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Keychron K3 HE: One-minute review

The Keychron K3 HE is an analog keyboard with a minimalist form that belies its wealth of features.

The first thing I noticed was just how compact it is. Even for a board with a 75% layout, it’s small across all dimensions. It’s also quite light, which makes it a good portable option.

More impressive is the fact that build quality doesn’t appear to have been sacrificed. It feels solid and premium, rivaling the best gaming keyboard constructions. I also liked the wooden edge trim, which lends it a certain style that sets it apart from most in this sector, dominated as it is by plastics and metals.

However, despite being quite thin, my wrists still had to bend upwards to a slightly uncomfortable degree. The K3 HE is certainly worth pairing with a wrist rest, and it’s a shame one isn’t included. The two-stage feet don’t provide enough of a tilt to mitigate this, either.

(Image credit: Future)

The K3 HE also lacks the dipped middle row typical of many keyboards. What’s more, the keycaps are slanted forward, which, while I found comfortable, others might not.

On top of this, the keys also feel a little heavier than I'm used to, but they’re still quick and responsive. They provide plenty of feedback and sufficient dampening.

Since the K3 HE has analog switches, there are plenty of adjustments you can make to their feel and response in Keychron’s web app. This app is based on the open-source QMK firmware. Aside from adjusting the actuation point, you can also enable Rapid Trigger, assign multiple inputs to a single key, and even adjust the curve profile, to alter sensitivity as the key travels past certain points. There’s also an option to emulate controller inputs, but I couldn’t get this mode to work in practice.

The software is clearly laid out, but there’s no standalone app, and you can only use it when the K3 HE is connected via the USB cable. What’s more, updating the firmware is needlessly complicated, and there are a few usability issues that may prove frustrating when tinkering frequently.

However, the K3 HE represents good value when you consider all that it offers. Not many can compete with its quality and feature set at this price point. If you don't mind the unique key shape and can live with slightly inefficient software, the K3 HE is a good pick for those after plenty of analog functionality without spending the earth.

(Image credit: Future)Keychron K3 HE review: Price & availability

• $119.99 (about £90 / AU$170)
• Available now in black and white
• Good price for an analog keyboard

The Keychron K3 HE costs $119.99 (about £90 / AU$170) and is available now in two colorways: black and white.

This is a good price for an analog keyboard, and a hot-swappable one at that. It’s slightly less expensive than the Turtle Beach Vulcan 2 TKL Pro. Like the K3 HE, this board features various customization options, including controller emulation — which actually worked when I tested this model. However, it doesn’t feel quite as premium, and it’s not so great for typing.

For a more luxury analog experience, the Steelseries Apex Pro can’t be beat. This is probably the best analog keyboard I’ve ever used. The key feel is glorious, allowing for superb control, and the whole unit is built like a tank. It’s seriously expensive, though.

Keychron K3 HE review: Specs

Layout

TKL

Switch

Analog (TMR magnetic)

Programmable keys

Yes

Dimensions

12.56 x 4.96 x 0.98 inches / 319 x 126 x 25mm

RGB or backlighting

Yes (customizable)

(Image credit: Future)Keychron K3 HE review: Design and features

• Light and compact
• Well-made
• Web app usability issues

The Keychron K3 HE cuts a minimal figure. It’s pleasingly light and compact, which makes it easy to move around or take with you on your travels.

It looks smart, too, and although I wasn’t sure about the wooden sides at first, they grew on me quickly. They also offer a nice counterpoint to the inorganic slabs adopted by many gaming keyboards. The RGB backlighting adds some vibrancy, but it doesn’t shine through the keycap characters, which is a shame as this would’ve made them easier to see in dark environments.

Build quality is also admirable. The plastic chassis feels smooth and solid, while the two-stage feet fold out with ease and offer a surprising amount of stability, preventing me from accidentally moving the board around, as I’ve experienced with others.

(Image credit: Future)

Despite the compact layout, you still get arrow and navigation keys, which I’m always pleased to see for productivity’s sake. There are also some basic but useful FN shortcuts on the F row, including one for screenshotting and several for media playback. These are all clearly labelled.

The K3 HE doesn’t feature a dipped middle row common on many keyboards, but the unique forward slant of the keycaps compensates for this somewhat. Along with their low profile, It makes it easier to hit them flush. However, I can imagine some won’t like this unique design.

