The Keyboard Phone Is Back (Again): Hands-On With The F(x)tec Pro 1 

Hey y'all. Pre-order link here if you're into it. (No affiliate stuff, just for visibility) www.fxtec.com/pro1/

I still can't believe most companies stopped making phones with physical keyboards. It's so useful

YES YES YES YES OH YES!!!! Finally companies realize a phone doesn't have to be a brick.

I feel like 2019 is the year for experimentation in phones to return. I missed all these weird phones

I want a new T Mobile SideKick lol

_Blackberry has entered the chat_

I'm hoping this can continue and more physical keyboards are added to smartphones. But I would like to see more up to date specs also.

For somebody who is blind or visually impaired like me, I really like the idea of a physical keyboard. I remember in high school typing very quickly under the table or in my backpack! Hopefully they also have a dedicated dictation button. ️😀 But regardless, I'm going to stick to my pixel 2 XL until they stopped it with a notch already. Ugh

I think F(x)tec is actually supposed to be said as FunctionTec, as F(x) is the way functions are written in math!

That transition between portrait and landscape is horrible though..

2:29 you say using Gorilla Glass 3 is a compromise, but some people prefer its added scratch resistance vs the newer versions which have more drop resistance.

OMG I always wanted a newer phone with a keyboard. FINALLY!!!!!

In the words of Mr.Mobile, smartphones these days really could use a 'fun injection'

Now let's bring the Xperia Play back

First off, YESSSS I'd love to see you do a full review of this Michael! As for memories, my old Nokia N70 was the first phone I had and I remember loving the fact I could type without looking! I don't exactly need a phone with a keyboard these days buuuut I am open to the idea of a BlackBerry Priv 2 👀

Snapdragon 835 is *STILL* head & shoulders better than the six-whatever-whatever is in the Key2...

FINALLY A PHONE WITH A HARDWARE CAMERA SHUTTER BUTTON! YES! Was it so difficult to put on a phone????

I honestly haven't been this excited for a phone since the HTC Merge ... LONG LIVE THE QWERTY

The nostalgia is real with this one, Droid anyone? I never had a slide out keyboard Android phone, but I always did pine for one, seeing my friends with the Droid 3 or 4.

**Cries in Motorola Droid 4** THANK YOU OMNIPOTENT BEINGS! It's been so long....

I just want a Priv 2, you get a physical keyboard without the downside of the KeyOne/2 (weird screen aspect ratio, unconfortable landscape experience)

Please tell me this thing incorporates capacitive surfaces onto the keys, that was a freaking brilliant move by blackberry

Nokia E7 I still remember the time I wanted it soo bad

A phone this thick deserved a 4000mah battery :(

You have been the best reviewer at MWC this year. Amazing and unique coverage. Including hands on on the Mate X( which was impressive) I wonder what's the story behind it? You should do an AMA video. And also a video of what's it like being in an MWC and the hustle. I don't know. Just throwing ideas out. Been loving your content for years. Also I can't wait for this phone. But I'm curious how the landscape reach would be. I used to own an HTC Desire Z.

I love the Motorola Droid. The original one no plastic all metal. If I could get that phone with updated Tech I would use that everyday

...a Snapdragon 835? c'mon! I like the HTC Touch Pro 2 keyboard slider design, but $650 for 2017 hardware? Eh ... I'd rather have a modern mid-range chip for better battery life really

I’d trade my iPhone for a phone with a nice camera & keyboard any day

Why the cry over 835 and no wireless charging. 835 will go a long way 5 years. By that time the phone would have lived its life. I know people who are fine with android 4 even today.

Please suggest mobiles coming with image stabilization on front camera for Videos.

I have been waiting for this phone since my Captivate Glide broke in 2014. Landscape Sliders > Portrait Sliders IMO. Also, I just can't stand typing on a touchscreen... I work all day on my computer and I've used the same IBM Model M for 2 decades, what do you expect?

I wish all smart phones would do this I hate on screen key boards

They give us a solid design, a functional and nice looking keyboard, near stock Android... _Snapdragon 835_

I wish these kinda elegant hardware make it to the PRIV 2 coupled with the staggering design elegance the device held.By the Original BlackBerry Design Team. I hope they make enough profits through software and cybersecurity that they reenter the smartphone market.

I didn't even thing Qualcomm was still selling or making SD835's

Favorite keyboard memory; Nextel's BlackBerry 7520!! I was light years ahead of everyone, mms text, push e-mail, GPS, Bluetooth, and a Web browser 😁

Xperia x10 pro 😍 loved it when sony was in collaboration with ericson

I love the way MrMobile presents, his English is topnotch. It gives me joy when I open RU-vid and his video pops up first. Frequent uploads will be appreciated by many of us.

So does everyone just have the curved sides on their screens now?

