The Bullet Train - a Low Profile Wireless V4N4G0N layout board
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Description
Group Buy Information
Bullet train will be available in GB beginning February 5th, ending March 8th. The two planned proxies are MonacoKeys and zFrontier. We will also have a link on our intl.cannonkeys.com. The ETA is Q3 2026.
Pricing
Wired - $170
Wireless - $200
Included
Keyboard Case
LED Window
FR4 Plate (Layout choice between big bar and split bars
We will have packs of 55 KS33 Gateron low profile switches available as addons in the following versions: Red Linear, Red Silent Linear, Brown Tactile, Brown Silent Tactile.
Keycaps
We are going to offering two different keycaps with bullet train in the new PFF profile. This profile is essentially a low profile version of PBS!
When I think of ultimate portability, I typically don’t think about MX based keyboards. While I would consider some MX keyboards light and portable (for example - Bakeneko Go or Photon), sometimes if you’re trying to pack light or travel with a single bag, it can be hard to justify using your limited space on a full height MX keyboard. So for this keyboard, I also wanted to use low profile switches.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no other low profile V4N4G0N variants that exist already, except for one that maybe uses Kailh Choc v1 switches - but I personally don’t like the reduced travel on choc v1. Recently, some new low profile options have come to market which really improve the acoustics and type feel - so I decided to base this on my preferred new low profile switches - the Gateron KS-33 series. With this in mind, I decided to design a new keyboard from scratch.
Wireless and Latency
For me, most of the games I play are single player ones where keyboard latency doesn’t make a huge difference, and as such, I also thought that wireless would be a nice quality of life feature to add. The V4N4G0N layout is also well suited for this purpose - since it has the 1-6 keys in the numrow which are often useful in games, and the rest of the empty numrow space can be used to house a sizeable battery, so the keyboard shouldn’t need to be charged much. For games where latency is a focus, the keyboard can still be plugged in via USB. Its 40% layout and low profile nature still make it a great candidate for a travel gaming keyboard.
Layouts
Starting from a 6.25U bar gaming layout (big spacebar is quite useful for gaming) - we went with the traditional V4N4G0N layout.
With low profile switches, stabilizer clearance needs cutouts on the PCB, limiting the potential split space options - but we were able to allow for a 2.25/1.25/2.75 split spacebar. While not as optimal as a 2.75/2.25/1.25 split, there is a split space option.
Each of the layout options will need a different plate, since low profile stabilizers are plate mounted.
Aesthetics
The Bullet Train looks quite simple at first glance - but has a few aesthetic features I wanted to bring attention to. The board is flat - 0 degrees - in order to keep it as low as possible. But, we wanted high-profile bezels, so the gaps between switch and keycaps will not be visible. The bezels are pretty thin - again in an effort to keep it sleek and portable. The top left of the board features a PC diffuser for RGB status indicators.
The top right of the board has a triangular cutout so you can add charms, a carabiner, or a strap to the keyboard for easy carrying.
And There’s a bullet train shaped indent across the 7-0 section of the num row. This indent will have a bullet train sticker in it - the design is being finalized.
The bottom of the board features AKB feet.
There is also a Cannon logo on the back of the board.
Mounting
The V4N layout has a unique challenge - the num row only has 6 keys - so unless you’re careful about mounting, you could end up with an inconsistent feeling board. Some other designs use side-of-case mounts to tadpole mount or top mount the plate. But since this is low profile, I chose to use a PCB gasket mount. The PCB basically sits on gaskets that touch the bottom plate of the keyboard. As the bottom plate is installed, the gaskets compress. The gasket placement is optimized to ensure consistency across the alphas.
There are tabs on the PCB which ensure that the PCB/plate assembly can’t move higher than it should as well. Ultimately, this gives a nice comfy feeling board without being too stiff or too bouncy.
The Bullet Train is also planned to ship with a 1.2mm poron + PET plate foam layer as well. The purpose of this is twofold.
First - I think it helps with acoustics. With the Poron foam, the sound of the board is a little cleaner.
Second - it makes the build process way easier. With a 1.2mm plate and low profile switches, it's way easier to install switches with the foam included. You can use a 1.2mm plate fork as well - but those are hard to find.
As usual, most of this comes down to personal preference, but in my opinion, the foam is worth using. I would encourage people to try building with and without the plate foam and making their own decision, though.
