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Pathetic lack of 4G phones with no physical keyboard

I've been a Verizon customer since my first mobile phone and I was one of the first people to buy the original Droid when it launched, but the leaked news about the upcoming Droid 3 has me strongly leaning towards going with another carrier. I find it baffling that the Droid 3 would come out right now and not be 4G enabled. It hasn't even been released and it's already outdated, and yet Verizon will insist on sticking people with 2 year contracts for a phone that will never be able to connect to its fastest networks. I've yet to hear of any other 4G phone that even MIGHT come to Verizon with a physical keyboard, an absolute 100% dealbreaker for me. The loyal early adopters who jumped on the Android bandwagon and made it the juggernaut it is today come out of contract in July. We want physical keyboards and we want cutting edge phones. Where is the phone you think we're going to buy, Verizon? Because everything else I've seen is a joke.

Comments

T-bolt_Camb

I used to think a physical keypad was essential. Now that I use a touchscreen (with swype tech) device, I see no need for one. Personally, I never found Blackberry devices appealing. The smallest physical keyboard I own is a sub-notebook. The swype technology, which requires tracing the letters of a word in a fast curve, is a natural for a smooth flat virtual keyboard. Once you get used to it, you'll find thumb typing to be primitive. 4G on a smartphone is a bit dangerous - it could be addictive. Unless you really need it, sending and receiving video, mainly. A 4G modem is a more biz-like solution, since smartphones are not going to handle big datafiles reasonably. In addition, data limits (soft or hard) are real and easily used up in 4G - a monthly fix can be gone in less than an hour .

SoylentColeslaw

That's nice that you feel that way. Here's the thing: I don't need someone to tell me why what I want is wrong. If I thought it was more convenient to type on glass, that's what I'd be doing with the phone I have. If I was happy with the data speeds I was receiving, I wouldn't mind paying less every month for 2 more years on the same slower network. I'm not happy with those things at all. It shouldn't be too much to ask that just one 4G phone offer an alternative to every other phone on the market which offer virtually no discernible differences between them aside from the manufacturer stamp. Plain and simple, my business will be with another provider if there's no 4G phone with a keyboard by the end of my contract. Sprint has shown a willingness to accommodate me, but Verizon seems content to offer nothing but phones that are exactly the same in slightly different packages to showcase their 4G network. That sure looks like complacency to me, and I'm not going to stick around and be taken for granted as a customer.

budone

SoylentColeslaw wrote:
That's nice that you feel that way. Here's the thing: I don't need someone to tell me why what I want is wrong. If I thought it was more convenient to type on glass, that's what I'd be doing with the phone I have. If I was happy with the data speeds I was receiving, I wouldn't mind paying less every month for 2 more years on the same slower network. I'm not happy with those things at all. It shouldn't be too much to ask that just one 4G phone offer an alternative to every other phone on the market which offer virtually no discernible differences between them aside from the manufacturer stamp. Plain and simple, my business will be with another provider if there's no 4G phone with a keyboard by the end of my contract. Sprint has shown a willingness to accommodate me, but Verizon seems content to offer nothing but phones that are exactly the same in slightly different packages to showcase their 4G network. That sure looks like complacency to me, and I'm not going to stick around and be taken for granted as a customer.

4G is in it's infancy. Give it time. VZW is slowly getting 4G up and running.....with hiccups along the way. When it is available in most parts of the country, all you will see will be 4G phones available and I am sure at some point there will be a physical keyboard.

whodey02

I also have been a verizon customer for a long time. I have been pretty happy with verizon over the years. It has been disappointing over the past several months looking forward to upgrading my phone to a 4G LTE phone with a physical keyboard. I've emailed verizon, talked to verizon, to get an idea when this might happen with zero luck. My blackberry curve is on it's last leg and I want the latest and greatest with a keyboard. Browsing the web it doesn't look promising. I'm sure there are plenty of customers like us just waiting for the physical keyboard. It's sad they might lose customers due to not meeting that demand.

SoylentColeslaw

budone wrote:
4G is in it's infancy. Give it time. VZW is slowly getting 4G up and running.....with hiccups along the way. When it is available in most parts of the country, all you will see will be 4G phones available and I am sure at some point there will be a physical keyboard.

Of course it's in its infancy. I'm well aware that these phones are just now coming out. My point is that there's no reason for the early adopters who will be up for renewal right as the crippled Droid 3 is being released to be without a phone to comparably upgrade to. There's no reason why a company touting the supposedly fastest 4G network should showcase that network on four phones that are virtually identical, giving no strong reasons to purchase one over the other. And there's no reason to sign yet another 2 year contract with a company that won't give me the very reasonable thing that I'm looking for. Two years from now, 4G will not be in its infancy and the Droid 3 will definitely be a ridiculously out-of-date piece of garbage.