Recently dug out my desire z which still works. Talk about a blast from the past. Preferred the keyboard on the Touch Pro 2 though. Those were the glory htc days! Not sure the benefits of a keyboard would attract me now though. I'm glad there are companies out there trying different things though... So much more interesting than black slab after black slab review...

would love to see a full review on this. I love the idea of a real keyboard on a newer phone.

Back in college I was typing out messages on my Nokia n97 under the desk with my 500mb data plan on the new to our area ‘3g’ service. As someone who at the time was paying 12p per text message, I felt like the future was really here.

My favorite was and is the Nokia N900.

The Palm Pre was my favorite keyboard on a mobile phone. I waited outside of Radio Shack the morning it was released. I used it for far too long and even bought the ATT version on eBay, so I could put a sim in it when I switched to T-Mobile. If the larger Pre 3 had been available, I probably would have gotten that, too. I had to abandon the pre when I needed google chat capability full time.

1:10 is it just me or the keys are moving?

The sidekick 2 ahh mann good times. That flip if the lcd screen was sooo dope 👍🏼👌👌

Fuck - it's got a Ctrl key AND an Esc key? Sold. I'm not pre-ordering, but it is my next phone!

Hopefully F(x)tec doesn't go the way of Wiley Fox. Britain needs good tech companies since Softbank acquired ARM.

HTC desire z best keyboard on a phone. Nokia n900 best phone with a keyboard... if that makes sense!?

I miss my HTC Touch Pro like no other! I hate on screen keyboards!!!!!

I hated not having a keyboard since HTC Desire Z, CANT WAIT to get my hands on one of these. Anyone wants to trade a Galaxy S9 with this ??? xD

I still miss my palm treo 755p. Loved typing on it. And the stylus came in handy.

I hope many Phone Company make more of this kind. We need this kind of phone.

Verizon compatibility is all I ask for. I know it's quite expensive but I'd buy it outright

I was hoping Nokia or Samsung would be the ones to pull this off. Given the dated internals, I'd paid $400 max for this device.

HTC pro 2 with Windows mobile and my os from xda-developers touch x (pro) Had the perfect keyboard, tilted, good tactile feedback... It had it all, it was the perfect phone

I've used N900, E90, N810, E7. Missed those days where the tactile keyboard so nice to hold and press.

My favorite keyboard memory is the HTC G1. Typed like a boss on that thing, not so much now lol.

Am a note 9 user.. I started my smartphone life with nkkia n97... Still searching for something like that.. A bezel less display 4000mah battery.. Falgship phone's camera.......mmm....will be a masterclass

Since we going back bring WebOS to the Galaxy phones!!! Hell bring back Pre phones

Moto Droid 1, Droid 3, Droid 4. Backed the Moto Mod QWERTY. This phone has my pre-order

Why this company still making smartphones ? No one will buy this shit.

looks like an S8+ with keyboard. It looks good. BlackBerry Q10 was my favorite

Love the physical keyboard. I want one.

Reminds me of the sidekick! Great video Michael!!

The HTC Desire Z with it's Z hinge was the best keyboard phone ever.

I always think why phone manufacturers are skipping features like QWERTY keyboard, xenon flash, Carl zeis lens, dedicated camera button, camera shutter, etc from modern phones

I do miss this a lot , I really am tired of typing ona glass and a physical keyboard will make feel good . My last phone like this qas Nokia N97 and it was so cool to type on that thing, I never thought keyboards will be extinct one day. But seriously, 835 ? They could at least go with 845 because those who will buy this, would surely love to stick with it for a long period of time and the 835 will surely be done in 2 years tops.

As a BB Key2 user myself, I just think that the additional width on the keyboard is too much to be usable. The BB Passport was already wider than normal and this was at the top end of what is usable for quick typing. I still thing that the vertical sliders like the BB Torch 9800 or the BB Priv are the way to go to have a larger display + keyboard!

Please review this phone!

Motorola cliq was my keyboard phone. It was such a great experience.

Honestly keyboards are expensive simply because of the material cost involved. However these guys design is great. Perhaps with midrange android devices becoming more and more affordable and streamlined.

This phone is DOA because of the processor. What a shame. I was so excited to have the chance to buy a phone with a slider keyboard again, but I guess that won't be happening any time soon :(

I miss my Danger Sidekick 2 and 3. Best phones I ever used. If they had a new Sidekick, I would buy it so fast!

Reminds me of Nokia E7 and N97

Hey I still miss T9 typing on my old flip phones even though I may be in the minority X-)

I recall how much cool the blackberry priv was when launched. Saw several suits carry it but blackberry abandoned it

This is my next phone! As an avid BlackBerry Priv user following the death of my screenlifted KeyOne and the gadgetlust I've held for the Sony Xperia Pro since 2011, THIS IS THE DEVICE I HAVE BEEN WAITING A LIFETIME FOR!!!!!

