On March 17, 2024, the Corne V4 was newly added to the lineup at the online store of Yusha Kobo, a specialty keyboard store.
The lineup includes the Corne V4 Cherry, which uses Cherry MX compatible keyswitches, and the Corne V4 Chocolate, which uses Kailh choc V1/V2 keyswitches.
Corne chocolate is choc v1/v2 compatible, so key switches such as Lofree x Kailh’s GHOST and PHANTOM can also be used. However, the switch plate may be very tight or may not fit, so please use at your own risk. (This is just a note, as I have not actually tried it.)
Unlike previous models, everything is already implemented, so the new “just buy and assemble” is expected to greatly lower the hurdle for entry into home-built keyboards.
There are several changes from V3, but the most significant change is probably the change in key pitch.
While the distance between keyswitches was 19.00mm until V3, the pitch was changed to the generally adopted 19.05mm pitch in V4.
As a result, backward compatibility with pre-V3 models and cases is no longer possible.
Also, since the microcontroller (RP2040) is mounted directly on the board, soldering at the time of creation has been minimized*, which is another point of improvement that greatly lowers the hurdles to production.
In V3, the OLED was mounted on top of the microcontroller section, but in V4, two key switches or two rotary encoders can be mounted.
In addition, a special case is included for a sharper appearance. (3D data may also be made public, so you may be able to order it yourself from JLCPCB, etc.)
Personally, I am also very pleased about the return of the slit for 5 horizontal keys, which was eliminated in V3.
PS: There are plans to release the mini case as well. (Thank you, foostan, for letting us know)
As a regular user of the QAZ layout, I am delighted.
Click here for purchase link ▷▷▷.
(At the time of writing, the stock was not yet available.)
Information from: Yousha Kobo and Github