Death of the slide out keyboard phone? Pity...

So I was hunting around the net to see what offerings there are for phones that have a physical slide out QWERTY keyboard. This is what I've learned so far.

The slider phone isn't truly dying just yet but seems to be headed that way. the only newer offerings I can see are lower powered smartphones or feature phones ("dumb phone" if you will...) that just won't cut it with today's media and demands. I myself use a Kyocera Rise because of the fairly up to date Android OS (4.0) and the keyboard. Call me old school if you will but I prefer physical keys to the screen boards due to my gorilla hands. Not only that but it makes typing faster when chatting with people on Skype or Facebook.

So to that end, here's the specs I'd like to see for my ULTIMATE smartphone:

Latest chips for CPU and GPU. (Probably a Nvidia Tegra 4 if it can do cellular bands. Otherwise the traditional stuff that's currently fastest.)
2GB or more of RAM.
3D screen sized around 6" or more at 720P or more with multi-touch. (Would like retina display...)
8GB internal storage. (Don't need more since I'll use SD cards.)
SDXC support for the soon to come out 128GB micro cards and beyond.
QWERTY slider keyboard. (Of course...)
HD 3D cameras at front with good zoom function. (Maybe even optical zoom.)
Camera on screen side for chatting and such. (Maybe 3D too. Not sure.)
Android 4.2 and support for newer revisions to come.
"Unlocked" so I can use any cellular provider I want. (Rooted too.)
4G or the latest service that's fastest with support for older bands when full speeds are not available.
USB OTG and HDMI out. (For use with a dock like the Motorola lapdocks.)
Large capacity battery since I can be on the go without way to charge for upwards of 20 hours at times.
Wifi and Bluetooth. (That's a given.)

And perhaps a few other small things I can't think of at the moment.

I know this would be ridiculously expensive with all the hardware but it would be worth it to me. I use my current model for many different things and with how multi-purpose it would be the specs would be required. I know this basically sounds like a PC but truth is that's what I'm after. A phone that while large will fit in my pocket still and could replace my laptop and other devices.

I'll keep dreaming since getting even the slider keyboard on something halfway powerful looks like a dead dream at this point...

 

I haven't seen or heard about 3D Screens or Cameras in cell phones, but then again, I don't follow them too closely.
Although I'm with you, both on the specs and physical qwerty keyboard, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon. Most people are already used to touchscreens (w/o physical keyboard) and the ones that do need the keyboard go with the phones that have it, even if they are not high-end.
Also, with all the specs you mention, battery wouldn't last 20 hours unless you leave it in standby for most of the time... but that's another story.

Back when Nokia was the leader in smartphones, they had the E series and the Communicator series which were high-end and had physical keyboards... I still have my E90 Communicator; bulky but awesome cell phone (I could pair it to a mouse and run Q3 Arena at the same speed as in my PC; no lag). From that era they also had the E72 which was more like a BB, but high-end.

 

last phone with a decent keyboard i had was a Nokia N97, was a great phone.

but yeah all the MFGs have drifted away from buttons and towards touch only, which does have its down sides.

 

I'm one to hate touch screens as well, sadly all phones now are all touch based. I remember trying to search around for a phone with physical buttons, but now even android phones have softkeys -_- RIP phone buttons.

 

I had an N97, got it home, 15 minutes later, jammed sliding mechanism, went through two replaces that lasted slightly longer before I went back to using my ancient Sony Ericson before getting my HTC Desire.

 

i had mine for a full contract length + after and then gave it to my dad to use and he used it for another year and a half.

it had a rough life too, im not easy one phones, got dropped and kicked about plenty.

Guess you had sucky luck, or i just got really lucky lol. was great with the built in hard drive, never had to use a memory card

 

I have a N900 with a real Linux here.

 

All those features and good battery life? Yeah, not gonna happen.

 

With all those features adding massive size to it what's another half inch for mega massive battery?

 

I fucking hate pure touchscreen phones, & the one I have had for almost a year now is exactly that. I have a condition where my hands sweat a lot. This is detrimental towards using a touchscreen, as it will constantly think I am still pressing down somewhere on the screen when I have let go, or am trying to press somewhere else. Every time this happens, I must turn the screen off, wipe down the whole screen thoroughly, turn the screen back on and give a quick rub of my hands on my shorts. This happens daily & sometimes at crucial moments. Many times I would see something that I wanted to snap a quick picture of & as I go to do it the screen stops reacting to my presses & by then I missed my chance.

Even if I didn't have this personal problem, typing on a real keyboard will always be better than having no tactile feedback to what you press, & is much easier to do without looking at the phone & with a much higher success rate.

 

i only use those phones, nokia's that have them.. touchscreen+QWERTY keyboard. what more do you want, you got a keyboard and touchscreen, i dont understand how people can have these long chats with a touchscreen keyboard, i find it a real pain in the ass, just stupid if you ask me, but maby its me i dont know, but the same problem im facing is that these phones use old OS that is very out-dated

 

They looked and felt excellent but that damn mechanism!