Nokia E 7 was B E A U T I F U L .

They've done it in a stupid way. AGAIN!!! The keyboard should be laptop-like, on the inside of the screen COVER. This way you'll get the PHYSICAL KEYBOARD, SCREEN PROTECTION and no flimsy slider mechanism, just simple hinge. All the benefits in one package! Even better to have the keyboard-cover opening to the bottom of the phone (in portrait orientation) and in open position to be placed to the RIGHT of the screen. It looks unusual (as we all used to the look of laptops etc.), but in fact, it is more convenient in a small form-factor. Do it right, build it in semi-rugged form with dust, shock, and moisture protection, give it a decent screen, memory, proc

They've done it in a stupid way. AGAIN!!! The keyboard should be laptop-like, on the inside of the screen COVER. This way you'll get the PHYSICAL KEYBOARD, SCREEN PROTECTION and no flimsy slider mechanism, just simple hinge. All the benefits in one package! Even better to have the keyboard-cover opening to the bottom of the phone (in portrait orientation) and in open position to be placed to the RIGHT of the screen. It looks unusual (as we all used to the look of laptops etc.), but in fact, it is more convenient in a small form-factor. Do it right, build it in semi-rugged form with dust, shock, and moisture protection, give it a decent screen, memory, proc

My 1st phone was a Nokia 6600 slide, which i still love to this day... (Got it in 4th Grade) after the crappy galaxy ace, my First android phone, i got a Motorola Milestone (i guess in the USA it's called Droid 2) and i absoluteley loved it, until it Stopped working in 2013. then i bougt a Motorola Flipout and this one had a good keyboard as well, but a horrible battery... then in 2014/15 (not sure) i bought another one of the Milestone 2, because i missed it. 2017(i guess) i bought a BlackBerry Classic, which i Used about half a year, then WhatsApp Stopped supporting it and the Android Version was to unstable on it. 2018 i bougt a blackberry q10 and Sold it shortly after, because whatsapp still was too unstable... March/April 2018 i bougt the BlackBerry Keyone i'm writing this on... And it was one of the best investions i ever did! I LOVE PHYSICAL KEYBOARDS... Next i'm considering to buy the New Nokia 8110 since it's going to be supported by whatsapp soon... By the way i'm a 16 year old German, so please forgive me on these grammar / Spelling mistakes... 😂😂👍👍👋

My best keyboard phone experience still is the Palm Treo back around 2008/2009

I remember having a T-Mobile G2. The design was eerily similar this F(x)tec Pro 1. It was stock Android with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. That also happened to be my first Android smartphone. I liked the design with the metal back and it also had a physical camera button. Having had the Nokia Nuron 5230 prior to this one, the G2 was a tremendous transitional phone for me to really get me into Android. Now I'm the proud owner of a Blackberry KeyOne for almost two years and I've enjoyed the combination of a 4.5" touchscreen with a physical QWERTY keyboard.

My relationship with Android began with the HTC G1/Dream in 2008. Coming from the Sidekick LX it was a natural match, and from there I tried to pursue Android sliders. Out of the keyboards I've used over the years my favs would be the: Sidekick 4G, Mytouch 3G Slide, and of course the G1. Buttons are so much easier for me to type on, since accidental presses are harder to come by. For example, typing on a PC with my eyes closed is simple. On a phone? No. There'll be a number of typos, maybe no space between words, and so on. The size of my hands, as thin as they are, makes it easy to tap the wrong key. So my actual typing speed is reduced after you account for errors. Whilst this F(X) certainly brings back memories it's arrived at an awful time. Competition in its price segment remains fierce, and I fear few will back the company. Had they opted for the 845 at $449/499, or the 835 at $349/399 it'd be an impulse buy for many. Right now I can't see nostalgia snatching consumers away from the OP6/6T, Red Mars, Mix 3, S10e, etc. Best of the luck to the company. I'm sticking with my S10+, however.

Sony Ericsson X2! Most gorgeous piece of beauty when it comes to Hardware slide keyboard, and Nokia N9. And yes current BlackBerries. And my personal favorite non-slide keyboard Sony Ericsson P1i.

Sony Ericsson X2! Most gorgeous piece of beauty when it comes to Hardware slide keyboard, and Nokia N9. And yes current BlackBerries. And my personal favorite non-slide keyboard Sony Ericsson P1i.

I am a Dedicated BlackBerry User... latest Key One and Previous from Curve 8830 thru BlackBerry Classic with a couple in between!

