Waiting for a physical keyboard?

consv93

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Hi folks,

I have a Motorola DROID 4 with a full physical QWERTY keyboard. Since the D4 came out, only two keyboard smartphones have been released to Verizon, and both were entry-level.

I am losing patience for my D4; it's slowed down a lot, and the USB port doesn't work so I have to use inductive chargers.

At what point should I give up waiting for a keyboard phone (at least a midrange and preferably top of the line specs) and move to a standard phone like the Galaxy or HTC One? I was thinking my last best hope is the fall/Christmas season, if my phone lasts that long.

What do you think?
 

dpham00

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IMO, it is unlikely that a high end keyboard smartphone would come out

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raymaane

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I was just wondering this the other day. Is it the end of the physical keyboard thing? Could a flagship come out sporting one? Never know... Probably not.
 

zorak950

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If the modular phone idea takes off you might be in luck, but I wouldn't wait on it. By the time that stuff is on the market, your next phone will probably be obsolete, too. :p
 

cgardnervt

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Having a real keyboard ued to be nice. But I have gotten used to Swiftkey I don't think I could ever go back to it. However I know people like my mom and older folks who would rather have the real keyboard as well. So there is a need for it I think!
 

sting7k

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Hi folks,

At what point should I give up waiting for a keyboard phone (at least a midrange and preferably top of the line specs) and move to a standard phone like the Galaxy or HTC One?

You should have done that years ago. Now you are that much further behind in training on a soft keyboard. The market has spoken, hard keyboards on your pocket computer are done.
 

A895

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You should have done that years ago. Now you are that much further behind in training on a soft keyboard. The market has spoken, hard keyboards on your pocket computer are done.

Actually manufacturers systematically released devices without keyboards and the public just shrugged it's shoulders and kept buying full touch devices.

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sting7k

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Actually manufacturers systematically released devices without keyboards and the public just shrugged it's shoulders and kept buying full touch devices.

Posted via Android Central App

I know; the public = the market. The masses have voted with their dollars by buying all touch screen devices.
 

A895

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Because people stopped buying them?

You can't buy what is rarely there if at all. Manufacturers stopped making high end keyboard phones with the Droid 4. Now they are all midrange POS devices or outdated because the LG Enact I recommend is maybe a year old now.

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LeoRex

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Yeah, you won't find too many keyboards going forward.... they are too limiting. It varies by user, but for me, personally, I am not using the keyboard all that much over the course of the day.... but I don't text or email heavily... So having a soft keyboard allows me to regain ALLLLL that screen. And the market seems to agree with me based on sales, so the physical keyboard is dying a fairly quick death.

That being said, physical keyboards suck. :) I hated them with a passion that burned with the heat of a 1000 suns. I have large hands, and using one was a painful exercise in frustration.... my last 'feature' phone had a fairly large slide out keyboard and the.... well, I could continue to describe my hatred, but the language filter would probably suffer a buffer overflow and crash the site.

I use Swype now and I the experience is night and day.... I can type both accurately and with considerable speed, with just my thumb... ripping off a fairly long paragraph in the same amount of time it would take me to peck off "call u back later" with that crappy physical keyboard.
 

paintdrinkingpete

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Actually manufacturers systematically released devices without keyboards and the public just shrugged it's shoulders and kept buying full touch devices.

Posted via Android Central App

I know; the public = the market. The masses have voted with their dollars by buying all touch screen devices.

Yeah, because manufacturers stopped making them.

Posted via Android Central App

Because people stopped buying them?

I see the "chicken and the egg" thing going on here, but the fact is that I really don't think that *most* consumers do want a physical keyboard.

I know there are still those who prefer the physical hardware, but it does seem to be a dying breed, and honestly, I think the big factor is that most folks, if given a choice, don't want to sacrifice screen real estate (in the case of the "half and half" design) or carry around a thicker, heavier device (in the case of the "slide-out" design) in order to have a physical keyboard. I only bring this up because the physical keyboard fans always try to make the argument that they are superior, but the fact is that they really aren't anything more than a personal preference that only a minority of smart phone users seem to share.

I personally much prefer the on-screen virtual keyboard. I have big hands and fingers, and it's much easier for me to use the virtual keyboard. I still have to carry around an old BlackBerry for work, and I HATE having to type on that thing...I may as well just be mashing the keypad with my fist given how many mistakes I make on it.
 

leitor79

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Hi,

I disagree with this being "chicken or egg" issue. The people buy what it's advertised. Prove: Nobody bought a smartphone before after apple invented one, and that wasn't an impediment for design a smartphone or selling it afterwards.

I have 2 qwerty phones; the HTC TyTNII and the Xperia mini pro 2. Now I have a Samsung S3 from six months and writing on a screen is the worst thing I ever did on a phone. I often come with an irresistible temptation to smash it against the wall. I've tried several keyboards and autocorrector configurations (and no autocorrector) and it's the same. With the qwerty keyboard I was able to write without even looking at the phone; now I have to look, write slower and even looking and slower I make many mistakes. It's so bad that I get here finding info on phones to replace the s3 and I'm think I'm buying a photon q or an enact to replace my s2 thought they're older phones.

I believe the end of qwerty is due to profit. The people will buy what's advertised and on price. And the manufacturers rather to sell the phones with more profit margin. Any qwerty keyboard will add cost to the end user or reduce the profit margin to the manufacturer. And both things will reduce profit.

I see no impediment for making and 4' HD screen with a qwerty sliding keyboard below. Or this things couldn't exist: Add a QWERTY keyboard to your Galaxy S3 | Mobile Fun Blog

Regards,
 

A895

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The Droid looks better spec wise.... That would be a downgrade

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The Enact has a snapdragon which is better than a TI-OMAP. Everything else the space are the same except storage. The newer processor will be better and being on JB is just as good as the Droid 4.

Posted via Android Central App
 

Closingracer

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The Enact has a snapdragon which is better than a TI-OMAP. Everything else the space are the same except storage. The newer processor will be better and being on JB is just as good as the Droid 4.

Posted via Android Central App
I'll still say that is a downgrade... Besides the processor the Droid 4 is a better phone imo

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