OLKB

Planck & Preonic

OLKB is the producer of the highly popular Planck and Preonic ortholinear keyboards. The owner, Jack Humbert, is also the founder of QMK. For years these keyboards were sold primarily through Drop.com, but Drop closed its ecommerce store on March 31, 2026. The Preonic has since found a new home: Apos is bringing it back as the Preonic Rev 4, now open for pre-order from $150.

Pre-Order the Preonic Rev 4 Visit OLKB Website Compare Ortho Keyboards

Update (August 14, 2026): The Preonic is back. Apos x OLKB Preonic Rev 4 is open for pre-order, $150 for the barebones kit and up to $205 with keycaps and switches, estimated to ship end of November 2026. The Planck is still the harder one to find: Drop's ecommerce store closed March 31, 2026, old Drop links now redirect into the CORSAIR-integrated site, and new stock is limited to whatever OLKB and Amazon still have. Full context in our 2026 buying guide.

Planck Keyboard

The Planck is a 40% ortholinear keyboard supporting hot-swappable switches, LEDs, a small speaker, and rotary encoders. Multiple baseplate options have shipped over the years (EOTW, hi-pro, and low-pro). Most Plancks ship as kits with light assembly required.

View on OLKB Search on Amazon QMK Firmware

Preonic Rev 4

The Preonic is the Planck's bigger sibling — a 5×12 ortholinear grid that keeps the dedicated number row. After Drop closed, Apos picked the design up and rebuilt it with OLKB as the Rev 4: an anodized CNC aluminum case, a ground-up 4-layer hot-swap PCB, per-key RGB with underglow, support for up to ten encoder positions, and an RP2040 running QMK.

It is open for pre-order in black, silver, or yellow. The kit on its own is $150, adding keycaps (QWERTY or Colemak) or switches takes it to $170 or $185, and a fully specced board is $205. Apos estimates shipping at end of November 2026, and the listing still describes what you get as a "Preonic Rev 4 keyboard kit."

Pre-Order at Apos Read Our Take QMK Firmware

What changed in the Rev 4

Complete 4-layer PCB redesign, hot-swap sockets
Bottom row supports 2×2u, 1×2u, and full grid
Full per-key RGB backlighting plus integrated RGB underglow
Up to 10 encoder positions, with better double-detent encoder support
RP2040 microcontroller with SWD breakout pads for firmware work
Enhanced ESD protection, universal USB daughterboard support, external RGB solder points
Anodized CNC aluminum case included in the kit

Preonic Rev 4 on a wooden desk next to a monitor and headphones

Looking for a Planck Alternative?

The Preonic Rev 4 covers the 50% side again, but the Planck is still hard to buy new. If you want a 40% on your desk this month rather than a pre-order landing in November, these are our current picks:

Chosfox x Masro Geonix Rev.2 — 40% low-profile wireless ortho ($112)
YMDK Air40 — Planck-clone build with QMK/VIA ($103)
KPrepublic CSTC40 — Budget Planck alternative ($49)
MechDIY 59 — Preonic-style 50% with VIA ($175)

Read the Full 2026 Guide Compare All Ortho Keyboards