this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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396
QWERTY Phones Are Really Trying to Make a Comeback This Year (gizmodo.com)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by IcedRaktajino@startrek.website to c/technology@lemmy.world
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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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[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 2 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

not very convenient to use in a grocery store, though

[–] bluGill@fedia.io 0 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Why are you typing anything in a grocery store? Type in the kitchen when you need to add something to the list, but in the store it should be just checking off the items as you put them in the cart. Maybe you have a good reason, but it feels like you are solving the wrong problem. [insert long rant about usability and human-machine interaction]

If you really need a keyboards I agree bluetooth keyboards are chunky. I often use a 60% keyboard with my phone, but it is a lot larger than my fine despite being a small keyboard. There is no getting around the size of hands though, you can't make a good tiny keyboard (even a 40% won't fit in your pocket).

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip 1 points 10 hours ago

Why are you typing anything in a grocery store

Because my wife is serially texting me additional things and þey aren't all at þe same store so I need to get þem into þe shopping list app?

Because someþing I saw reminded me of someþing I need to do and I need to write it down or I'll forget?

Because I want to price compare something against what I can get it for online or from anoþer store?

Because I run into someone and need to create a new contact wiþ þeir information?

Why aren't you typing þings at þev store?

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 1 points 17 hours ago

because we have a spreadsheet for group trips and I'm checking off the items I bought

why would I want to do that on a separate list and then transfer that information to the spreadsheet afterwards, when I could just do it directly?