The 1 Low Profile Keyboard of 2025

I'm testing the two newest low-profile keyboards coming out right now. The Nufi Air V3 and the Low Free Flow 2. Both are significant upgrades to their previous models, but is one obviously better than the other? I've been testing and reviewing mechanical keyboards for the past five years, and low-profile keyboards have gotten insanely good. And two companies are leading the pack for the best low-profile keyboards, Nufi and Low Free. Nufi got the lead since they were one of the first low-profile keyboards out there with their Air lineup, and we just got the new V3 edition. Low Free has their Flow and their Flow Lite, which took the space by storm with their talky sound profile. Now they're back with an updated Flow 2. They both look great and sound great, but which one will come out on top? So these keyboards were sent to me from each company respectively, but they did not pay me to make this video. First, let's address the elephant in the room, the price. We like to rip off the band-aid early around here, so let's start with the Nufi Air V3. Right now, you can get one layout, the 75% version, but like the previous Airs, they'll most likely release a bigger 96% version or a smaller 60% or 65% version. It's $139 during pre-order, which goes until July 10th with all orders shipping about a week after the pre-order phase closes. After that, it's likely the price will go up to about $149 or so, but we'll see. And while this price isn't cheap, at $20 more than the Air V2, Nufi has made a bunch of upgrades on their keyboard, which we'll get into later. On the other side of the ring, we've got the Flow 2. It comes in three different sizes, a smaller 68 key, this 84 key, and a 100 key version. They've opted to fund their product through Kickstarter, with the smallest one starting at $89, the 75% at $99, and the biggest one at $109. It sounds much more affordable, right? But there's a catch. That's only the starting price. As we've seen from Kickstarters, that tier usually has a very limited quantity. And after that, the price goes up and up. Now, what confuses me here is that the original Flow is $139 on their website. But how can the new and improved Flow 2 be $30 cheaper than the original? It's like Apple releasing the 17 at a cheaper price than the 13 and saying, it's better. Just trust me, bro. It's better. It makes no sense. If we take things at face value, the Air V3 is currently $40 more expensive than the 75% Flow 2. However, the final price of the Flow 2 will most likely fall between $139 and $159, putting both products squarely against each other. So we'll see. Can Newfie stand its ground with the upgraded Air V3, or will Lofi take the crown for the best low profile of 2025? Thanks to Reolink and their TrackMix Wi-Fi for sponsoring this video. While I was optimizing the office, I figured it was time to add a little peace of mind. Something to help prevent break-ins, or at least have a record in case anything ever happens to the gear I keep here. So I installed the Reolink TrackMix Wi-Fi and it's packed with features I didn't know I needed. You get 4k close-ups, a wide and zoom lens combo, and it can rotate 355 degrees and tilt 90 degrees. So I can manually angle it however I want. It's even weatherproof in case I ever move it outside. It has auto zoom tracking, smart detection that tells the difference between people, vehicles, and animals. It's got two-way audio for having discussions with people outside your door. And you can turn on the light and sound deterrence remotely from the app. It works great day or night with spotlight night vision, black and white, and full color. And you can even create time-lapse videos to record sunrises and sunsets. Ah, so pretty. There's also the Reolink video doorbell that helps deter those pesky porch pirates and notify you when you receive goodies in front of your door with their package detection feature. In the box, you get the camera, a power extension cable, an ethernet cable, a mounting gear, and yes, a dramatic little surveillance sign. If you're setting up a workspace and want a smart, flexible security layer, it's worth a look. The link's below in the description. And thanks again to Reolink for supporting the channel. So when I first got my keyboards, I noticed a stark difference between the two. The Nufi Air V3 comes up in a folded cardboard box like you would expect from any other keyboard. It's white all around with simple graphics and packaging. On the inside, the accessories are in a little box. But compare that to the Flow 2's ultra sleek friction fit packaging, and you're left feeling like the Air V3 was a bit lackluster. You know what they say? You don't know if what you got is good or not until you look at something else. It's like only eating instant ramen your entire life. Your whole world changes when you try real ramen at a restaurant. The Flow 2 emulates the Apple experience to a T. The friction fit, the white color, even the text and image placements remind you of the Apple unboxing experience. On the inside, you're met with a keyboard first and then the accessories below. So