1. hoopitz's Avatar
    We've been going back and forth on here discussing if the keyboard on this device is any good, based on nothing but (initially) the teaser renders, then some pictures, and finally some videos from hands-on at CES. I'm wondering if you can (and/or are allowed to) shed some light on it, for us ... or at least, me.

    For me, in terms of feel, build quality, and usability, I love the keyboard on my passport, but I know the mercury will be 4 rows, and not as wide, so it's hard to compare. I'm hoping it will be, at least, as good as my 9930...
    02-08-17 11:40 AM
  2. ray689's Avatar
    Yes this would be great. I know there seems to be some who think the keyboard looks cheap and plasticy based on CES videos they saw but it's hard to tell when one hasn't used it.
    02-08-17 12:02 PM
  3. cmassie's Avatar
    I could of sworn they said the keys were glass? Don't quote me, i'll edit if I can find more information.
    02-08-17 12:13 PM
  4. slagman5's Avatar
    I could of sworn they said the keys were glass? Don't quote me, i'll edit if I can find more information.
    Correct, well, unsure if actual glass or some kind of hard clear acrylic or something...

    Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10
    02-08-17 02:38 PM
  5. ominaxe's Avatar
    If it has the bounce of the 9900, I'd be a happy man.
    02-08-17 02:45 PM
  6. mithrazor's Avatar
    If it has the bounce of the 9900, I'd be a happy man.
    This. The 9900 had the best keyboard hands down.
    AllanQuatermain likes this.
    02-08-17 05:51 PM
  7. erose75's Avatar
    I would expect a keyboard similar in width to priv and height of Q10/Classic. As for the glossiness of the keyboard, I had replacement keyboards on my Q10 that were both matte and glossy...i could care less about the finish if the tactile feel is right.
    02-08-17 08:06 PM
  8. aramasyn's Avatar
    I'd expect at least the same quality n feel of the passport otherwise its a step down for the only PKB player in the market. But from a couple of video the keyboard does look cheap n wiggly
    02-08-17 08:22 PM
  9. pooyam's Avatar
    Pretty sure what was demo'd at CES wasn't the final keyboard (I believe they said that). I saw the phone and felt the pkb (my post here : http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe.../#post12735407 ) , wasn't a big fan at all. But that weird-a$$ fingerprint scanner alone was too primitive to be shippable. Some things will change, we just have to wait and see.
    02-08-17 09:29 PM
  10. hoopitz's Avatar
    Pretty sure what was demo'd at CES wasn't the final keyboard (I believe they said that). I saw the phone and felt the pkb (my post here : http://forums.crackberry.com/blackbe.../#post12735407 ) , wasn't a big fan at all. But that weird-a$$ fingerprint scanner alone was too primitive to be shippable. Some things will change, we just have to wait and see.
    Thanks for the info. That's disappointing to hear about the keyboard... I know everyone says that the keyboard wasn't finalized, but how much more tweaking can they do in a single month?
    02-08-17 11:42 PM
  11. BB-JAM215's Avatar
    Thanks for the info. That's disappointing to hear about the keyboard... I know everyone says that the keyboard wasn't finalized, but how much more tweaking can they do in a single month?
    That may be what "everyone" says now, but as far as I recall the only hands on review from CES which I saw to say that was Sacha Segan's review for PC Magazine.
    02-09-17 12:07 AM
  12. pooyam's Avatar
    Thanks for the info. That's disappointing to hear about the keyboard... I know everyone says that the keyboard wasn't finalized, but how much more tweaking can they do in a single month?
    Was my thought exactly, but : that they showed that keyboard at CES doesn't mean they have 1 month to change it. It just means they didn't get the tweaking done in time for CES ! Might have started way earlier.

