Lemokey G1 wireless gaming mouse
81

Lemokey G1 review

A very Keychron wireless gaming mouse: Affordable, simple, and feature-rich.

(Image: © Future)

Our Verdict

The Lemokey G1 is a great little mouse, that only slightly over-reaches in its pursuit of an 8,000 Hz polling rate that is both dubious in its implementation and its necessity. As a standard 1,000 Hz mouse, however, it's a responsive, speedy wireless gaming mouse and a great value option.

For

  • Affordable
  • Light
  • Good battery life

Against

  • Dubious 8K polling
  • Slightly rough finish

PC Gamer's got your back Our experienced team dedicates many hours to every review, to really get to the heart of what matters most to you. Find out more about how we evaluate games and hardware.

First, the provenance. Lemokey is Keychron's gaming brand, offering keyboards and mice aimed squarely at the players of games rather than Keychon's theoretically more 'enthusiast' fare. Let's be honest, the differences between gaming and enthusiast keebs are pretty slight—and only really of interest because our Jacobs love to fight about it—but when it comes to gaming mice there should be more of a clear distinction.

Though Keychron does actually sell obviously 'gamer' mice on its own site (as well as this Lemokey rodent), which does make such clear delineation a little tougher to parse. Whatever the semantic differences between the brands, however, the Lemokey G1 is still absolutely classic Keychron, in that it's offering a high-end feature set for a genuinely affordable price.

The most obvious of those is the offered 8,000 Hz polling rate, a feature that is usually the preserve of high-end gaming mice from the likes of Logitech or Razer at often twice the price of the G1. So, that makes the Lemokey an excellent entry-level pro-level mouse for the super competitive competitive gamers, then?

Whenever a writer posits a question like that in a review you already know the answer is going to be a straight 'no'. So, it was an almost redundant ploy on my behalf. I'm truly sorry for treating you with such little respect. Still, it is worth noting that despite Lemokey's claims to having a full 8,000 Hz polling rate for its wee mouse, that is absolutely not to be taken as a killer feature for the G1.

G1 specs

Lemokey G1 wireless gaming mouse

(Image credit: Future)

Connectivity: 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 5.1, wired
Buttons: 5
Sensor: Pixart 3950
Max. resolution: 30,000 DPI
Max. speed: 750 IPS
Max. acceleration: 50 G
Weight: 55 g
Price: $69 | £69

I've checked out the performance of the Pixart 3950 sensor in the Lemokey mouse and, while in general use at 1,000 Hz, the mouse performs admirably, as soon as you spike it up to 8,000 Hz the data points start to look really weird. That's because it's not actually polling at the stated rate; I measured the inputs and, where it ought to be polling eight times each millisecond, I was seeing anything from three to five counts. But never the full eight count.

But, while that failing is important to note for any of the ultra-competitive few out there who might notice and base a purchase on an 8K polling rate, spending any more time looking at that miss is to do the Lemokey G1 a disservice, because it really is a great little gaming mouse.

And I do mean little. The Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro has been my go-to gaming mouse since its launch, but having used the G1 for a good few weeks, I've found going back to the DeathAdder it feels massive. Relatively speaking, of course, but still noticeably chonkier. As a dyed-in-the-wool claw-gripper, the Lemokey's diminutive stature actually works for me.

It's superlight, too. In fact it's superlighter than the latest Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 Dex, with the same general heft as the Razer DeathAdder V3 Hyperspeed we love so well. And with none of that horrible cut out shell design which makes a host of other dedicated lightweight gaming mice a trypophobe's nightmare.

It does remind me a lot of Logitech's pared back designs of late; hiding profile switches, eschewing RGB, and generally making it mercifully free of distractions. It feels great in the hand, and shifts around the desktop with grace and poise. But it doesn't quite have the finish of the Logitech mice. There is a definite sharper edge to the finish on the plastic chassis, where the seams meet, that suggests a lesser build quality. It's only noticeable when you're looking for it, when you're running a thumb over the edges, but it is there.

But while this simple, pared back design does make it look and feel like a very basic mouse, the Lemokey G1 does absolutely everything you could want from a wireless gaming mouse and at a very reasonable price. The 2.4 GHz connection is solid—with only a little pause when I'm first booting up my PC and everything is loading in—and is otherwise latency free in-game. Its tracking is right up there, too, with 750 IPS and 50 G pace and acceleration. Basically, it's going to follow everyone of your rampant flicks and spasms in whatever tense gaming situation you find yourself in.

So what if it's not that stylish? That means there's no RGB illumination to steal away any of its extensive battery life, with just a token light around the underslung DPI/profile switch to show which setting you're on. Even were you to run it exclusively with the draining 8,000 Hz mode turned on, you'd still be looking at a 40 hour battery life. I would expect double that at 1,000 Hz, and Lemokey promises 140 hours if you don't care about latency and are happy to put up with the Bluetooth 5.1 connection.