Even taking into account the compact nature of the K3 HE, it still sits quite high off the ground, while the feet, despite having two-stages, fail to create much tilt. These aspects mean your wrists have to bend further than you might think to reach the keys. Using a wrist rest helped to alleviate my discomfort, but you’ll have to provide your own, since the K3 HE doesn’t come with one.

I appreciated the location of the switches for toggling connectivity modes and operating systems, too. They’re on the left side of the unit, rather than at the back as is typical, which makes them easier to reach.

(Image credit: Future)

However, the USB-C port is also on this side, which may prove a little inconvenient for certain setups. At least the included USB cable has an L-shaped jack, which means it doesn’t protrude as much as a standard one.

To customize the inputs of the K3 HE, you’ll need to use Keychron’s web app in a browser (there’s no standalone app you can download). You also need to be in wired mode. You can only use the web app in wireless mode to update the firmware of the 2.4GHz dongle.

However, updating the firmware is a convoluted process. You first need to download the Toolbox Driver, and then follow the process in the web app, although it’s not entirely clear when the update is complete. During this whole process, I encountered an error, with a dialog box instructing me to upload a required JSON file. It gave me no hint as to what file specifically was needed or where to acquire it, but somehow I got around the issue and the firmware successfully updated.

To update the firmware of the keyboard itself, you have to hold the escape key and disconnect the cable before reconnecting it. I then had to disconnect and reconnect the cable after this finished in order for it to be recognized again by the web app.

(Image credit: Future)Keychron K3 HE review: Performance

• Key resistance provides control
• Plenty of analog tweaks available
• Some connectivity issues

The Keychron K3 HE is a competent keyboard, whether you’re gaming or typing. The keys are a mixture of thocky and clicky, although they’re slightly biased towards the latter. Dampening is reasonable, but they don’t feel very well lubed. Presses can certainly be heard, but they’re far from the noisiest out there.

What stands out most of all, though, is their resistance. They’re heavier than you might expect, but since you can adjust their actuation point, they’re still capable of responding instantly. This resistance can be beneficial, too, as it can make typing more forgiving. The generous spacing between the keys can also help to prevent erroneous presses.

Despite their resistance, I didn’t find them a chore to use. They rebound quickly, making them snappier than they otherwise would. When playing games such as Counter-Strike 2, I didn’t find the WASD keys onerous to hold for long periods at a time.

(Image credit: Future)

The weight also provides greater control when pressing keys part way, which you’ll need to do if you want to make full use of the K3 HE’s analog functionality. Speaking of which, there is a smorgasbord of options in this area.

In addition to setting the actuation point (which has a range of 0.2 to 2.8mm), you can also enable Rapid Trigger. This is a common feature on many analog keyboards, but with the K3 HE, you can adjust both the trigger and the reset distances, rather than just the latter.

You can toggle a progress bar to show the travel of key presses in real time, which is something I’m always pleased to see in analog keyboard software. However, Keychron’s goes one step further by accompanying this with a readout in millimeters. This is even more helpful, and not something I’ve seen before in such visualizers.

It’s a shame, however, that this visualizer doesn’t show the effects of your Rapid Trigger settings, which is the area most deserving of visual representation, given its not-so-obvious operation. It’s also annoying that you have to turn the visualizer back on every time you make adjustments to the actuation point or Rapid Trigger, or whenever you navigate back from a different section of the software. What’s more, the visualizer is only available when adjusting one key at a time, but not multiple.

(Image credit: Future)

Other analog functions on the K3 HE include the ability to assign up to four inputs to a single key, which trigger based on how far down you press said key. You can also adjust the curve profile by selecting one of two presets or creating your own. This is done by dragging four points on a graph to adjust sensitivity over the course of a key’s travel. This kind of adjustment is more common on the best PC controllers, but rarely seen on analog keyboards.

Speaking of which, there’s also a gamepad emulation feature in the web app, which includes the ability to mimic the analog control of joysticks and triggers. However, I couldn’t get this to work on the games I tried. This isn’t an issue with the games themselves, since I’ve got similar features to work on other analog keyboards.

In addition to analog-based customizations, the web app also has a SOCD function with a generous number of settings, and there are plenty of key mapping options. Naturally, there’s also a macro recording facility.

The K3 HE connected well via its different methods, and I didn’t experience any lag or dropouts while using the board. Hot-switching between devices was quick and easy for the most part, although there were times when it failed to re-establish a connection, particularly when switching from wired to wireless mode.