    That may be what "everyone" says now, but as far as I recall the only hands on review from CES which I saw to say that was Sacha Segan's review for PC Magazine.
    Sure, but I'll repeat: that finger print scanner looked like an undergrad end of term project. I cannot believe they'd sell that. Maybe that's the only thing they'll update before shipping, maybe they redo the pkb. I hope the latter.
    02-09-17 12:32 AM
  13. Eno Karapici's Avatar
    Look very cheap like Chinese phones dial-pad. You can see thew glass reflection on it. Cannot be compared with the Classic keyboard. I hope to be similar to PP and is not the final variant of it.
    @CBK - Can we get any info on the keyboard?-img-20170209-wa001.jpg
    @CBK - Can we get any info on the keyboard?-img-20170209-wa002.jpg

    Posted via CB10
    02-09-17 11:14 AM
  14. Eno Karapici's Avatar
    @CBK - Can we get any info on the keyboard?-passport_hands_on_15_final.jpg

    Posted via CB10
    02-09-17 11:19 AM
  15. slagman5's Avatar
    Look very cheap like Chinese phones dial-pad. You can see thew glass reflection on it. Cannot be compared with the Classic keyboard. I hope to be similar to PP and is not the final variant of it.

    Posted via CB10
    So I take it the Porsche design phones are cheapy phones? Because they used that clear keyboard thing too... The point of it is that they are painted underneath so the letters don't wear off with use...

    Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10
    02-09-17 11:22 AM
  16. CrackBerry Kevin's Avatar
    Hey Yo!

    When I played with the Merc at CES, I only spent a **little** bit of time playing with it. First thing to point out is that it's actually a bigger keyboard / wider phone than you think it is based on photos because the height of the phone throws off the proportions in your head a bit. Having seen photos, I was worried it was going to be a really cramped/narrow keyboard in my hand, but that's wasn't the case at all. I had a BlackBerry Classic with me and sat it on top of the Merc and the phones/keyboards were basically the same width (if I recall correctly the Merc may have been a touch wider which surprised me).

    Keyboard felt pretty good to type on, but again, very little amount of time spent on it. Like any BB I've ever owned, there's always a slight adjustment period, but nothing jumped out to me as being a bad/hard to type on keyboard. As some of the commenters above have said, the 9900's keyboard is likely the best keyboard ever put on a smartphone. I don't think the Merc's is going to be quite as good as that. But I think it should be/will be *very* good. The position of the keyboard in hand felt natural. Also, having the Android menu keys right about the keyboard at the bottom of the touchscreen felt incredibly natural and very BlackBerry-like. BBOS phones always had the "tool bar" buttons above the keyboard and below the screen, and this felt like that. Your thumb is already there so reaching for the screen buttons is natural.

    Just a couple weeks of waiting before I get my hands on it again. Spending some quality time on the keyboard is top priority!
    02-09-17 11:42 AM
  17. Eno Karapici's Avatar
    So I take it the Porsche design phones are cheapy phones? Because they used that clear keyboard thing too... The point of it is that they are painted underneath so the letters don't wear off with use...

    Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10
    If it was for something like this I would say nothing.
    @CBK - Can we get any info on the keyboard?-blackberry-p9983-keyboard-close-970x546-c.jpg

    Posted via CB10
    02-09-17 11:43 AM
  18. Dmd74's Avatar
    Hey Yo!

    When I played with the Merc at CES, I only spent a **little** bit of time playing with it. First thing to point out is that it's actually a bigger keyboard / wider phone than you think it is based on photos because the height of the phone throws off the proportions in your head a bit. Having seen photos, I was worried it was going to be a really cramped/narrow keyboard in my hand, but that's wasn't the case at all. I had a BlackBerry Classic with me and sat it on top of the Merc and the phones/keyboards were basically the same width (if I recall correctly the Merc may have been a touch wider which surprised me).

