[BoldPreza]

I used to have physical keyboard BlackBerry phones, but my last two were virtual and I have often wondered if I would be happier with that good old qwerty keyboard. Also if it would be easy to switch back too it.

So CB forums I ask those of you that have switched from virtual keyboard to physical keyboard from any platform how did you find the switch? Were you able to type as fast as before? Did you stick too it? Or did you find yourself longing for that all touch phone again?

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[pantlesspenguin]

This is an interesting question! I remember when there were tons of threads about the reverse - qwerty bb users wanting to try out touch screens. Here was my experience:

I switched to a touch screen in 2009 with relative ease. I could type just as fast as with a qwerty, but I couldn't type without looking like I could on a qwerty BB. After about a year on Android, I started missing BB and I obtained a 9700 to use as a secondary device. I was amazed that there was such a learning curve to get back to typing on a physical keyboard! I could type fast again pretty quickly, but I noticed that my thumbs would get fatigued quickly from having to press down on the buttons after being used to lightly tapping on glass.

I had to give up the 9700 after a few months because the plan I was using it on stopped supporting BIS (stupid AT&T). I was still using an Android device as my daily driver, but soon I was missing BB again and I picked up a 9930 (this was on a brief stint on Verizon). The learning curve on that keyboard was shorter, as the keyboard was more spaceous and the keys were easier to press. I really enjoyed typing on that. However...the clickity click of the keys became annoying to me! I use my phones to take notes in meetings, and the noise of the keyboard made me paranoid that everyone else around me could hear it. I ended up giving up both the 9930 and Verizon just a couple months later. Now I'm back on good ol' T-mo, and I could see myself getting a 9900 again for old times' sake someday.

Bottom line for me: Z10 keyboard > SwiftKey > HTC stock keyboard > Jelly Bean keyboard > 99xx keyboard > all other touch keyboards.

[Aljean Thein]

My typing from touchscreen to physical keyboard is much faster and much more accurate. However, due to the small screen of my Q10, I bought another Z10. The keyboard in Z10 is in a different playing field with its flicking feature. It's awesome and the autocorrect is very accurate.

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[dantephil]

Q10 typing is simply amazing. Had a z10 but needed to go back to the physical keyboard. It is the best typing experience on any device in the world, period.

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[BoldPreza]

Thanks for the replies guys. I was considering going back to the qwerty keyboard with my next phone but I guess the only way to really know if it makes sense is to try it when the time comes.

As to pantlesspenguin my thumbs used to kill with my 9700 at the end I forgot about that aspect.

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[TiagoPD]

I had a bold 9790 I loved the keyboard but the Z10 keyboard is easy to use.

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[LROBLES46]

Having two previous touch only devices, I really prefer physical keyboard. I miss a bit the Swiftkey keyboard of Android, which predictions are really accurate.

Transition is easy stuff!

[anon(4099613)]

I am coming from a 9860 to a Q10 primarily because of the keyboard. I hated typing on a touchscreen no matter what phone I had in my hand. iPhone was a pain. Android phones were a bit more bearable but still a pain. Noooooow... im in typing heavening. im building back my muscle memory so I can type without looking again.

For me, I don't use my device as an entertainment center. It's purely for doing sh-t. So having a physical keyboard means a lot to me.

It's cool to have people think you stopped typing just to talk to them when your phone is in your hand, at your side, and your thumb is possessed with purpose AND you have the confidence of knowing you typed out your message and sent it.

I really need to turn off autocorrect. I don't need it.

Edit: yeah so autocorrect, being on, didn't catch "heavening"! I'll leave it up there just to prove a point. Maybe, that's a word. Looking it up now.

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[SK122387]

I had always had a qwerty BlackBerry, then I got the Z10. I used it while waiting for the Q10 to come out. When I first got back to typing on a real keyboard, for a couple minutes, it did feel awkward. After months of barely having to touch the glass to type, having to really press down was a little weird. Also, with the Z10 and the "heat mapping," it really does detect where you are more likely to press a letter, and adapts accordingly. This was noticeable when switching to the Q10, because obviously you have to exactly press on the key for it to type.

After a few hours though, I was back in physical keyboard action, typing perfectly and accurately. I really love my Q10.

[BlackBerry Guy]

I've been dual wielding my Z10 with a work issued 9900 since February. I can flip back and forth between the two with relative ease. I find I'm faster with the touchscreen but more accurate with the hardware keyboard. I like the large screened devices and will probably stick with them as I find them better for general use, but there's something about the rhythmic click of a plastic keyboard under your thumbs that's oh so satisfying.

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[IM4CHRST]

I occasionally find myself desiring a touch screen again for multiple reason, one of witch typing at awkward angles where with my HTC Titan all I had to do was just tap the screen, now I have to make sure to have my phone in a good enough position to put pressure on the keys. Getting more used to it but still not there completely.

My biggest issue is the black Q10 keyboard is the worst typing experience I can say I've had. I first chose to trade in my Z10 for my Q10 when I bought my wife an unlocked white version off Amazon. We have AT&T so that was my only option for white. Anyway I found myself using her phone more often because I loved the Keyboard, however, as some know, the white and black phones are made completely different with the black having more of a soft touch feel and the white the harder plastic feel. I was hoping to get used to it but the black Q just feels like there is no contrast between the buttons. Anyone who has spent time with both should know what I mean. Also, it just feels like there is more effort put into typing on the black Q vs the white. So far that is my only complaint about a qwerty vs touch screen keyboard.

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[KaterinaM]

I have never left physical keyboard. I remember when I was going to buy my first smart, I tested several phones of my friends and I came to the conclusion that I would not be able to use virtual keyboard all the time. I like to type fast and now I'm reallly in two minds as I have to change my current phone, but most of the smarts today don't have physical keyboard....

[czhang]

My first couple of smartphones were the horizontal slider winmo variety. I later owned an HTC Desire and a Galaxy Nexus, using a variety of software keyboards including swype, swiftkey, HTC default, and jelly bean stock. I now have a Q10, my first BlackBerry and portrait qwerty phone. I find that I type on this keyboard at a similar speed to that on my gnex with stock keyboard, but more accurately. Also my gnex often froze in the middle of typing, which so far has not happened on the Q10. It took a while to adjust to the virtual keyboard at when I got my first android device but likewise it has also taken a short time to adjust back. YMMV

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