Battery life isn’t particularly great, either. After only a couple of days of using a mixture of connectivity methods, it died. Also, I couldn’t see a battery life indicator anywhere for the K3 HE, either on the board itself or in the web app, which seems like a gross oversight.

Should I buy the Keychron K3 HE?Scorecard

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

The K3 HE is very well-priced for a hot-swappable analog keyboard with multiple connectivity options and plenty of customizations.

4.5 / 5

Design and features

The K3 HE is surprisingly compact and light, yet sturdy. The slanted keycaps might deter some users, though.

4 / 5

Performance

The switches are surprisingly heavy, but they’re responsive and offer good control. The finicky web app and poor battery life are blemishes.

3.5 / 5

Overall rating

The Keychron K3 HE is a very competent analog keyboard for the price. It performs well and features plenty of customizations, but it has a few drawbacks besides.

3.5 / 5

Buy it if…

You want plenty of analog options
There are numerous in-depth tweaks and features for the switches — more so than on many of its rivals.

You want to get a lot for your money
Not many keyboards offer analog switches and this many features for such a low price.

Don't buy it if…

You want slick software
The K3 HE has no standalone app, only a web app, and it can only be used when connected via the USB cable. It also has some usability issues.

You want a long battery life
The K3 HE didn’t last more than a couple of days during my testing, and for some reason there’s no battery indicator.

Keychron K3 HE review: Also consider

Turtle Beach Vulcan 2 TKL Pro
The Vulcan 2 Pro is another reasonably priced analog keyboard. It too has a controller emulation feature, but unlike the K3 HE, it actually works. It doesn’t feel quite as premium, though, and the narrow and prominently floating keycaps hamper typing somewhat. Read our full Turtle Beach Vulcan 2 TKL Pro review.

SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless
The supreme analog keyboard. You’re unlikely to find a unit better built than this, and the switches feel incredible to use, operating smoothly and offering plenty of control. You’ll have to part with a lot of cash, mind, but if you’re serious about gaming with keyboards, it could be worth it. Read our full SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless Gen 3 review.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Keychron K3 HE

• Tested for several days
• Used for gaming and working
• Experienced keyboard reviewer

I tested the Keychron K3 HE for several days. I used it for gaming, working, and general browsing. I used all of its connectivity modes.

I used its web app to make as many adjustments and enable as many of its analog features as I could. I played games such as Counter-Strike 2 to test its gaming prowess.

I’ve reviewed plenty of keyboards in my time, from everyday workhorses to gaming powerhouses, with varying price points, form factors, and switch types.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: May 2026

All the ways to watch Scotland vs Curaçao live streams online – including for FREE – in one of the last friendlies before the World Cup 2026 gets underway.

The Keychron K3 HE packs a lot of features in a small and relatively inexpensive package — but does it deliver the goods?

The tour comes as Myanmar's new government tries to consolidate its political position regionally, while continuing to wage a brutal civil war.

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Some lawmakers are speaking out against closed, single-party primaries, which they see as part of a system that limits voter choice and incentivizes elected officials to prioritize party loyalty.

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Soon after winning the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff, Ken Paxton attacked Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico as "too low-T for Texas," putting manhood front and center in the race.

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Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2: two-minute review

The Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 is a manual coffee machine that sits more at the prosumer end of the market. Its whole raison d'être is around helping you make barista-quality coffee by hand and, it achieves this thanks to the assistance of some smart features that help streamline the process, while leaving control fully in your hands.

As a complete package, the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 is an undeniably polished product. It has a silhouette just sleek enough to fulfil its prosumer aspirations and its tiltable touchscreen is super easy to use. It also comes with almost every accessory you could want and each is engineered to such a high standard that they’re a real pleasure to use, especially the hefty tamper and coffee distributor.

Beneath the hood, it has hardware as impressive as any of the best coffee makers we’ve tested. Its rotary pump maintains pressure better than the vibration pump many mass market machines rock, while its dual boilers ensure the steam wand won’t start to sputter out part way through foaming your milk.

It’s the Meraki’s smart features that really set it apart from other machines though — rather than automating every part of your coffee making routine, it augments them. For example, its built-in scale allows you to grind coffee to a specific weight every time, while a second scale lets you brew your coffee by weight, making it far easier to dial in a very specific grind to extraction ratio. Meanwhile, an integrated temperature sensor in the steam wand means you can set it to cut out when your milk hits your target heat, which is easier than relying on temperature alone.