Maybe that's fine for Keychron, but over here in Lemokey land, we like our 2.4 GHz connection, thank you very much.

I will say I'm on the fence about the web-based configuration app. And I find it slightly odd that I can seemingly only access the settings when I'm wired in via the USB Type-C cable

When I first pulled the G1 out of its box and started messing around with it and its slightly novelty, slightly wonky 8K polling rate, I figured it was just going to be a cheaper wireless mouse that's just fine. But I've come away feeling far more positive towards this little guy. I'm a sucker for a cheaper option, but even so, I have the Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro sat in a box next to me and I am finding no reason to swap back from the Lemokey, especially after how big the Razer rodent feels in my hand now.

And that's always a key thing for me when I review anything: How gutted am I going to be when I have to give this thing back? With the Lemokey I'm not necessarily going to be gutted when I have to slide it back into its packaging, but I will miss it, and until that point comes I see no reason to swap.

The Verdict
Lemokey G1

The Lemokey G1 is a great little mouse, that only slightly over-reaches in its pursuit of an 8,000 Hz polling rate that is both dubious in its implementation and its necessity. As a standard 1,000 Hz mouse, however, it's a responsive, speedy wireless gaming mouse and a great value option.

Dave James
Editor-in-Chief, Hardware

Dave has been gaming since the days of Zaxxon and Lady Bug on the Colecovision, and code books for the Commodore Vic 20 (Death Race 2000!). He built his first gaming PC at the tender age of 16, and finally finished bug-fixing the Cyrix-based system around a year later. When he dropped it out of the window. He first started writing for Official PlayStation Magazine and Xbox World many decades ago, then moved onto PC Format full-time, then PC Gamer, TechRadar, and T3 among others. Now he's back, writing about the nightmarish graphics card market, CPUs with more cores than sense, gaming laptops hotter than the sun, and SSDs more capacious than a Cybertruck.

Read more
The Glorious Series 2 Pro Wireless gaming mouse on a wooden desk, with a red-lit keyboard just visible in the background of the shot.
Glorious Series 2 Pro wireless mouse review
An NZXT Lift Elite Wireless gaming mouse in white set-up on a desk.
NZXT Lift Elite Wireless review
The ROG Harpe Ace Mini side buttons
Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
The Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid gaming keyboard on a desk
Logitech G Pro X TKL Rapid review
NZXT Function Elite MiniTKL with RGB lighting enabled on a desk.
NZXT Function Elite MiniTKL review
Lemokey L5 HE 8K gaming keyboard with RGB enabled on a desk.
Lemokey L5 HE 8K keyboard review
Latest in Gaming Mice
Logitech G Pro PowerPlay 2 mousepad on top of another mousepad on top of a third mousepad on top of a desk
I was wrong, the Logitech G PowerPlay 2 charging mouse pad isn't smaller than the first one, it's just the official dimensions were listed incorrectly since 2021
Logitech G Pro wireless gaming mouse on a blue background
The Logitech G Pro 2 Lightspeed gaming mouse is good, but as someone that reviewed it, I'd pick its predecessor on offer instead
Logitech G PowerPlay 2 wireless charging station and mousepad with a mouse levitating above and electromagnetic waves dancing around beneath it
The Logitech G PowerPlay charging mouse pad was my baby and now there's a new version with a lower MSRP, thinner mat, and larger charging area
Logitech G915 TKL gaming keyboard and G502 Lightspeed wireless gaming mouse on a blue background
Cut the cord on your PC gaming setup this Presidents' Day with an excellent wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse combo for almost 50% off the list price
An NZXT Lift Elite Wireless gaming mouse in white set-up on a desk.
NZXT Lift Elite Wireless review
Two Razer DeathAdder V3 mice float in a white-bordered teal void. One is wired. One is wireless.
Dual-wielding deals: Get Razer's DeathAdder V3 Pro for $120—or the base model for half that price
Latest in Reviews
Alienware 27 AW2725Q QD-OLED
Alienware 27 AW2725Q QD-OLED review
Audio-Technica ATH-R50X headphones
Audio-Technica ATH R50X review
The Corsair K70 Pro TKL gaming keyboard seen from above, with the wrist rest attached, on a well-lit desk. Game mode has been activated, bathing every key in red light.
Corsair K70 Pro TKL review
NZXT H7 Flow PC case being built into
NZXT H7 Flow review (2024 Edition)
Two characters sitting on a bench talking
Wanderstop review
Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM gaming monitor
Asus ROG Swift PG27UCDM review