Android phone with full Qwerty keyboard

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ros_b

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I do not like touchscreens and I would like to get a decent, though not too fancy, Android phone.

Am I correct that my only option in the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro? Is there anything else?

Is the Galaxy Y Pro OK? I don't need all the bells and whistles - just want to be able to browse the web, get my emails, use WhatsApp, and maybe a few other little apps (News24, SuperSport, etc). Would most free Android apps work on this phone?
 
You could also look at the LG C660? Roughly the same specs as the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro, biggest difference seems to be orientation of the screen.
 
krono9 said:
You can buy my HTC Desire Z from me ;)
Click to expand...

Haha.. I think I'm over old second-hand phones. I think I may treat myself to the HTC ChaCha - looks good. Obviously more expensive than the Galaxy Y Pro or LG C660, but hopefully worth the extra R1000 or so.

One review of the LG C660 said the response time was a bit slow when using the touchscreen, meaning you have to wait sometimes - and I hate waiting! Would the ChaCha be faster?
 
They all have 'full QWERTY' keyboards. I think you mean a 'hardware QWERTY' keyboard :D
 
ros_b said:
Haha.. I think I'm over old second-hand phones. I think I may treat myself to the HTC ChaCha - looks good. Obviously more expensive than the Galaxy Y Pro or LG C660, but hopefully worth the extra R1000 or so.

One review of the LG C660 said the response time was a bit slow when using the touchscreen, meaning you have to wait sometimes - and I hate waiting! Would the ChaCha be faster?
Click to expand...

Desire Z > ChaCha IMO. Also see: http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=3787&idPhone2=3421

But you really need/want a bigger screen on an Android device, I would rather opt for a slide-out keyboard like the Desire-Z. I played with the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro, hated it..

Ideally look for something that will be upgradable to Android Jelly bean.
 
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Desire Z much better than cha-cha... I seem to move from one htc qwerty to the next, always takes years though... thinking of HTC One X... looks really cool...
 
krono9 said:
Desire Z much better than cha-cha... I seem to move from one htc qwerty to the next, always takes years though... thinking of HTC One X... looks really cool...
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+1 - Desire Z - still using mine - although, I hardly ever use the keyboard - swiftkey is just so good. My next phone will definitely be touchscreen only.
 
I've got a ChaCha for my better half and, frankly, as good as the screen is *for that form factor* you're just throwing away too much for that keyboard. Of course you get a candybar which is inherently more physically stable than a slider but, push come to shove and I HAD to go for a phone with a keyboard, I'd go slider every time, screens are small enough as it is.

Also: hit up the phone finder and see what's actually possible.
 
bdt said:
..

Also: hit up the phone finder and see what's actually possible.
Click to expand...

Here.

@ the OP, some time back I also thought a hardware qwerty keyboard would be a must for me. I soon found out that today's touch screens are much better than the ones we had some time back, aka resistive touch screen...
 
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AfricanTech said:
+1 - Desire Z - still using mine - although, I hardly ever use the keyboard - swiftkey is just so good. My next phone will definitely be touchscreen only.
Click to expand...

MarchantV said:
Slide out keyboard is better of the two in my opinion
Click to expand...
I like the slide out keyboard on my phone, but like AficanTech, I hardly ever use it these days, also because of SwiftKey.
 
OP, don't knock 'pure' touchscreen until you've used one for about 2 weeks with something like swiftkey. My boet came from candy bar to Desire S, and persisted with T9 :wtf: keypad for ages, until I persuaded him to at least try swiftkey - after a week he realised just how carp T9 is.

I promise you, you will not be sorry - and this from someone who's last three phones have had physical keyboards - I didn't define 'hardly every use' - 'hardly ever use' = have not used the physical keyboard for 16 months (phone is 18 months old) :o - talk about buyers remorse...
 
ros_b said:
I do not like touchscreens and I would like to get a decent, though not too fancy, Android phone.

Am I correct that my only option in the Samsung Galaxy Y Pro? Is there anything else?

Is the Galaxy Y Pro OK? I don't need all the bells and whistles - just want to be able to browse the web, get my emails, use WhatsApp, and maybe a few other little apps (News24, SuperSport, etc). Would most free Android apps work on this phone?
Click to expand...

Have you tried to use a decent touch screen phone?
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I have used a touchscreen only on my cheap Huawei 7" tablet. Thing is, I type extremely fast, and I'm generally not mad on having programs automatically change what I type because they *think* they know what I want to type. The other day, my tablet insisted on changing "Eish" to "Dish"! Every time!!

But I'll download Swiftkey onto my tablet and see. Problem is, the tablet is bigger than a phone, so not really an accurate test. One tends to use only thumbs on a phone, whereas on a tablet I lay it flat and try to type as I would on a laptop keyboard. I have to force myself to slow down, otherwise it's just a mess.
 
Hmm, I see Swiftkey requires all sorts of permissions to get access to personal stuff so that it can "learn" the way you type. Is this safe? What about when you type in passwords?
 
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