So what’s it like in use? Honestly, pretty slick. Dialing in your perfect grind and dose feels far more granular than usual, thanks to the integrated scales. Those solidly built accessories make transferring, evening out and tamping your coffee far easier, then you can easily set to extract a ristretto or long black depending on your preference. Frothing milk is rarely my favorite part of making a coffee, yet that temperature sensor allowed me to concentrate more on honing my technique.

(Image credit: Future)

As a result, the whole manual process felt as rewarding as ever, while producing delicious and exceedingly consistent coffee. I was able to extract just the right flavor profile out of even cheaper beans over and over, while the one brew I produced with a more premium batch really let its exquisite mango tasting notes shine through. Despite the fact I’m not a major fan of milk in coffee, even the macchiato I whipped up using its steaming wand tasted great, with just the right amount of foam to add texture without overpowering the flavor of the coffee.

Really my only substantial criticism of the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 is its cost. Coming in at $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,799, it resides firmly at the premium end of the market and I imagine there will be quite a few people who balk at the idea of dropping that much on a manual coffee maker. However, cost is not the same as value: the experience of using this machine and the quality results you’ll get out of it totally warrant that price for those that can stretch to it.

(Image credit: Future)Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 review: price & availability

• Available now
• List price of $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,799
• Available in white and black colorways

Having first been available for pre-order in March 2026, the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 is available now. It comes in two colorways: black or white. And barring a knock box, it comes with pretty much every accessory you could need, whether that’s a tamper, coffee distributor, cleaning brush, or blind portafilter basket for backflushing.

You’ll pay a premium for this premium device though. At a list price of $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,799, this is an undeniably prosumer device that comes in at the top price range of the best bean-to-cup makers we’ve featured. While it’s not quite as spendy as something like the $2,799.95 / £1,915 (around AU$3,865) Breville Oracle Touch (known under the brand name Sage in the UK) or the £2,199 (around $2,970 / AU$4,100) Siemens EQ900 Plus, it’s an expensive machine and doesn’t come with as many automated features as some machines. I’d argue it’s well worth the price you’ll pay but such a premium manual machine won’t be for everyone.

(Image credit: Future)Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 review: specs

Category

Specification

Type

Manual espresso machine

Dimensions

14.57 x 14.57 x 16.34 inches / 370 x 370 x 415mm

Weight

32 lbs / 14.5kg

Water tank capacity

2.1 quarts / 2 liters

Steam wand

360-degree articulating with temperature sensor

Max pressure

9 bar extraction

(Image credit: Future)Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 review: design

• Attractive, suitably professional-looking design
• Well-made accessories
• CoffeeSense only useful for Meraki beans

I’ll be upfront here: I flat out love the way the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 looks. At 14.57 x 14.57 x 16.34 inches / 370 x 370 x 415mm, it’s hardly the sveltest machine I’ve ever tested. But the fact its water tank, bean hopper and boilers are all separate towers prevents it from looking too hulking on my countertop, while the combo of its chrome fixtures and pivotable touch screen give it just enough flair to stand out from your average coffee machine.

But it’s not just the Meraki’s aesthetics that are finished to a high standard. All the accessories packaged with it feel seriously premium, and there weren’t any glaring omissions. Everything has a reassuring solidity to it: the portafilter has a wonderfully tactile wooden handle, while the solid metal of both the coffee distributor and tamp has sufficient heft to give you real confidence when producing the perfect puck of grounds. Extra little touches like the wooden box for storing the accessories on just add that final polish to the experience.

Don’t be fooled by this focus on looks though. Underneath the Meraki’s sleek exterior beats the ferocious industrial heart of a prosumer espresso machine. Discrete boilers for the brew system and steam wand should mean that you don’t have to worry about the wand’s pressure giving out part way through steaming, while its rotary pump maintains nine bars of pressure more consistently than the vibration pump used by many home machines.

(Image credit: Future)

The Meraki also has a decent amount of capacity. The water tank itself has a volume of 2.1qt / 2,000ml, which I’d say is pretty average for a coffee maker — you’ll get plenty of brews out of that, even if it’s not as colossal as something like the huge 2.6qt / 2.5L Breville Oracle Touch. Meanwhile, the Meraki’s bean hopper measures 2.36 inches high by 4.06 inches diameter / 60 x 103mm. Generally I found that was sufficient to fuel around four double espressos but, naturally, your mileage will vary depending on how you like to dose your grounds.

