12 Button Phones

[dark707]

Having just spent the last hour looking at newish phones (thinking of upgrading from my old Nokia 3510i), I realised that the older style of phones, the ones without touch screens or full keyboards (unfortunatly I do not know the actual name of this type of phone), seem to have stopped existing at some point in the last 10 years.

Now am I being incredibly stupid and missing a whole load of these phones, or have they all gone the way of the dinosaurs?

 

[Erana]

They're still around barely, mostly as bare-bones business devices, but if you're interested in such phones yourself, then I'd suggest getting a phone with a pop-out keyboard. Quite often, their exterior reflects the earlier concept of which you speak until you open the device.

 

[Wintermoot]

blame apple thanks to the iPhone cellphones rarely feature buttons

 

[Lectori Salutem]

Here in the Netherlands they don't seem too hard to find. I recently bought a Nokia 100 from a local T-mobile store. They also have several older/simpler models available on their site.

 

[Jamash]

I share your dismay and for years I have been putting up with the same, gradually falling apart phone simply because I can't buy a better (or equal) phone with buttons.

I don't like touch screens, mainly due to their lack of tactile feedback and I refuse to get a phone with a qwerty keyboard that is far too small to be used as a qwerty keyboard.

I think those phones with keyboards are completely missing the point of the qwerty keyboard, which is to type quickly and efficiently with both hands and with your fingers resting in the correct position. The only people with digits small enough to use those pop-out keyboards properly are new born babies, but unfortunately they can neither read nor write, let alone learn to type or even have the need for a mobile phone.

On the bright side, this means I have dropped out of the mobile phone arms race which has saved me hundreds, if not thousands of pounds over these past years and when I finally have to buy a new phone, it shouldn't cost me a lot of money or require me to take up a contract.

 

[Realitycrash]

I always buy the cheapest phone I can find, and it is always one without a touch-screen.
Why? Because they don't break on a drinking-binge, and if they get lost during said binge, they are cheap to replace.

 

[Wadders]

I think those phones with keyboards are completely missing the point of the qwerty keyboard, which is to type quickly and efficiently with both hands and with your fingers resting in the correct position. The only people with digits small enough to use those pop-out keyboards properly are new born babies, but unfortunately they can neither read nor write, let alone learn to type or even have the need for a mobile phone.

I dunno mate; I have Blackberry, which have qwerty keyboards, and the edge of each button/key is raised on one edge so that with just a little practice, you can type well with both thumbs, without mutton mashing.

This comes from a 6' 2" person with spade-like hands and zero coordination. They're pretty well designed.

Plus you only have to press each key once, for texting and the like. I was confused when I first got it, but they really are very easy to use.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Yeah time change as the trend is now touchscreen or keyboard buttons these day. I was quite suprise that those style are pretty much wiped out well most of it when I bought my android on my birthday (I think they had one or two left and they were super cheap).

 

[Swyftstar]

Yeah time change as the trend is now touchscreen or keyboard buttons these day. I was quite suprise that those style are pretty much wiped out well most of it when I bought my android on my birthday (I think they had one or two left and they were super cheap).

Not only is it surprising that they have been almost wiped out but look at the speed at which it has happened. It seems like only a little while ago that the only popular "smart" phones were iPhone and Blackberry and everybody else just had a razor or some such.

 

[him over there]

They're just barely around, I own one. I think they are far easier to type on too. I can type far easier because they're in alphabetical order with bigger buttons. It helps I can type without looking at it too.

 

[MammothBlade]

I dislike touchscreens as they are, so I have a slider phone with solid buttons. They're not impossible to find.

 

[Broady Brio]

I have a Blackberry Torch which has a slide-dy keyboard. My hands are tiny so they fit well with the small keyboard. It's also touchscreen, which is rarely used.

 

[Thespian]

They are easy enough to get but certainly less common. Good enough for them too. I know that touch screens are new and I am obligated by Internet Rule #342 to hate everything new, but I much prefer touch screens to those awkward twelve button phones.

Touch screen qwerty > all

 

[Thespian]

I can't type consistently, without making mistakes, on a touch screen QWERTY keyboard, while I've written several multi-thousand word essays on my Nokia E71 with its tactile button-based QWERTY keyboard. I contest your point.

... But I prefer the touch-screen QWERTY.

So my point remains valid. Since I was speaking subjectively.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

They still exist, but the newest ones seem to be mostly of the cheap crap quality kind, with leftover bits making up the majority of the insides.

I started with Nokia, then went Motorola and Samsung, then ended up with Sony Ericsson because I wanted bumps on my keyboard for blind SMS writing, and I liked the idea of having a small pocket cam always with me. So, I always keep at least one SE phone with a dead SIM around, and it already served as backup phone when modern devices decided to go funny (especially the iDiot kind of touchy feely borderline devices...)

The last two SE backup phones I got (K800 and C905) I got insanely cheap on online auctioning sites. They're pretty plasticky-crunchy, but they can drop and tumble all day long without exploding their screens or going mental like the iDevices tend to do. Your mileage may vary, but if you want to stick to Nokia, then please do hunt down replacements for as long as they exist, it's the best form of keeping true to yourself while recycling by giving 'obsolete' phones another lease on life. Do check if batteries are still available and reasonably priced first, though.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

They are easy enough to get but certainly less common. Good enough for them too. I know that touch screens are new and I am obligated by Internet Rule #342 to hate everything new, but I much prefer touch screens to those awkward twelve button phones.

Touch screen qwerty > all

Nope. Type a message or an email without looking at the screen.

...that's where tactile feedback of a hardware keyboard really makes proper sense. One thumb or index finger, no predictive shenanigans, you can enter messages swiftly without ever having to look at the screen.

You just plain can't do that on a touchyfeelyscreen. It DEMANDS to be looked at, even though it may be reflective as a mirror or greased up by being fondled all day long.

 

[necromanzer52]

My phone is 7 years old, but I refuse to replace it because it still works perfectly. And when I'm eventually forced to I will not buy one with a qwerty keyboard. I'm willing to accept a touchscreen if there are no alternatives, but I really just want a standard 12 button.

 

[hecticpicnic]

The sony Ericsson still use that design, plus most new phones are shite,
get a classic black and white nokia, it's got snake and can call people; all you need with a phone.

 

[Thespian]

Nope. Type a message or an email without looking at the screen.

...that's where tactile feedback of a hardware keyboard really makes proper sense. One thumb or index finger, no predictive shenanigans, you can enter messages swiftly without ever having to look at the screen.

You just plain can't do that on a touchyfeelyscreen. It DEMANDS to be looked at, even though it may be reflective as a mirror or greased up by being fondled all day long.

I disagree. I don't use predictive anyway, you can turn it off. Also, I found it fairly easy to type without looking at the screen that one time when I actually had to do that. I mean seriously, in what scenario would I be forced to type when not looking at the screen? If I'm that engrossed by something else I'll probably be typing something stupid anyway.

And you gravely exaggerate the lack of visibility in touch screens. They just aren't the illegible smearfests that some people make them out to be. At all.