I really hope they get a bunch of business, even if I can't afford to buy it within the next few months. Having no cell phones like this available since, say the Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G from around 2012, has been PAINFUL for me. My use-case is computer administration, like being able to SSH into machines and do non-trivial things. This has been /possible/ but also very /painful/ with touchscreen displays. I also tend to use a lot of jargon and maybe the occasional Japanese (when texting, searching, or note-taking), so predictive (on-screen) keyboards are absolutely horrid at predicting what I'm trying to type. And then there are ambiguous gestures in normal English like "gave" vs "have", and I always seem to be the unlucky bozo that has them all wrong for an entire multi-paragraph text message. Ughhhh! I am so ready for this phone. I think there might have been some other slider phones before the Pro1 and since the Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G (and perhaps the Droid 4, which I probably would have liked if it had worked with my cell provider), but not ones that I could use effectively. To me, it's important to have enough rows on the keyboard (4 is not enough), have the keys be easily indexed/located (ex: stagger them; have raised bumps), and have all of the special characters and modifier keys present. Anything less tends to end up unusable. The Pro1 seems to have all of the important things well covered. I like how MrMobile/Micheal mentioned the number row proximity with the screen; that wasn't even on my mind, and it helps me appreciate that depth of consideration and thoughtfulness in this phone. The Pro1 also added the tilting mechanism, which reminds me of T-Mobile Sidekick, which was smooth as butter and a joy to use. I'm happy they added the tilting thing. F(x)tec might be reading my mind... (Privacy issues, hah.)

I think the best QWERTY-phone i got was the Xperia Mini Pro (and X10 Mini Pro), although small - the keyboard was really good & fast. Sadly it never got to run never android than 2.3 Gingerbread. The Blackberry Keyone keyboard feels so flimsy and loose in comparison (although swipe over keys is cool).

Favorite keyboard memory would probably be (funnily enough) how the slowness of the device (Casio G'zone Brigade, Blackberry 8350, and even the Motorola Milestone) sometimes couldn't keep up with the speed of my teenage texting fingers. Something I won't miss, but hey, those were the days.

The best keyboard phone was Nokia E7. That is why I very much like this new fx pro 1. But for me, the price is a dealbreaker. I bought KEY2LE recently and that was over my budget but I wanted keyboard. K2LE has badly integrated keyboard to the system. Worst BB keyboard of BBs I tried (Q10, Classic, black and silver Passport). I cannot control nothing with keyboard, only write (and I have mostly tap on field first! the focus should be there at first) and launching apps. I have also problems with android workflow, after 4 months I get used to how the android works but I still hates it. They should make FX1 (without Pro) - cheaper version, without curved screen (I hate it), mono speakers (why stereo), less ram maybe. Unlocked bootloader makes from this phone perfect choice for future, there will be Sailfish support, custom android roms. This is impossible with BBdroids unfortunatelly and I am stuck with BB and their updates.

Favorite keyboard phone, the Moto Cliq, was my first Android phone, and I actually loved the Moto Blur stuff, I remember playing Zenonia on it, working on stuff to make it better and posting it on XDA, fun times.

Nokia Commuicators are my all time favourite. From 9000, 9000i, 9110, 9210, 9300, 9500 to E90 Symbian. I always laughed at that scene in The Saint when the villian held Val Kilmer’s Nokia 9000 and he said, “Speaker’s on the other side.”

The LG ENV3 is still one of my favorite phones. After Galaxy s2. It was perfect. Great battery life. Removable battery. Keyboard for the fast text messaging. That thing survived two warped tours. Scratched like a record on Jam Master Jay's turntables. If I could buy one today that was GSM I would so fast.

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! I clung to my last Android with a keyboard as long as I could, and I"ve HATED my one without it. I'm using a very old Android phone at the moment, so this will be an upgrade for me, even if it does have yesterday's processor. It's not like you do anything processor heavy with your phone, anyway.

BEST phone with this type were 1st nokia E71 2ND N950 3RD N97 big and n97 small 4th N900 I Had all the 4 phones except nokia n950 Missing all of them

Please do a full review! Based on Mobile World Congress, with just a BlackBerry KEY2 "Red Edition" launch, seems like BlackBerry Mobile may be about to give up. Keyboard loyalists need a backup plan. Thank you for your consistently excellent work.

I miss my Samsung Ultra Transform, it was kinda small but texting was a breeze, researching was a lot easier and it was just a fun phone to have. It reminded me of my Blackberry RIM 950 but just plain better in every way. Plus I can put my own SD memory card in it so I saved a LOT OF SHIT

The last keyboard phone I had was a Kyocera Rise (on Virgin Mobile) that I bought in 2013 because had just broke my regular phone and I needed a phone ASAP, and the Rise was only 25 at Target. It was okay, it was running Android 4.1. The best thing about it- it was easily rootable, although there wasn't any good ROM support for it. I still have it laying around in a drawer somewhere.