Android with a Hardware Keyboard
- Thread starter Skeeter
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slower with the small qwerty keyboard but once in landscape mode i can type as fast as i could on my brothers G1
even faster actually.. since the buttons are bigger and at the same time very responsive.. rarely do i make a mistake.. 
I'm not here to have an argument about wether or not I should use on screen keyboards.
I want a HW keyboard, but it looks like phone manufacturers don't share my desire for physical keys.
The new Sony looks no better spec wise than the HTC or Milestone, even through its 1 year younger. When could we realistically expect the Droid 3 to make it here? Tempted to just get the best phone I can for free when I renew and then sell it, pocket the cash, and buy a decent HW keyboard phone when one comes along. But is one coming along... ?
I want a HW keyboard, but it looks like phone manufacturers don't share my desire for physical keys.
The new Sony looks no better spec wise than the HTC or Milestone, even through its 1 year younger. When could we realistically expect the Droid 3 to make it here? Tempted to just get the best phone I can for free when I renew and then sell it, pocket the cash, and buy a decent HW keyboard phone when one comes along. But is one coming along... ?
One of the reasons I've stuck with the original Xperia X1 despite the keyboard being a little hit and miss... but I can also use the stylus with the resistive touchscreen on a decently small on-screen keyboard that doesn't grab half my real estate when I want to type something 
wouldn't mind moving to a newer phone and android but I can't live with a capacitive touchscreen.
wouldn't mind moving to a newer phone and android but I can't live with a capacitive touchscreen.
Robbo, touchscreen keyboards suck for some people, period.
I fully understand the need for a physical keyboard as I'm a fat fingered mofo myself with a 4.3" screen and still hate the ****ing things.
Just because you can operate one just fine doesn't mean the next man will.
If I'd not destroyed my Milestone 2 and had to back to my old HD2 I would be happily still typing away on it.
OP don't discount the Milestone 2 just because its nearly a year old doesn't mean its naff. I loved mine and would consider another one at the right price.
Though some people here will tell you that you now need dual core to make a call, send an email or text so its not worth buying one now.
.Just get what you like the look of dude, the Motorola is good and so is the Desire-Z.
Dual core is utterly pointless. Come back when there running dual core optimised OS's and all apps are dual core aware.
Yes, the Milestone does look nicer than the Z, but its Motorola. I have a Milestone and my GF has a Desire, and hers is so much nicer with the Sense UI. Motoblur is pants, and no Home replacement apps are as good as Sense.
Plus, the Desire Z is quite easy to get hold of, whereas the Milestone 2 (like the Milestone) is available on a select few websites.
Might try and have a play with some in some stores, if I can resist throttling the salesmen to death.
Yes, the Milestone does look nicer than the Z, but its Motorola. I have a Milestone and my GF has a Desire, and hers is so much nicer with the Sense UI. Motoblur is pants, and no Home replacement apps are as good as Sense.
Plus, the Desire Z is quite easy to get hold of, whereas the Milestone 2 (like the Milestone) is available on a select few websites.
Might try and have a play with some in some stores, if I can resist throttling the salesmen to death.
The size of your fingers doesn't really come into it if you use landscape mode to type. The buttons on that are usually bigger than physical ones.
It will take some getting used to, but physical keyboards are on the way out whether we like it or not. That's the way I see it anyway.
It will take some getting used to, but physical keyboards are on the way out whether we like it or not. That's the way I see it anyway.
Nobody seems to have told Blackberry...
Sorry, should have quantified it. There is no point in dual core yet. Its time will come.
However, there are no dual core HW keyboard Android phones, so it doesn't matter.
So, in summary, currently my choice is limited to the HTC Desire Z and the Motorola Milestone 2, with a new Xperia phone from Sony on the way.
Interesting. I have used Swype and really do like it, I just can't imagine being able to type with confidence that I am doing it right without a physical keyboard. I walk and text a lot
Ok, so I have had a play with a Desire Z, and read some reviews on the Milestone 2 (no highstreet stores have them) and my conclusion is neither of them offer enough of an improvement over my original Milestone to warrant changing. I am therefore going to port out to GiffGaff at the end of my contract and wait it out on PAYG until something comes along I like.
So, in a change of direction for this thread, what rumours are there of HW keyboard equipped Android phones coming from any manufacturer in the next 6 months or so?
So, in a change of direction for this thread, what rumours are there of HW keyboard equipped Android phones coming from any manufacturer in the next 6 months or so?
Agreed. Want this so badly but my contract ends in July and I don't think they will be about now... my original milestone is wearing up, dead camera and i have lost some keys of the keyboard... which strangely enough makes it easier to type on!
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I can recommend the Desire Z, I've had some problems with it (syncing with the computer ruined my Outlook contacts list, and I've twice had all my text messages wiped), but I'm not entirely sure they were due to HTC's software, could be something all Android phones suffer from but it's just rare.
The keyboard is excellent! I thought it was too small at first (I came from an HTC Universal which is humongous and its keyboard is better than that of some netbooks!), but I got used to the size. Travel and feedback are top-notch. The nonly thing that still bugs me is the lack of a separate numbers row. From the looks of the pictures it seems the Xperia Pro will also not have a numbers row, though the keys look a bit bigger there, and it has arrow keys, which should be a big improvement over the Desire Z (trust me, didn't think I'd miss them at first either, but they do make a difference!)