One of the things I love about the Meraki is that it sits firmly in the camp of a manual espresso machine — there’s no bean-to-cup function here — but it comes crammed with features to make you better at pulling shots and foaming milks.

Perhaps the most explicitly ‘smart’ function is its CoffeeSense feature. This allows you to scan a tag on compatible Meraki coffee bags and it will suggest the recommended grind size, dosing weight and extraction temperature for those beans to help you get the best result out of those beans. I can definitely see how that would be a neat feature for someone who’s happy to stick with one brand of beans but part of the joy of coffee for me is trying different varieties and growers, so I’m not sure I’d get as much use out of this as some.

(Image credit: Future)

But it also offers other ways to make dialing in your perfect brew easier. Built-in scales beneath both the grinder and grouphead allow you to grind your beans and express your coffee by weight, giving you really precise control over each. Meanwhile, Auto mode calculates the right brew weight based on how much coffee you’ve ground, making it easy to manually fix yourself a coffee without needing too much trial and error balancing brew time and grind. These are fantastic as a guide, allowing you to really build confidence before you start improvising like a true manual maestro.

Another impressive element of the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2’s design is its steam wand. It has a cool-touch design — although the head still gets hot so careful not to brush against it — and it’s super flexible, making it easy to get it at a perfect angle for frothing your milk. More innovatively, it has a built-in temperature sensor that allows you to stop steaming milk at the perfect temperature, rather than having to rely on touch alone.

None of these features are forced on you and they’re suitably light touch that it’s really easy to start trusting your own instincts once you’re ready. But I’ve never used an espresso machine that’s helped guide me so well between amateur and prosumer coffee making before — it’s just the right amount of support without making you dependent on its help.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 review: performance

• Great automated features that don’t take away your control
• Steams milk with constant pressure and to your chosen temperature
• Produces wonderfully well-extracted, consistent coffee

So how easy is it to make coffee using the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2? Well, honestly, at first I found it a little unpredictable. Tiny variations in tamping pressure seemed to produce wildly different results — the first brew ran through the puck incontinently despite the fine grind I’d used, while the second over-extracted to such an extreme it made my mouth pucker like I’d licked an ibuprofen. Then I realized my mistake.

Turns out I’d slightly underestimated the Meraki’s grinder — as it’s calibrated for espresso, my default instinct to whack the grinder on one of the lowest settings was producing a silt that easily channeled or clogged the portafilter basket depending on how firmly it was tamped. After a bit of experimentation, I was able to dial in on my perfect results though, settling on a grind of 10.

Fortunately, the Meraki’s grinder perfectly suits this kind of tinkering. Not only do you have very granular control over the fineness of your grind, but the fact that you can dose using the built-in scale beneath the grinder makes tweaking the exact quantity of coffee you want super-repeatable. In automatic mode, I could simply dial in 18g for a double shot and it would stop grinding once it hit my desired dose, or I could go off-piste and simply grind it up manually using my best judgement.

(Image credit: Future)

Preparing the puck always felt like a breeze — all I had to do was place the portafilter on top of the dosing cup, flip it and then give it a few taps to transfer my grounds. A few twists of the coffee distributor and the grounds would be nicely distributed, meaning all I had to do was tamp it down with that wonderfully sturdy tamper. Each tool is so well put together that it’s a really satisfying process and it feels easy to get professional results.

And with that, I was ready to go — or at least once the water was heated up. While the two minutes and 10 seconds it took the dual boiler to heat up the first time is slower than some consumer coffee machines, it’s actually pretty fast compared to many prosumer units, which can sometimes take upwards of 15 minutes. Additionally, another neat feature of the Meraki is your ability to set the boiler to come on at a specific time of day, meaning it can be all warmed up and ready to go for your first coffee of the day.

Once I’d actually properly calibrated my grind and dosing, extracting properly was a breeze. In Automatic mode, I simply had to set the weight of my drink — for example, 36g for an espresso — and set it to run, whereas in Manual mode I could simply run it until I was happy with the quantity. Thanks to that rotary pump, it produced a steady stream of espresso, neither hemorrhaging coffee too fast nor letting it dribble out in fits and starts. It’s also pretty quiet, hitting just 65dB and making more of a whir than the juddering noise I’m used to from vibration-pumped machines.

