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QWERTY Phones Are Really Trying to Make a Comeback This Year (gizmodo.com)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by IcedRaktajino@startrek.website to c/technology@lemmy.world

175 comments fedilink hide all child comments

After dying a painful death at the hand of the iPhone’s revolutionary capacitive touchscreen, the QWERTY smartphone is rising up from the graveyard this year.

Whether it’s nostalgia for a physical keyboard, frustration at iOS’s ever-worsening software keyboard, or just plain boredom with glass slabs, companies are rebooting QWERTY phones this year for some reason.

At CES 2026:

Clicks, the company behind the Clicks keyboard case and the new Power Keyboard, announced plans to sell the Communicator, a “second phone” with a QWERTY keypad
Unihertz also teased a new phone with a physical keyboard. The Titan 2 Elite seems to be a less gimmicky version of the Titan 2, which itself was a BlackBerry Passport knockoff but with a bizarre square screen on the backside.

[T]wo QWERTY phone announcements in this still very new year suggest there may be some kind of trend. Maybe after 19 years of the iPhone and touchscreens defining the mobile experience, it’s time to go back to the physical keyboard and its more tactile typing.

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[–] Ofiuco@piefed.ca 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Qwerty flip phone and I'm in... But no foldable screen bullshit.

Also give back the fucking aux output.

[–] ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

A QWERTY flip phone would actually be sweet. Are there any examples from history, from the era when phones were fun?

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 1 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Usually not flip, slide was pretty common though

[–] ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago)

It also wasn't common but there was a Samsung Folder which was a flip phone and a Motorola Flipout which was a swivel phone. My point is, you could buy all kinds of wacky devices.

[–] ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 2 points 9 hours ago

HTC Desire Z had swinging action which was pretty slick. Grit couldn't get stuck in those sliders and it snapped open with a satisfying clack.

[–] Ofiuco@piefed.ca 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Not that I can remember, only the numerical pad with letters.
I think it wasn't a thing because it was about keeping devices practical and portable... But that ship already sailed and sinked so I'd be up for something bulky but practical or just going back to numerical pad with letters.

[–] ramjambamalam@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 hours ago

Check out Sidephone.

[–] MeThisGuy@feddit.nl 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

input? why would you want to play audio from your phone?

[–] Ofiuco@piefed.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Fixed, brain not braining good.

Also I swear I tried at least once but I can't remember why right now...