 

I have the nokia E7 best keyboard in the world, the cellphone runs symbian, f*ck that, it does what a phone should do, texts. calls and web, all with a kick ass keyboard, and it's made of metal. 2 years of service, and the sliding mechanism is going strong

 

We should start a petition to bring these back with modern parts. WHO'S WITH ME???!!!

 

I'm not sure, I still think theres a chance of failure, I really like the blackberry keyboard personally, the business class ones (not the curves children buy.) are rock solid.

I really like the Nokia 9300, but they are very expensive.

 

Slide-out keyboards were terrible. Get used to a touch screen, probably using Swype. Or get a bluetooth projector keyboard thingy.

 

Here' my two cents on your list. Could be possible, with a few modifications. It would be a pricey one.

Latest chips for CPU and GPU. (Probably a Nvidia Tegra 4 if it can do cellular bands. Otherwise the traditional stuff that's currently fastest.)
-maybe...
2GB or more of RAM.
-or more?! 2GB is more than enough.
3D screen sized around 6" or more at 720P or more with multi-touch. (Would like retina display...)
-3D is gimmicky and it hikes the price. Multitouch is a given (for high/mid range phones). by retina, do you mean above 300ppi? Some of the new androids have breached 440ppi with a 1080p resolution on a 5" screen.
8GB internal storage. (Don't need more since I'll use SD cards.)
-not enough in my opinion. I'd expect 32GB for a phone with these specs.
SDXC support for the soon to come out 128GB micro cards and beyond.
-absolutely
QWERTY slider keyboard. (Of course...)
-nope. I'll talk on that below
HD 3D cameras at front with good zoom function. (Maybe even optical zoom.)
-nope- Pureview camera. Go check out the Lumia 1020, it's the phone I'm upgrading to. The whole 3D fad kills itself quickly.
Camera on screen side for chatting and such. (Maybe 3D too. Not sure.)
-of course. Once again, 3D is not necessary, certainly not on the front.
Android 4.2 and support for newer revisions to come.
-Yep. 4.3, please?
"Unlocked" so I can use any cellular provider I want. (Rooted too.)
-unlocked? sure. Rooted? You'll have to do that yourself. No factory will release a pre-rooted phone.
4G or the latest service that's fastest with support for older bands when full speeds are not available.
-As to be expected.
USB OTG and HDMI out. (For use with a dock like the Motorola lapdocks.)
-one USB port is sufficient- having both is abnormal and redundant. This fictional company could just make a lapdock that works with USB MHL.
Large capacity battery since I can be on the go without way to charge for upwards of 20 hours at times.
-So expect a large screen size (5" and up)
Wifi and Bluetooth. (That's a given.)
-sure is, but don't forget you want Wifi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE, NFC and QI wireless charging.

If you wanted a phone like this, minus 3D and a keyboard, check out the Galaxy S4, if you haven't already- that's about as close as you'll get to what you're looking for.


Keyboards are redundant nowadays. The point of having a keyboard before was so that people could type easily, because touch typing was a new thing. Now, touch typing has taken over and seems the more efficient path.

Pros (for keyboard typing)
-feedback on keypresses (physical, not haptic)
-not covering part of the screen

Pros (for touch typing)
-Keyboard can be either in portrait or landscape
-Haptic feedback
-ability to customize the keyboard with layouts, different text input methods, language switching, size of keys, etc.
-visual readout of the key being pressed (on most keyboards)


So yeah. Don't expect to see a flagship device with a keyboard, ever. Also don't expect to see a lapdock like device either- that flopped pretty hard. I owned a Moto Atrix + Lapdock i the past, and I'll say it was essentially useless. It was your phone on a large screen, so it was basically a tablet. But not touchscreen. But not a laptop because no x86. Very small niche market for that kind of device.
Same with 3D- I used to have an HTC Evo 3D, and while it was nice, it was essentially a useless feature. It also means that your photos are going to be in sub par quality because the comapany has to fit a second camera for the same price.

What would be a perfect phone for me?

Lumia 1020 casing, but with the ability to remove the battery (warranty isn't killed when the screws are removed)
Lumia 1020 41MP snapper
5.4" 1920x1080 AMOLED screen + Nokia ClearBlack
Wifi b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE, NFC, QI wireless charging
Galaxy S4 gesture controls
Android 4.3
Quad core Krait 300 1.9GHz
Adreno 320
magnetic interface port (USB) w/ additional USB MHL port

I'm stuck on WP8 though- while android has a wide app base, WP8 just looks sexy. It's buttery smooth and has such a unique look that never fails to please me. All I want is for WP8 to have Chrome...

 

Web? Why's a phone got internet?
You mean text and calls, my landline phones never did web!
In fact back in the day I'd have to disconnect from the web to use the phone!
Darned kids on my front lawn, with their hip hop and baggy pants... jibber jabber I say!

 

Heh, I had a similar Nokia as my first cellphone.

 

http://www.cnet.com.au/htc-evo-3d-339319259.htm