(Image credit: Future)

Steaming milk has never really been my forte. As a black coffee drinker, I’ve never had much need to develop the knack. But the Meraki also makes this a lot easier. Not only does its dual boiler mean that it maintained constant pressure throughout steaming but, thanks to its built-in thermostat, the steam wand clicked off when my milk had reached my target temperature, meaning I could just focus on creating the right level of foam and getting it swirling. Not only did this help me whip up a passable macchiato but, when I’d gained a bit more confidence, I was able to make a decent manual latte using touch alone.

So what were the results like? Pretty sensational. Even trying with some relatively affordable decaf beans, the coffee the Meraki produced had a stable, beautifully caramel crema, just the right velvety texture and not straying too far into bitterness or acidity. Each shot I poured remained consistent, showing how easy it is to keep getting these great results. And when I tested it out with a premium bag of Dahwe beans from Ritual Coffee Roasters, the results genuinely blew me away: the flavor was flat out gorgeous, maintaining a pitch perfect balance of not being aggressively floral but confidently communicating its mango overtones.

(Image credit: Future)

I’ll admit that I much prefer making coffee than scrubbing up the mess I’ve made but cleaning up here is pretty straightforward. Everyday use really only requires you to purge the steam wand, then give it, the portafilter and the grouphead a wipedown with a damp cloth. Even doing the deep clean at the end of my review wasn’t particularly arduous. Cleaning the steam wand involves running it for bursts of 10 seconds multiple times while submerged in cold water. Making sure the machine’s innards stay squeaky clean is even easier — just pop in the blind portafilter basket, pop it in the machine and then select the cleaning option and a tutorial will walk you through the rest.

There’s always something deeply satisfying about making coffee yourself and that’s why I’ve always been a big fan of manual machines. But what I like most about the Meraki Espresso Machine is that it makes it much easier to take your hand-crafted coffee to the next level. Automated features don’t remove your agency — they instead support it, allowing you to freestyle more and more as your skills grow. And the end result is wonderfully extracted and thoroughly consistent coffee. So ultimately, if you like getting hands on with your coffee and money’s not an object, you’re going to get great results out of the Meraki.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2?Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 score card

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

This is undeniably a premium espresso machine. But given its quality and the consistent results it achieves, I’d argue it’s worth every cent.

4.5/5

Design

Sleekly designed with really well engineered accessories. Dual boiler and rotary pump help maintain consistent temperature and pressure. Smart features really streamline your coffee-making without taking you out of the driving seat. However, the CoffeeSense feature only works with Meraki beans.

4.5/5

Performance

Warms up quickly, easy to dial in your perfect quantity of grounds and coffee size, temperature sensor in steam wand makes steaming milk easier, produces excellently well-extracted coffee that tastes consistent time after time, easy enough to clean.

5/5

Buy it if…

You love consistent espresso and well-foamed milk
Thanks to its rotary pump and dual-boiler, the Meraki maintains both temperature and pressure incredibly well, allowing you to pull consistently great shots every time.

You want clever features for streamlining your manual coffee making
With smart functionality like grinding and brewing by weight, and its steam wand’s built-in temperature sensor, the Meraki makes your coffee making workflow easier — without taking away your control.

Don’t buy it if…

You don’t have a big budget
The Meraki Espresso Machine is unabashedly premium in its price. If the idea of dropping $1,799 / £1,599 / AU$2,799 on a coffee machine makes you break out in a cold sweat, it’s probably not for you.

You want coffee at the press of a button
Despite its automated features, this is still firmly a manual machine. If you just want fantastic coffee for minimal effort, you’ll likely prefer a fully automatic bean-to-cup machine.

Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2 review: also consider

Category

Meraki Espresso Gen 2

Breville Barista Touch Impress (Cold Extraction)

La Pavoni Europiccola (Millennium)

