decreased.

Looking at these specifications, the essence of Hyzen is not a two-mode machine for “work” and “gaming,” but rather the ability to have multiple profiles for different uses and preferences.

In other words, it can be said that the work mode does not have to be mechanical.

Also, the mechanical mode does not mean that the keystroke feel is better.

This is because the key feel itself does not change depending on the mode.

The magnetic type has advantages in terms of responsiveness and freedom of setting, and there is no reason why it should not be used in everyday applications.

Rather, you choose mechanical mode because you want to use mechanical switches, and it should not be “because it’s for work”.

In this area, I felt that Hyzen itself was not to blame, but that the explanation was a little less organized than it should have been.

The editors view magnetic keyswitches as upwardly compatible with mechanical keyswitches.

In practice, it may be difficult to feel the benefit of ultra-low latency due to the high polling rate in situations where it is used for typing applications, but there is nothing that can be done because of mechanical key switches and nothing that cannot be done because of magnetic key switches.

The good key feel is probably not dependent on the structure of the keyswitch itself, but rather on the unique mounting structure of the mechanical keyswitch, which allows the distance between the switch plate and the PCB to be fuzzy to a certain degree. The good key feel is probably not dependent on the structure of the keyswitches themselves.

The details are interesting, but the practicality is controversial.

Even in the smallest details, there was a Hyzen-like quality.

The wrist rest (sold separately) is attached with a magnet and has a wonderful sense of unity with the main unit.

Rather, it is no exaggeration to say that Hyzen is complete with restorations included.

It is also quite organized as it looks on the desk.

On the other hand, although the rear knob can be used as a volume control, it is not that practical, and at the moment it is more decorative.

Of course, these playful details are part of Hyzen’s character, but they may be a little different when asked if they are features that are used frequently every day.

If practicality is a consideration, a volume knob on the back would probably not be an option.

As for the ability to swap Function and Number lines by turning physical switches on and off, it may be difficult to imagine how this would be used in a series of typing sequences.

In addition, the default keycap for Windows remains an issue at this time.

It is true that, given the current gaming scene, “most users who play games are on Windows.

On the other hand, the editorial team believes that the appearance, texture, and overall appearance of Hyzen is more likely to stick with Mac users.

In this area, there seemed to be a slight discrepancy between the way the product was presented and the target setting.

Of course, we requested that they include replacement keycaps for the Mac or print both.

Hyzen is fascinating, which is why I was concerned about the discrepancy in the explanation.

Based on my frank impression of the actual device, I found Lofree Hyzen to be quite an attractive product.

The enclosure is highly finished and looks outstanding.

It has a good typing feel and a high degree of freedom for web applications.

The ambitious design, which supports both mechanical and magnetic systems, is also significant in that it broadens the target audience for purchase.

On the other hand, I had the impression that the meaningfulness of the keystroke sound and mode itself was no longer overhead.

Even if Hyzen’s keystroke sound is better, it is more natural to view it as a result of the overall design, including the PCB gasket mount, housing, foam, and plate, rather than as the result of the hybrid switch alone.

Also, while both mechanical and magnetic support is certainly an advantage, it also makes the product axis a little fuzzy.

That said, Hyzen seemed to be a keyboard that, while quite attractive as a piece of hardware, still had some room for organization in the way it was told.

On the other hand, it also means that the base product is that good.

It is common in any product development process that because we put our heart and soul into creating a “good” product, it becomes difficult to look at that product objectively.

I find Lofree’s approach to development, which allows for the inclusion of outside perspectives in this way, to be wonderful.

summary

This is all I have to tell you about Lofree Hyzen’s preliminary report.

The Lofree Hyzen was an ambitious keyboard that attempted to achieve a high level of both aesthetics and input experience.

However, its attractiveness cannot be explained in simple terms such as “it is superior because it is a hybrid switch.

The good keystroke sound and feel seemed to come rather from the overall perfection of the mounting structure, chassis, and acoustic design.

While both mechanical and magnetic support is a clear strength, it is also an aspect that blurs the axis of the product a bit.

Hyzen is good.

That is why this was one unit that I wanted to organize and talk about even more carefully.