One thing though, I really don't think HTC have made any effort adapting the Android UI for keyboards. It's still centred around the touchscreen, and when you're trying to touch type having to move your hand away from the keyboard to tap something on the screen really slows you down. Some apps don't even let you move between different fields with Tab! And autocompletion is next to useless if you need to reach up to tap the option you want - it's almost always faster to just type to the end of the word!
You'd think that little capacitative touchpad HTC have put under the screen would help, but that thing is like a cruel joke. Its calibration is atrocious, its sensitivity completely borked (it'll either not detect your swipe, or it'll move more fields than you intended), and if you're trying to position a cursor while typing (which should've been the biggest use for it) its slow movement speed will make it faster to tap the touchscreen (again having to let go of the keyboard) and its imprecision will drive you nuts trying to find the exact spot you want, and you'll keep accidentally tapping it (which functions as a button that does different things in each app, for instance in text messages it sends).
That button functionality, in fact, is the ultimate design ****-up when they were making that touchpad. For one thing, it's a button. It's quite firm, but when pressed it has good long travel. You are in no doubt that you pushed that button when you want to do it. So great right? Wrong, cause HTC have decided to make it so tapping the touchpad has the same effect as pressing the button! And of course the damned thing is over-sensitive so detects taps when you never intended one, destroying any attempt to use the stupid touchpad to navigate anything! I mean, if you already spent the money to make it into a button why duplicate the functionality with something that makes it harder to use? And it's not just that the button press is screwed up - the software functions assigned to it make no sense either: when typing in the browser, say in the Google search box, and you get autocomplete suggestions, you can use the touchpad to scroll through them. Great right? Except pushing the button on the touchpad DOESN'T select the autocomplete suggestion you had highlighted! In the case of the Google search box, it'll just start the search instead. To select the suggestion you have highlighted, you have to instead move your thumb back down to the keyboard and press enter, which I think is an utterly moronic UI choice! (And you understand why I said I would've preferred arrow keys...)
So yeah, my point is, great phone, great keyboard, great hardware, but absolutely no thought given on adapting the software for keyboard operation! If you're not married to Android, you might want to check out how BB or WP7 work with a keyboard before upgrading. Hell, even Symbian would probably work better, Nokia's phones have been mostly keyboard-driven for years so I'm guessing that, terrible though Symbian's UI is compared to Android, it'll be better designed for navigating with a keyboard. The new E7 looks quite nice, and, critically, its keyboard has arrow keys!
The keyboard is excellent! I thought it was too small at first (I came from an HTC Universal which is humongous and its keyboard is better than that of some netbooks!
), but I got used to the size. Travel and feedback are top-notch. The nonly thing that still bugs me is the lack of a separate numbers row. From the looks of the pictures it seems the Xperia Pro will also not have a numbers row, though the keys look a bit bigger there, and it has arrow keys, which should be a big improvement over the Desire Z (trust me, didn't think I'd miss them at first either, but they do make a difference!)One thing though, I really don't think HTC have made any effort adapting the Android UI for keyboards. It's still centred around the touchscreen, and when you're trying to touch type having to move your hand away from the keyboard to tap something on the screen really slows you down. Some apps don't even let you move between different fields with Tab! And autocompletion is next to useless if you need to reach up to tap the option you want - it's almost always faster to just type to the end of the word!
You'd think that little capacitative touchpad HTC have put under the screen would help, but that thing is like a cruel joke. Its calibration is atrocious, its sensitivity completely borked (it'll either not detect your swipe, or it'll move more fields than you intended), and if you're trying to position a cursor while typing (which should've been the biggest use for it) its slow movement speed will make it faster to tap the touchscreen (again having to let go of the keyboard) and its imprecision will drive you nuts trying to find the exact spot you want, and you'll keep accidentally tapping it (which functions as a button that does different things in each app, for instance in text messages it sends).
That button functionality, in fact, is the ultimate design ****-up when they were making that touchpad. For one thing, it's a button. It's quite firm, but when pressed it has good long travel. You are in no doubt that you pushed that button when you want to do it. So great right? Wrong, cause HTC have decided to make it so tapping the touchpad has the same effect as pressing the button! And of course the damned thing is over-sensitive so detects taps when you never intended one, destroying any attempt to use the stupid touchpad to navigate anything! I mean, if you already spent the money to make it into a button why duplicate the functionality with something that makes it harder to use? And it's not just that the button press is screwed up - the software functions assigned to it make no sense either: when typing in the browser, say in the Google search box, and you get autocomplete suggestions, you can use the touchpad to scroll through them. Great right? Except pushing the button on the touchpad DOESN'T select the autocomplete suggestion you had highlighted! In the case of the Google search box, it'll just start the search instead. To select the suggestion you have highlighted, you have to instead move your thumb back down to the keyboard and press enter, which I think is an utterly moronic UI choice! (And you understand why I said I would've preferred arrow keys...)
So yeah, my point is, great phone, great keyboard, great hardware, but absolutely no thought given on adapting the software for keyboard operation! If you're not married to Android, you might want to check out how BB or WP7 work with a keyboard before upgrading. Hell, even Symbian would probably work better, Nokia's phones have been mostly keyboard-driven for years so I'm guessing that, terrible though Symbian's UI is compared to Android, it'll be better designed for navigating with a keyboard. The new E7 looks quite nice, and, critically, its keyboard has arrow keys!
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the desire Z is EOL though as im concerned (and double checked in shop who also agreed)