New Phone

[honcho12]

I'm thinking about getting a new phone to replace my 6yo clunker, but I'm not sure how I'll like life without a physical keyboard. Has anyone else made the jump to a phone without a real keyboard? How quickly do you get used to typing on screen?

I'm looking at the nexus 5x so I can go with google fi.

 

[Soven Taliesyn]

I've enjoyed my Samsung s4. One of the first phones that I didn't want to replace after a year. I look forward to an s6 or whatever is out when I'm do for an upgrade.

 

[Designated Drunk]

I'm thinking about getting a new phone to replace my 6yo clunker, but I'm not sure how I'll like life without a physical keyboard. Has anyone else made the jump to a phone without a real keyboard? How quickly do you get used to typing on screen?

I'm looking at the nexus 5x so I can go with google fi.

To be honest, you hate it for a while, but then you just kinda submit. You never really like it, but you manage to get on with your life. That's the abusive relationship you enter when you move to a phone without a physical keyboard.

I've been a hardware keyboard fan for ages - had a T-Mobile Sidekick back in the day (man, being able to SSH into your server from your phone was amazing), a Sony UX50 was my last PalmOS device (if the battery didn't drain so fast when you used wifi, it would have been almost perfect, despite being made by Sony), and I even tolerated the hot, steaming pile of bovine excrement that was Windows Mobile through 3 different phones to have an actual keyboard on my phone.

That last one was the deal breaker. If the underlying OS sucks so hard that barometers need to be recalibrated when you walk past, you need to re-evaluate your priorities. I've been using an iPhone for several years now - I'm not an Apple fanboi, and would prefer Android (having been a Linux user for dang near 20 years), but it's a company phone, so it costs me nothing. My point is that the hard/soft keyboard distinction is not as important as it was in years past - in retrospect, it's all about your ability to dispose of old habits and adopt new ones. Heck, with my beloved UX50, I'd still use the stylus with the onscreen keyboard a decent amount of the time, since it was purely what I was used to (although the hard keyboard was admittedly not quite as nice as the Sidekick).

As CGPepper advises, "Don't discriminate - adapt and dominate"

 

[honcho12]

As CGPepper advises, "Don't discriminate - adapt and dominate"

Words to live by!

I think the bigger screen(5.2 vs 3.5in) will help keep it from getting cramped when using the keyboard.

 

[mromutt]

Using the screen is much much faster than a physical keyboard. And you can have access to any keys you want, I recommend Swiftkey I absolutely love it even paid for the pro version even though you do not need to at all.

 

[Slansickness]

I was in the same boat a couple of years ago. A few thing i learned: You can use a different keyboard program if you don't like the one it comes with, there is no shortage of alternates. Also, proof read before you hit send or you will be following up with many corrections. It doesn't take too long to adapt otherwise, and the extra functionality a larger screen gives you is so worth it.

 

[mromutt]

I was in the same boat a couple of years ago. A few thing i learned: You can use a different keyboard program if you don't like the one it comes with, there is no shortage of alternates. Also, proof read before you hit send or you will be following up with many corrections. It doesn't take too long to adapt otherwise, and the extra functionality a larger screen gives you is so worth it.

Also allows for a larger battery ;)

 

[Kersakov]

Everyone has covered it really but yeah, it's just one of those things, nobody likes the switchover but it's basically inevitable.
I switched a few years ago when I got my S3 which I loved right up until it got hit by an exploding gas tank (just a small one) and that was the end of that. Now I have a Z3 which despite being Sony, I actually really like and the battery life is great.

Definately spellcheck yourself though; some of the things I've sent to people I really have no idea how they came up.

 

[Frisbeerocker]

The HTC One series is brilliant. Doesn't give you those adfest os versions Samsung and others do. Their version of android I have found to be quite useful.

 

[MzHartz]

I agree, after having a Blackberry (man I loved that keyboard), I wasn't happy about switching to an onscreen keyboard, but it is what it is. Like everyone else here, I've adapted.

But if you absolutely hate it, I know you can get bluetooth keyboard cases for some phones, so it basically makes it into one of those keyboard slider phones. I don't know if there's one for the phone you're looking at, but it might be worth checking into.

 

[CGPepper]

I've switched in 2008, when wanting a physical keyboard was still mainstream. It was a little frustrating at times, but back then we didn't have state of the art machines that we have now.

Today, honestly, i would not be able to go back to a physical keyboard. It works like a miracle, don't think twice about it.
I also suggest picking up OnePlus one, https://oneplus.net/oneplus-one
299 for a 64gb model, still the best deal out there. (onePlus 2 is also released, but its only marginally better, more expensive, unavailable and has less battery)

 

[Soven Taliesyn]

I wouldn't know what it's like with keyboard. But, I've seen older "style" phones still being made and sold. Not sure of any details about them. They may just be repainted old phones.

 

[honcho12]

The HTC One series is brilliant. Doesn't give you those adfest os versions Samsung and others do. Their version of android I have found to be quite useful.

I think nexus phones should also be bloatware free, especially when using google fi as the carrier. Very exciting!

I've switched in 2008, when wanting a physical keyboard was still mainstream. It was a little frustrating at times, but back then we didn't have state of the art machines that we have now.

Today, honestly, i would not be able to go back to a physical keyboard. It works like a miracle, don't think twice about it.
I also suggest picking up OnePlus one, https://oneplus.net/oneplus-one
299 for a 64gb model, still the best deal out there. (onePlus 2 is also released, but its only marginally better, more expensive, unavailable and has less battery)

I really want to try out google fi, so the 5x is my only real choice. Seems pretty skookum apart from the missing keyboard, so I don't mind the lack of options.

I wouldn't know what it's like with keyboard. But, I've seen older "style" phones still being made and sold. Not sure of any details about them. They may just be repainted old phones.

I looked around for a phone with a keyboard, and they're all pretty old...

 

[Soven Taliesyn]

I think nexus phones should also be bloatware free, especially when using google fi as the carrier. Very exciting!



I really want to try out google fi, so the 5x is my only real choice. Seems pretty skookum apart from the missing keyboard, so I don't mind the lack of options.



I looked around for a phone with a keyboard, and they're all pretty old...

I don't know for sure about keyboard phones, but last time I was in a Verizon store they did have older style phones still for sell.

 

[Miguelese]

I cried a bit when they took my blackberry away at work.
In restrospect I was right to, this windows phone is absolutly crap.

 

[honcho12]

I don't know for sure about keyboard phones, but last time I was in a Verizon store they did have older style phones still for sell.

You can only use the nexus 6, 6P, or 5x with google fi, so that's where the limitation comes in.

 

[CGPepper]

5 was probably my favorite phone of all time.
Can only assume that 5x will be epic too

 

[maynard]

I went from a keyboard phone to a glass slab because the virtual keys were easier on my tired old eyes. Then I learned to appreciate all that a smartphone can do.

WRT Android phones, the Nexuses are the only ones guaranteed to get timely security updates and OS upgrades. Which matters.

Samsung won't be porting the next Android version to my Galaxy S4. I just bought an LG G3. Not the newest, but rootable and flashable, so I will have the Cyanogen version of Android 6 when it's ready.

 

[CGPepper]

I actually have mixed feeling about Cyanogen after using it for about a year. For example, half the time i have to manually re-connect to wi-fi when waking the phone (which is about 30 times a day)
Maybe when oxigenOs matures it will be something robust.

 

[thanatos73]

I found the haptic feedback(the little vibration) helps a lot when going from a physical to virtual keyboard. And I don't want to sound like a Motorola fanboi, but the Moto X is a sweet phone, and the newest version, the Style, comes carrier unlocked, at least in the States.