satisfying. But are we paying for the unboxing here or the product itself? Surely, it has to be the products themselves. So both keyboards have similar accessories, but they're still distinctly different. They each have a USB-C cable, some extra keycaps, manuals, and a 2.4G dongle. The Flow 2 has a right angle braided cable. That's a mix of black and gray, sort of like a snakeskin. It looks pretty awesome, but it's a little short. But side by side, the Air V3's cable is only five inches longer, so I guess it's not that short. The Air V3 also comes with some colored accents, along with more keys like delete, insert, F6, and an escape key. So you could have an all-white keycap set if you didn't want the accents. Along with that, it comes with a keycap and switch puller combo, as well as this tiny screwdriver and this modular knob attachment. Whereas the Flow 2 is quite minimal. Now what shocks me is that the white version of the Flow 2 also comes with a black and gray cable. Why didn't they make it white? Now it makes sense for the black version to do that, but not the white. As far as accessories go, while it seems like the Flow 2 has better accessories, it doesn't have quite as many. Now for what truly matters, the keyboards themselves. And this is where things get interesting. Despite both being 75% layouts, the Flow 2 has the width of a TKL keyboard, with a huge side module that extends out an extra inch or so. It features the Lo-Fi branding, the USB-C port, and a small indicator light bar and a touch bar on the side. While this sounds really cool and useful at first, it's actually gotten really annoying. Every time I move my keyboard on my desk or side to side, I accidentally change the volume. It also just hangs off of your laptop if you're using it in a portable setup. The design of this add-on doesn't make much sense. Why not put it on the left side? Or not at all? Low-profile users don't want a bigger keyboard. They value portability and a functional, practical design. But maybe there's a silver lining I'm missing out on? The Flow 2 is a large block of aluminum. There's nowhere for your fingers to slide under and easily pick up your keyboard. But it sure does have that Mac aesthetic. Like if Apple made a keyboard, it would look like this, but maybe less wide. Also, is anyone else finding it strange that the charging port is on the right side? Like it would just hit your mouse arm and protrude out. What a strange decision. Like wearing socks with sandals. Oh wait, some people actually like that. Now compared to the original Flow 1, the Flow 2 feels like it might be a downgrade. Sure, the design might look better to some people, but the quality of life goes down. The Air V3, on the other hand, has only an aluminum top, but not the entire body. And it's lighter at 726 grams. The indentations on the sides make it easy to pick up. And the backside is made of translucent plastic. With dual angle kick up feet, which are also made of plastic. Whereas the feet on the Flow 2 are made of aluminum and mounted on a hinge. It looks more durable, especially if you're constantly pulling out and putting the feet back in. But beware, this design is especially good at pinching the skin on your fingers. It's so painful. Like stubbing your toe on the corner of a table. It's the worst. So one thing you might be wondering is where are the toggle switches on the Flow 2? Oh no, don't tell me you have to take off caps lock just to turn it on. No! But upon further inspection, the toggle is actually behind the left foot. It's very small and I missed it the first time, but there there. It has on, wired, and wireless. This location is a step up from under caps lock, but worse than the normal toggle switch. It's just a tad inconvenient. The Air V3 has toggle switches on the top right hand side and super easy to see and use. It has toggles for on, off, wireless, and Windows and Mac. It also has a module on the top right key that can be a knob or a switch. For now, I've opted to use a knob. Installing is really easy. You take all these keys off, unscrew it, and put the other thing on and screw it back. And if you look at the top left, there's built-in dongle storage and the USB-C port. Finally, we've got built-in dongle storage. What a huge upgrade from the Air V2 and a convenient charging port for easy access too. Why doesn't this thing come out? But alas, the Flow V2 has nowhere to put your dongle. All that extra space and no dongle storage. So design-wise, the Flow 2 is wasting a ton of space without adding a lot of features. But the build quality is pretty nice. It's heavy, it's stiff, it's durable. While the Air V3 ticks all the boxes of feel-good, quality-of-life features like the optional knob, the toggle switches, the built-in dongle storage. Ah, it's just, it's got it all. But how do they sound and feel? Right away, you can tell the Low Free 2 is stiff. No matter how hard you press on the keycaps, there is barely any gif. Which makes sense, because they don't say it has a gasket mount anywhere on the sales page. But when you look at the exploded image, you can see what appears to be