EdW_VZW

Thank you for your feedback. Adding to what was stated, perhaps in the future there will be consideration for a physical keyboard on 4G phones. As the 4G market continues to expands, more and more product development will be performed and developed. Thereby we always try to work on providing the best phones possible. If a specific phone is not currently offered, it does not mean we would not consider producing the device. However, we work on the devices before they are offered to avoid any issues if at all possible. Any one can sign up for email alerts to be informed on when new devices become available. Please use your e-mail address. The link is: http://search.vzw.com/?market=53520&q=email+alerts&p=null&ss=null&b2eFlag=N

DJinLA

In a business environment offering a phone with a physical keyboard is a must, not an option. Not all users, leisure or business want to use a soft keyboard. It baffles me that Verizon Wireless would limit its consumer market by not offering a 4g capable phone with and without a physical keyboard.

Additionally, Verizon should be more willing to comment on future phones so your customers are not waiting uninformed. I imagine Verizon just doesn't want mindless customers, but informed ones who can make a carefully thought out decision, thereby reducing the quantity of customer service calls and complaints. Publicly revealing what is being released in Q3 or Q4 of 2011 will only help your customers decide if they want to purchase a current phone or wait a couple of months and purchase a product they believe will better suit their needs/wants. If they decide you are not going to offer a product that they want and they move on to another carrier, so be it because you may currently have customers who move on to another carrier because you won't tell them what is being released in the next 6 months.

So with all that being said, does Verizon Wireless have a 4G capable smartphone with a physical keyboard in the pipeline for Q3 or Q4 of 2011? I particularly prefer HTC developed phones because I prefer Sense 2.0 to Blur or other Android and Windows skins. Your customers just want to know!

DrCheap

This has been a significant frustration for me as well. I follow phones pretty closely and have kept up on all the rumors, leaks, and announcements on the various forums from BGR to droidforums and howardforums. What is killing me is that there is not so much as an obfuscated indication that Verizon will have a 4g with a physical keyboard any time in the future.

They are rolling out more and more candybar phones and there are, essentially, zero options for anyone who does not like the candybar models with only virtual keyboards. Meanwhile, the other 4g carriers all have phones out with physical keyboards. Sprint actually has at least 2 of their 4g phones with physical keyboards and have had them out for months now. Seriously, how hard is it for Verizon to get it together and diversify their offerings with something other than yet another candybar 4g phone?

The real kicker is Verizon put out the Droid 3 without 4g. Seriously. What are you guys thinking? 4g covers a huge part of the market and your only new Android phone with physical keyboard is only 3g? Was this an attempt at marketing suicide?

Those who say you don't really need a physical keyboard must not use the phone the same way many of us in professional environments with detailed and quick response demands migth use them. I have tried numerous virtual keyboards and none of them are responsive and fast enough to keep up with me. One my Droid 1, I can hammer out significantly detailed and thorough responses very quickly with little to no error. This is why so many BB users demand the physical keyboard of the BB. If the virtual keyboards were good enough, trust me, we would have switched long ago for the weight and size differences. The simple fact is no virtual keyboard is on par with a decent physical keyboard.

My contract is up in a few months, I am well into my upgrade period, and I am seriously considering switching to another carrier for 4g with a physical keyboard. I am not blowing my upgrade on a phone that will irritate the hell out of me, especially when it would mean locking into another 2-year contract with a carrier who clearly is not developing devices for professional users who prefer Android.

Papacat

come on guys. get it together. the devices on all the other carriers makes verizon look like chumps. everyone else has a 4g with keyboard -- has verizon just decided to give up on this market? t-mo's 4g upgrade is looking pretty good right now.

FloridaKate

Thank you. I couldn't have said it any better myself. I'm ready to replace my phone too. It would be nice if Verizon would have some kind of info for people that like the physical keyboards ... even if it is "stay tuned for Q3 to see a 4G phone with a physical keyboard". Then we know to hang on just a bit longer without jumping ship to another carrier.

provihockey0610

From what i have been told (through research online, not by verizon) is that currently the 4G LTE antenna is too big to be added to a phone with a physical keyboard because off the added weight/size of the keyboard. The combination of the two would create a very large phone. (another problem is verizon is expected to charge more for 4G in the future, however i think this is why the droid 3 would have been the perfect keyboard phone with 4g because the droid is known for being cutting edge and advanced so the buyers would be willing to pay the price). The reason other carriers have been able to offer 4G phones with keybords is because they are not LTE so the antenna is different (as shows in the speed, most are referred to as 3.5G by consumers). Anyway i wish i could get a 4G phone with a keyboard, but i guess ill have to compromise with a droid 3 and upgrade to 4G when it is flawless and "the norm".

Kirin

@FloridaKate, my husband and I are right there with you on that one. I have nails I guess my hands are too cold (always) so I canNOT use a touchscreen. And hubby prefers the option of either/or for usage.