    Keyboard felt pretty good to type on, but again, very little amount of time spent on it. Like any BB I've ever owned, there's always a slight adjustment period, but nothing jumped out to me as being a bad/hard to type on keyboard. As some of the commenters above have said, the 9900's keyboard is likely the best keyboard ever put on a smartphone. I don't think the Merc's is going to be quite as good as that. But I think it should be/will be *very* good. The position of the keyboard in hand felt natural. Also, having the Android menu keys right about the keyboard at the bottom of the touchscreen felt incredibly natural and very BlackBerry-like. BBOS phones always had the "tool bar" buttons above the keyboard and below the screen, and this felt like that. Your thumb is already there so reaching for the screen buttons is natural.

    Just a couple weeks of waiting before I get my hands on it again. Spending some quality time on the keyboard is top priority!
    I had one quick question in regards to the keyboard. Due to the fingerprint scanner being embedded in the spacebar, the spacebar appears "raised" over that of the other keys. When I type on my various BlackBerry products I tend to raise my thumbs very little, they essentially glide over the keys. I could see where that could be an annoyance when typing on the Mercury keyboard. Any thoughts?
    02-09-17 11:57 AM
  19. BB-JAM215's Avatar
    CBK, we know the Mercury keyboard is about the same width as the Classic's, but it is not as high. Since it appears be closest to the PRIV's keyboard overall, is it also about the same height as the PRIV keyboard?
    02-09-17 12:07 PM
  20. H4zN's Avatar
    I had one quick question in regards to the keyboard. Due to the fingerprint scanner being embedded in the spacebar, the spacebar appears "raised" over that of the other keys. When I type on my various BlackBerry products I tend to raise my thumbs very little, they essentially glide over the keys. I could see where that could be an annoyance when typing on the Mercury keyboard. Any thoughts?
    You'll get used to that. Or more importantly, your thumbs will. Annoyance is a good reason for change, it will do that to your muscle memory if you spend enough time with it.

    Posted via CB10
    02-09-17 12:09 PM
  21. JeromeM's Avatar
    I think the only thing that bugs me a little with the Merc is that Fingerprint scanner space bar, but all along I've been just hoping it looked that way because it wasn't a production device so I'm hoping that still the case. There should be no reason to make it "look" like there's a fingerprint sensor there it should just look like a normal key. I know the S7/S7 Edge is a bigger home button than a space bar but it just looks like a regular button but is actually also the fingerprint sensor.

    @CBK - Can we get any info on the keyboard?-s7e.jpg
    02-09-17 01:03 PM
  22. hoopitz's Avatar
    I think the only thing that bugs me a little with the Merc is that Fingerprint scanner space bar, but all along I've been just hoping it looked that way because it wasn't a production device so I'm hoping that still the case. There should be no reason to make it "look" like there's a fingerprint sensor there it should just look like a normal key. I know the S7/S7 Edge is a bigger home button than a space bar but it just looks like a regular button but is actually also the fingerprint sensor.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Yeah, I agree ... the spacebar/fingerprint scanner most definitely needs to look like a more seamless design.
    02-09-17 02:20 PM
  23. Plazmic Flame's Avatar
    The Bold 9900 is the greatest keyboard of all time... the Classic was a good follow up.

    I don't know why they continue to struggle to repeat a basic winning formula.

    The Mercury should have the 9900/Classic keyboard style, simple.
    pooyam and johnsliderbb like this.
    02-09-17 09:18 PM
  24. natanvarga's Avatar
    The Bold 9900 is the greatest keyboard of all time... the Classic was a good follow up.

    I don't know why they continue to struggle to repeat a basic winning formula.

    The Mercury should have the 9900/Classic keyboard style, simple.
    I wouldn't like a curved pkb, for example.

    Posted via CB10
    02-10-17 07:35 AM
  25. slagman5's Avatar
    I wouldn't like a curved pkb, for example.

    Posted via CB10
    Why not? It's ergonomic and makes the keyboard feel bigger than it is.

    Posted without the aid of AutoCorrect with my physical keyboard via CB10
    02-10-17 08:30 AM
26 12

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