this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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278
QWERTY Phones Are Really Trying to Make a Comeback This Year (gizmodo.com)
submitted 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) by IcedRaktajino@startrek.website to c/technology@lemmy.world
100 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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[–] Atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 17 hours ago (5 children)

While we're at it, can I have back the mini trrackball with integrated notification LED from my HTC Hero?

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 14 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

And my removable battery, expandable storage, and IR blaster please.

[–] unphazed@lemmy.world 5 points 12 hours ago

Ah my old Ipaq was so much fun at sports bars...

[–] dai@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

Nexus one had the trackball, the hero had a sensor or did both? IDK it's been some years since I still had my nexus one. Maybe I'm thinking of the HTC Desire with the sensor. 

I do remember running the original version(s) of MIUI on my nexus one, ahh simpler times. 

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 1 points 10 hours ago

ahhh I loved this thing

[–] GeneralVincent@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

It's not exactly the same but the Clicks phone keyboard is touch sensitive so you can swipe on the keyboard, and the button on the side has a notification LED

[–] cheers_queers@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

so does the titan 2 and titan pocket, i have them both

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 points 29 minutes ago

How is text editing?

[–] 01189998819991197253 1 points 16 hours ago

Yes. This. I second this.