I am a CSR for a competitor and we both prefer to stay with Big Red because the coverage is next to none. But we really want and NEEd a 4G phone with an actual keyboard. I'm still hoping something is coming soon. I don't want to leave to have our needs met.

Verizon Corporate, are you actually listening to your customers or are you supplying lip service to placate us for another year or more? I hope you are listening...PLEASE.

fuji5

I agree. Though touch screens are a nice interface to use, for typing out longer email and messages and entering data into web forms, I feel a keyboard is essential. Swype is nice, but I stopped using it because it became a pain how often it was picking the wrong words. It's useful if you only want to type with one hand or if you have to scribble out a quick note, but if you need numbers, or use non-standard words and abbreviations, it just becomes a pain. By having a keyboard, you keep your full screen visible which on these small screens is important for web browsing. I really don't care about having the super duper skinny phone. Give me a keyboard! I prefer it easy to use rather than a super slim product. I certainly hope to see this on Verizon soon or I will be seriously considering switching to another carrier. I have been a Verizon customer for 14 years.

fuji5

For those of us who want a keyboard, we aren't so concerned with the thickness of the phone. Just put the antenna and the keyboard. Oh no if it is 2mm thicker.

metalliqaz

I think Verizon does have a hard time hearing what their customers want, BUT...

Verizon doesn't make the phones, companies like HTC and Motorola make the phones. Those companies will produce phones that sell. I think they have discovered that most people want a tablet-style phone similar to the iPhone.

You may want a physical keyboard, and another guy may want a physical keyboard, but most users don't. It's simple.

My old phone was the Touch Pro 2, which has probably the best keyboard I have ever seen in a phone. I swore I'd never use a keyboardless phone. Next I owned the original Droid. The Droid keyboard is not very good. I found it hard to type anything reliably with that keyboard, so I started using the on-screen keyboard. Now I'm on to the Droid X and I know that I'm never going back. The physical keyboards are too thick to make them worth it.

If there was some task that required a lot of typing, I can't imagine doing it on a cell-phone keyboard, physical or otherwise. I'd find a computer.

-d

DrCheap

metalliqaz:

I would find this logic compelling if hardware makers were not developing phones with physical keyboards, but they are. Sprint has tons of them, two on their 4g band. Verizon has a few on their 3g band. VZW is notoriously slow and weak in their hardware offerings--the best and latest hardware always goes to other providers first. Sprint had Android long before Verizon, ATT had iPhone, etc. etc. The list could go on. Many of the "new" VZW phones are just alternate versions of devices that have been out on other carriers for months. The 4g Atrix has been out on ATT since what, February? And the VZW version, the Bionic, is probably not going to be out until Q4, if ever.

Bottom line is that whatever VZW's process is to get phones onto their network and to market, they are too slow and have been too skimpy in their offierings. Hence why I doubt the problem is manufacturers lack of willingness to make the device. This is not just for Android but across the board. Even Blackberry users get the short end of the stick on new devices. VZW got the Storm (total disaster) but has not gotten the Torch (ATT).

I love the network, but Sprint and ATT both crush VZW on device offerings.

Kirin

DrCheap wrote:
metalliqaz:
I would find this logic compelling if hardware makers were not developing phones with physical keyboards, but they are. Sprint has tons of them, two on their 4g band. Verizon has a few on their 3g band. VZW is notoriously slow and weak in their hardware offerings--the best and latest hardware always goes to other providers first. Sprint had Android long before Verizon, ATT had iPhone, etc. etc. The list could go on. Many of the "new" VZW phones are just alternate versions of devices that have been out on other carriers for months. The 4g Atrix has been out on ATT since what, February? And the VZW version, the Bionic, is probably not going to be out until Q4, if ever.

Bottom line is that whatever VZW's process is to get phones onto their network and to market, they are too slow and have been too skimpy in their offierings. Hence why I doubt the problem is manufacturers lack of willingness to make the device. This is not just for Android but across the board. Even Blackberry users get the short end of the stick on new devices. VZW got the Storm (total disaster) but has not gotten the Torch (ATT).

I love the network, but Sprint and ATT both crush VZW on device offerings.

I agree with you both. Yes, the manufacturers create the equipment, but the carriers have a voice in what they can buy from them to resell to the masses. With Sprint, the EVO 4G came out then not long after the EVO 4G Shift. VZW finally got the Thunderbolt...so where's the QWERTY version? Could it be we are barking up the wrong tree and we should be hounding HTC to release a QWERTY version of the Thunderbolt? Maybe we should gang up on Samsung and request that VZW be allowed to purchase a version of the Epic? Oh, and don't forget, we need a few more international phones too.