Type

Dual Boiler / Integrated Grinder

Single Boiler (ThermoJet) / Integrated Grinder

Manual Lever / Single Boiler

Dimensions

14.57 x 14.57 x 16.34 inches / 370 x 370 x 415 mm

16.42 x 13.11 x 13.50 inches / 417 x 333 x 343 mm

12.6 x 7.87 x 11.42 inches / 320 x 200 x 290 mm

Weight

32 lbs / 14.5kg

24.2 lbs / 11kg

12.1 lbs / 5.5kg

Water tank capacity

2.1 quarts / 2 litres

2.1 quarts / 2 litres

0.8 quarts / 0.8 litres

Steam wand

Professional 360° articulating cool-touch

Auto MilQ

Manual

Max pressure

9 bar

9 bar

Manual

Breville Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction
If you’re looking for a slightly more automated coffee, the Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction is a great fit. It still helps you dial in your perfect dose with the grinder but also allows you to tamp it in place without removing it. Once you’ve slotted the portafilter beneath the grouphead, you can then select from a range of 14 hot and cold drinks, including cold brew, and the AutoMilq steam wand will then froth your milk to order. Read our full Breville Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction review.

La Pavoni Europiccola
Alternatively, if you’re one of those people that despises any automation and thinks that even using a pump to extract your coffee is cheating, the La Pavoni Europiccola is definitely for you. Using a lever to generate the required pressure, it allows you to get literally hands on with your coffee and produces absolutely fantastic results. It’s not for the faint of heart though: it has a steep learning curve to master, heats slowly and it’s not cheap given you’re doing all the hard work yourself. Read our full La Pavoni Europiccola review.

(Image credit: Future)How I tested the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2

• Tested it over two weeks
• Tried a variety of drinks, beans and milks
• Measured how long it took to warm up and how loud the pump is

When testing the Meraki Espresso Machine Gen 2, I used it over the course of several weeks. I experimented with different grind levels, used different varieties of beans and tamped at a range of pressures to see how consistent its results were. I also tried to make a variety of drinks and steamed several different varieties of milk to see how the steam wand performed.

To understand how well the Meraki worked as a manual machine, I made sure to extract several coffees without using the automatic dosing and steamed milk using touch alone, rather than relying purely on the steam wand’s temperature sensor. When assessing the performance of the boiler and pump, I not only timed how long it took to heat up in the morning but I also used a sound level meter to record how much noise it made during extraction.

When it comes to my own experience, I’ve been making and drinking coffee on a daily basis for well over two decades. I’ve also gotten hands on with a wide range of machines, whether they’re De’longhi, Breville or Gaggia. My preferred tipple to make with a machine is a double espresso or long black, although any time the weather is not positively arctic, cold brew is my go-to.

• For more details, see how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.
• First reviewed: May 2026

While testing Meraki’s latest espresso machine, I was genuinely blown away by how its clever features supported me to make better coffee manually.

The Ugreen Maxidok 10-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Dock is an entry-level dock for those with TB5 ports on their system.

Ordo Squishmallows Sonic Kids: Two-minute review

The Sonic Kids Battery Toothbrush is Ordo's entry-level electric toothbrush designed for children aged 4+. My six-year-old daughter and I tested the Squishmallows-branded model, but there is also a Wicked version for a slightly older demographic. If you prefer rechargeable toothbrushes, then Ordo sells an almost identical model but with an internal battery and a charging stand.

The design of the toothbrush is unashamedly targeted at young children. This begins with the fun and playful Squishmallows branding alongside bright and bold colors, but it also extends to the free-flowing and curvy shape. My child loved having her own age-appropriate toothbrush, and when I told her that she had to go back to her regular 'boring' toothbrush, she was genuinely disappointed.

One of the standout features of the toothbrush is that the heads are replaceable. Unlike the best electric toothbrushes aimed at adults, in which replaceable heads are almost a given, this is far from guaranteed with children's toothbrushes. Some electric toothbrushes aimed at children, such as Colgate's Kids Battery Toothbrushes and others from the likes of Oral-B, will only last a few months before the bristles lose their strength and the whole device is consigned to landfill.

Replaceable heads, just like an adult's brush, sets the Ordo apart and will help to ensure the longevity of the toothbrush as a whole.

(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)

Despite the replacement heads which Ordo will recycle for you, free of charge, the toothbrush itself doesn't score particularly highly from a sustainability point of view. It's constructed of almost 100% plastic and is powered by a single AA battery, which lasts 60 days.

The toothbrush produces 18,000 pulses/vibrations per minute, which offers reasonable performance in terms of bacteria and plaque removal. Older children will benefit from a more vigorous clean, but the Ordo delivers just about enough for children aged around four or five.

My child's regular toothbrush has an oscillating head, and so the sonic motion of the Ordo took a little getting used to. She also found that the vibrations ran right through the handle, causing an uncomfortable feeling in her hand. Sonic versus oscillating is a long-standing debate, and if you're wondering which to go for, our sonic vs rotating toothbrushes guide is worth a look.

