Even a few years back using QWERTY keypad mobile phones used to be a prerogative of the business slickers fiddling with large keypads for typing epic mails. But today QWERTY keypad is offered by almost every other mobile maker. While most of the middle-end phones carry such physical keyboards, the touch-screen handsets come with virtual ones. The ease of use during typing on the pad for mailing or writing documents or internet surfing has helped it to replace the reliance on predictive text almost completely.
BlackBerry Curve 8900
RIM has been a pioneer in catering to the needs of mobile users and BlackBerry Curve 8900 was an attempt to offer ease of typing. Though the mobile is 13.5mm thick, the complete, bright QWERTY keypad shows a terrific attempt to guarantee user convenience. The well defined keys are a little raised along one edge and by applying the thumbs, users can easily get the right key. On both the sides, there are two hard keys that allow users access to voice command and the camera. The trackball for navigation above keypad makes it easier to crawl through the interface, emails or websites.
Samsung Corby TXT B3210
Samsung Corby TXT B3210 is essentially meant for today’s youth that needs support for heavy texting, email and social networking. The full QWERTY keyboard offers easy access to these features. The most important feature of the design is that you can customize the navigation button to create shortcuts to the SMS, MP3 player etc. For better ergonomic feel and design harmony, the Corby TXT has a rounded finish at the corners. Its other important features include 262 k TFT display, FM radio, Bluetooth stereo and a 2 MP camera.
Nokia E6
This E-series smartphone is one of the best handsets from the Finnish mobile maker. Nokia E6 with a physical QWERTY keypad and support for multi-touch is a superlative device for many reasons. Its 680 MHz ARM 11 processor, 2D/3D graphics accelerator, scratch-resistant Gorilla glass display, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and an 8 megapixel camera have made it an exemplary high-end QWERTY mobile phone. Though the price tag of Rs. 17,999 is quite unnerving for frugal Indians, Nokia E6 is a feature-pack option.
HTC Desire Z
When talking about QWERTY, we cannot cast a blind eye on the users of android, a platform that has revolutionized the mobile experience. HTC Desire Z is an android marvel that equipped with a physical QWERTY keypad. The operating system developed by Google has always been a hit with gamers but to make it acceptable to the business users, HTC entered into the development of Desire Z, the third of the Desire range. The handset with a 3.7 inch screen is rather ingenious in the way it has formulated the sliding of the screen to reveal the keyboard underneath. With the help of a Z-shape hinge, the screen slides forward leaving the front row of the QWERTY with enough space for easy typing.
Xperia mini pro sk17i
Sony Ericsson is just another member of the Android brigade offering high-end phones for geeks and executives alike. Its latest offering Xperia Mini Pro SK17i has on board a QWERTY keypad and uses a 1 GHz CPU. This compact and versatile phone with support for multi-tasking uses Google’s latest android version Gingerbread 2.3 and brings a smoother user interface. On a general note it must be mentioned the use of full QWERTY keypad (slide-out or static) makes a handset thicker than what touch-screen lovers are comfortable with.