Hubby and I have decided to bide our time and stay with Big Red. With the new data tiers coming out we want to see what happens before we decide to either upgrade or jump ship. So for now, we will remain with our BB Tours (as outdated as they are).

unknown

Thank you for your inquiry.

Unfortunately we do not have that information at this time. We normally do communicate new products a few weeks or months before they are released. I would suggest using the link Ed posted to sign up for alerts on new products and services.

kemo

Bummer... oh well, looks like I'll be hanging onto my money and letting my contract expire.

Whatever happened to LTE Advanced and Wimax Advanced being the REAL 4g?

PatrickBrankey

http://www.vzbuzz.com/2011/07/samsung-android-lte-slider-reappears-in-the-wild-sports-android-2-3-4/ This will be verizon's first 4g LTE slider phone with full keyboard. Just thought i would let you know. There is no exact release date on it though. I could only imagine the fact there is no name just yet for the phone that it would be hard to even find some more information on the phone.

PJNC284

It's a shame that it's closer to the Epic than the Galaxy S II. Looks like Verizon will continue releasing lte on old hardware at least until the Bionic gets here.

WallopingWillis

Have been a Verizon customer since 2003 and for the first time in my life I have the money I'm willing to commit to a data plan. I've had my upgrade waiting to be used since February, but your lack of a 4G phone with a keyboard is holding me back.

Instead of sending me all these offers of low data rates and begging me to sign up for a data plan just release the phone everyone wants! Not sure how much longer I will wait...

IKnowSomething

I also started out with the first generation Motorola droid and although it had a keyboard, I personally thought the keyboard on it was horrible. Since it was so bad I kept it closed and only used the on screen keyboard. Then I went to a Droid Incredible, then a HTC Thunderbolt and most recently, The droid charge. Safe to say, I have never looked back`.

With that said I do understand that a percentage of people still prefer a physical keyboard but honestly that percentage of people is a small percentage of the 90 million customers that Verizon has. I'm sure VZW will eventually come out with a device with a keyboard but I would expect that as a business they are first investing in the devices that will bring in the highest amount of customers. Theres only 3 4g devices currently, you have to crawl before you walk. I would just say be paitent, Im sure its coming soon.

P.S.

If you like getting little hints and rumors about upcoming phones I would visit sites like BGR.COM or CNET.COM they usually announce carriers upcoming phones before the carriers themselves do.

SamanthaStubbs

I agree completely. I've been with Verizon off and on for five years. I had a Blackberry until 2010, when I made a quick switch to T-Mobile for the 3g Slide. I loved the size and weight, and wanted to experience the Android platform. When I switched back to Verizon, I ended up with the Droid X. I thought I could handle not having a keyboard, but even with Swype, I find myself missing the accuracy and speed I had with the Blackberry Curve. I'll pay the money to cancel my contract one year early if by Q4 Verizon hasn't released a 4g phone with a keyboard.

Might I add: how do the people responding to this post know what percentage of the 90 million Verizon customers want a physical keyboard? Was there some poll I'm not aware of? Just because we continue dispiritedly buying candybar devices doesn't mean we're satisfied or a minority, thanks.

jtown

Why is this thread marked as "solved"? There's still no Verizon 4G phone with a keyboard. No way am I going to give up 1/3 (or more) of my screen to a keyboard. I can't believe we're more than 6 months into Verizon's LTE rollout and they don't have a single 4G phone with a physical keyboard. Yeah, it's going to be thicker. Big deal. People who need keyboards learned to accept that years ago.

WhipArtist

I completely agree!

I bought an original Droid when it came out, and now it's time for an upgrade. I really want a 4G phone with a physical keyboard. A soft keyboard takes up too much screen real estate for my uses and it's much harder to type on. (Try running an SSH session with a soft keyboard. It's miserable!)

I switched to Verizon for the Droid. I'd like to stay, but I really want a new phone that meets my current needs-- 4G and a physical keybaord.

DrCheap

Good news! The Samsung Stratosphere slider with qwerty keyboard, 4g radio, 2 cameras, 1ghz processor, etc., is supposed to be on market next week (Oct 6 to be exact). Not officially confirmed but about as close as one can get. Price speculated to be around 150 with contract, etc.

This is not a bleeding edge device, but I am hoping it will be a solid 4g performer.

Also expect a Droid 4 with keyboard and 4g sometime around summer of 2012 (but that is more rumor and speculation).

mbrowne

The Samsung Stratosphere looks really good so I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

Here's another thought:

One way to solve this would be to have a case that includes a physical keypad...that way you're not dependent on whether or not the phone itself includes it. Plus the phone itself is lighter that way.

I didn't come up with this, but rather, just came across it - such a case already exists for the iPhone:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e66e/

I think this is a brilliant idea. I don't know if a similar case exists for any Android phones, but it certainly seems like it would be a good idea...

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