gaskets, I think. But they do nothing. Hmm, I wonder what they're doing here. While typing on the Flow 2 sounds good, it does feel stiff to type on for long periods of time. While the Air V3 decided to add a gasket mount over their older version, which gives it a nice bouncy feel when typing. Both keyboards come with three switch options. A linear one that's smooth with no bump, a tactile one with a bump, and a silent linear option that makes almost zero sound. They both use full palm switches to get that nice, thocky sound. The Flow 2 uses the new low-profile Kailh Cloud switches, and NuFi uses the new Gateron low-profile switches. Unfortunately though, I wasn't able to test out NuFi's tactile or silent switch. But the sound tests on their website are pretty accurate for the red one, so I'm assuming the other ones are accurate too. The Flow 2 has a much deeper and muted sound compared to the Air V3. It's less poppy and it sounds more like wood chopping in Minecraft. It's super satisfying and not distracting at all. So both keyboards have nice stabilizers with no need for modifications whatsoever, especially on the silent Flow 2 that I have on a full size. Both keyboards also have north-facing switches, but only the Flow 2 has shine-through keycaps. The backlight is very clean, but it's only available in white. There's three settings, breathing on and off, with five different brightness levels. And the Air V3 has non-shine-through keycaps, but it has intense RGB instead of only white. So if you're planning on using your keyboard at night often, it seems like the Flow 2 is better at lining up at night. So if the extra width of the Flow 2 doesn't bother you, which let's be honest, it probably does, but in the off chance it didn't, then deciding the two keyboards can be difficult. Do you go with the one that's bouncy, a bit louder with RGB, or do you go with the stiff, muted keyboard with backlit keycaps? It's gonna be tough. So let's put them both to use and see. Maybe one is more convenient to power on or connect, or one has significantly better battery life. So both keyboards have Bluetooth 2.4 and wired connections. Connecting is super simple. You toggle it to wireless. Then you use FN 1, 2, or 3 for Bluetooth, FN 4 for 2.4. They're about even when it comes to connectivity. They each take about three to five seconds to wake up after sleeping, which honestly is a ton faster than I wake up in the morning, so good job? Wait, why am I comparing myself to a keyboard? I need to rethink my life. Each one uses different software to remap keys. The Flow 2 uses VIA, which is known for its ease of use and accessibility, and the Air 3 uses Nufi.io, which is similar to VIA. They're basically the same. Both are browser-based softwares that let you remap keys, change lighting, make macros, and more. However, because both of these products are in pre-order, there isn't updated software for them just yet. Nufi claims the Air V3 has up to 1,200 hours of battery life, but personally, the most I've gotten is about 400, and it actually died this weekend, so I had to charge it today. The Flow 2 has a smaller battery at 3,000 mAh compared to the Air V3's 4,000, but also a direct battery life comparison isn't really fair because the Flow 2 isn't usable with the backlight off. You can barely see the legends. The biggest downside of the Flow 2 is that it lacks a good gasket mount and it has that extra width on the right side, which is hitting your mouse all the time, and you'll probably accidentally touch the touch bar too. But the keyboard itself sounds great, and it does have backlight, which is a huge bonus for working at night. Comparatively, the Air V3 has quality of life features with real toggles, built-in dongle storage, the knob. Both have decent battery life with the Air V3 coming out on top, and both their softwares are good too. So which one deserves the title of best low-profile keyboard of 2025? So far, here's where we need to talk. First, the Air V3 is in pre-order, but it's set to ship at the end of July, while the Flow 2 is not in Kickstarter yet, but it will be, and it doesn't have estimated shipping dates yet. While Lofree is a reputable brand that has had lots of successful Kickstarters, I find it really strange that they need to crowdfund a product instead of straight up offering it in stock, which I think they can. With that being said, if you like what you see and you're okay with making that Kickstarter jump, I'm not going to stop you. I'm just saying there's nothing wrong with waiting a couple months for it to become an in-stock product on their website, and then you can just purchase it without waiting. It might be a lot more expensive though, but again, they're just marketing. So my clear winner is the Air V3. It checks all the boxes. It's lighter. It's easy to use day-to-day. The design makes sense. It's compact. It's practical. You can just throw it in your backpack. This knob though, you'll lose it all the time. So if you do throw it in your backpack, don't use the knob. If you're interested in learning more about the Air V3, here is my full review right here. Bye!