(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)

This Ordo toothbrush doesn't feature any additional modes beyond vibrating, and there are no timers in sight, not even a two-minute one. This was an issue for my daughter, who had no idea whether she had reached the magic two minutes and so relied on me to help her estimate that. The lack of 30-second pacing timers is unsurprising at this price point but would have been nice to have.

The features on offer and the performance delivered make the Ordo Sonic Kids Toothbrush a strong contender for a place amongst the best electric toothbrushes. If Ordo could integrate a two-minute timer and improve its sustainability credentials, then we'd have a five-star performer on our hands.

Ordo Squishmallows Sonic Kids: Specifications

Component

Value

Battery life

60 days

Sonic vibrations

18,000 pulses/vibrations per minute

Charging stand

No. Powered by a single AA Battery

Timer

No

Noise

Decibel level not published

Settings

1

(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)Ordo Squishmallows Sonic Kids: Price and availability

• $14.99 US / £12.50 UK / $24.99 AUS
• 2-pack of replacement heads: $9.99 US / £8.99 UK / $15 AUS
• Reasonably priced toothbrush but expensive replacement heads

The Ordo Squishmallows Sonic Kids battery toothbrush is reasonably priced given its build quality and replacement head capability. In the box are the toothbrush handle, two heads, and an AA battery.

Each head will last around three months, which means the upfront cost will provide six months' worth of toothbrushing. A 2-pack of replacement heads is almost as expensive as the toothbrush itself, so you'll need to factor this ongoing cost into your buying decision.

If your child is into characters such as Barbie, Batman, Minions, or Pokémon, then Colgate is the alternative brand to go for. They are usually around half the price compared to the Ordo, but the head isn't replaceable. That means once the bristles wear down, you throw the whole plastic handle away, making Ordo much more eco-friendly and cost-effective in the long run.

• Value score: 4/5

(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)Ordo Squishmallows Sonic Kids: Scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Value

Reasonably priced toothbrush but the cost of replacement heads adds up.

4/5

Design

Cute and attractive and will appeal to 3-7-year-olds.

4.5/5

Features

The lack of a two-minute timer and oscillating movement let the toothbrush down.

4/5

Total

A solid vibrating toothbrush with a cute aesthetic.

4/5

(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)Ordo Squishmallows Sonic Kids: Should I buy?Buy it if...

You want an entry-level electric toothbrush

The Ordo lacks high-end features such as oscillating movement and a two-minute timer, but it is priced accordingly.

You want a cute toothbrush with replaceable heads

Most character-themed battery toothbrushes have fixed heads and are considered disposable. The Ordo, on the other hand, has replacement heads for greater longevity.

Your child has sensory sensitivities

At 18,000 vibrations per minute, this brush provides a mild, gentle hum that is perfect for children who find the toothbrushing experience overwhelming.

Don't buy if if...

You want an oscillating head action

If you want a superior cleaning action, then the vibrating movement of the Ordo can't compare to oscillating alternatives.

You want a toothbrush with a charging stand

The Ordo operates with a single removable AA battery rather than an internal battery with a charging stand.

Your child needs a timer

The toothbrush won't alert your child at 30-second intervals, which means they might find it difficult to know when to move from the bottom teeth to the top teeth.

Also consider

Colgate Kids Battery Toothbrush

These child-themed battery toothbrushes feature small, vibrating heads and extra-soft bristles designed for kids aged 3 and up. It's worth considering that the heads are non-replaceable, which makes the whole toothbrush redundant when the bristles are past their best.

Ordo Cam Squishmallows Sonic Kids Electric Toothbrush

A more feature-rich toothbrush for children with multiple cleaning modes, 32,000 pulsations per minute, and a two-minute timer. It comes with a charger to recharge the internal battery.

How I tested

My six-year-old daughter used the Ordo Squishmallows Sonic Kids toothbrush for one month. Her normal toothbrush is an Oral-B PRO Junior Electric with an oscillating head, although she has experience of a manual toothbrush as well. Her familiarity of both of these meant she was able to compare the Ordo to both ends of the spectrum of what's available for children.

First reviewed: May 2026

The Ordo Squishmallows Sonic Kids Battery Toothbrush is a well-designed product with a reasonable set of features for the price