Three years in, keyboard-equipped Astro Slide is a dead end
- C
- Critical Observer
- nXQ
- 06 Feb 2023
Luckily my BlackBerry Key2 still works as well as the day I got it. Never used autocorrection of any sort and never will, as long as I’ve got a pkb in my hands.
- ?
- Anonymous
- XS%
- 06 Feb 2023
Solun1, 06 Feb 2023Imagine supporting a tech project (dumb idea) when you don&... moreAuto-correct doesn't work with numbers. Only someone who has used a physical keyboard on a phone would know its value.
On a side-note: My last phone with a keyboard was a Samsung Epic 4G.
- ?
- Anonymous
- XS%
- 06 Feb 2023
Kangal, 05 Feb 2023I know, but there's not enough thickness to fit in a g... moreiPhone 13 Mini best? Best at what?
- ?
- Anonymous
- vGF
- 06 Feb 2023
Blackberry Priv was one of the last remaining phones with a keyboard that sold in numbers. IMO blackberry made a huge mistake by pricing it very high at launch because clearly a lot of people were interested
A year later later the prices had fallen by a lot but so was the buyers interest
- b
- blue
- SXw
- 06 Feb 2023
This was dead from the beginning. Even the largest producers did not even think about such idea, because it is simply bad. Only for a very few users who usually tend to be extremely demanding. Anyone with only a tiny piece of brain would see it senseless to support such product, especially when the development was only starting.
- K
- Krjal
- TKu
- 06 Feb 2023
No dog in this race but that one guy complaining of short key travel IN A PHONE made me laugh out loud.
- Solun1
- 3DH
- 06 Feb 2023
Imagine supporting a tech project (dumb idea) when you don't know what your tech preferences will be in one year, let alone in three years. And creators of this project probably only pretend they're working on it to stale, but they'll drop it. HW is easy nowadays, but t's incredibly expensive to create a state-of-the-art custom software that such device would need. If they weren't idiots, they'd just manufacture a slide-on bluetooth keyboard that you can attach to any device - something like Samsung did for the Galaxy S6 and Note 5. But that was a few years ago when some people still wanted physical keyboards, no one wants them on their phones nowadays when even idiots can type fast thanks to auto-correct. This project is a disaster and a reminder for everyone to not support weird tech project unless it's from a major brand.
- ?
- Anonymous
- uJD
- 06 Feb 2023
ae86, 06 Feb 2023maybe they should've just made a convenient keyboard a... morePhones come in all kinds of length.. unless you focus on a single phone. the keyboard length would look ugly.
Not only that, typing on a keyboard of that size is slow and not really productive for the casual user. Plus it limits the applications available. Making it very niche and small group of people who wants it.
So why not focus on a foldable? Half allocate to keyboard / and full screen when not needed? As specially the OS is optimised for touch.
Any attempt to revive this form factor is doomed to fail. Even popular brands like Blackberry or Microsoft tried.. and failed.
- a
- ae86
- vaS
- 06 Feb 2023
maybe they should've just made a convenient keyboard attachment for phone with numerous port. that would probably sell more well
- ?
- Anonymous
- swy
- 06 Feb 2023
NeonHD, 05 Feb 2023Honestly they (Planet Computers) should've seen it com... moreOh boy, expecting Planet Computers to refund was a no-go one. They did not have the dignity to refund people that reqested it. They also did the specs downgrade tactic. Originally it was supposed to come with Dimensity 1000 and because of reasons they ended up with D800. Their updates were childish with content such as "here are some photos of the factory making your phones. We will update shipping dates in coming weeks hehehe". Transparancy and honesty with their supporters never existed. Many of the people that supported their phone already decided to go with another phone as they waited the legend called Astro 5G.
- L
- LamiaLove
- La8
- 06 Feb 2023
The keyboard is far from the best?!
FAR FROM THE BEST?!
Compared to what exactly?!
There is NO similar keyboard on any other phone. Not even close.
Jesus...
- ?
- Anonymous
- vaS
- 06 Feb 2023
notafanboy, 05 Feb 2023If you want a tactile display with a physical keyboard then... moreBad idea.
- EskeRahn
- n4L
- 06 Feb 2023
YUKI93, 06 Feb 2023I am still truly in love with this idea since it gives me t... moreAs you know I love keyboard phones too. But it is not easy for small manufacturers to get a small batch of a modern chip at a reasonable price, in this time of supply shortage.
So just as FxTec had let do with a chip from a lower shelf on the Pro1X, I bet Planet had the same issues. But as they designed completely from scratch, they at the least got a 5G chipset.
(Even after having to switch chipset FxTec initially hoped to reuse all antennas, and hence went for a 4G chipset. In the wisdom of hindsight that might have been a bad choice)
- EskeRahn
- n4L
- 06 Feb 2023
Hassan90, 06 Feb 2023Obviously this design was made by Nokia Nah, it is a totally different sliding mechanism planet have invented here.
The mechanism used on the FxTec Pro1/Pro1x on the other hand, is quite similar to the well tested and stable system Nokia used on many models. Like biking hard to do at first, but super easy once your body 'learn it'. Can easily be opened and closed with one hand.
There are both pros and cons with the new Planet system.
The 'pro' is that it opens freeing the keyboard half completely, with less risk of touching the display accidentally, That could either be used for more or larger keys - planet go for larger.
The 'con' is that the two 'rails' are not coupled so from what I've seen/heard it is a more fragile feeling and a two-hand operation to both open and close it evenly.
Whether one outweigh the other will be an individual matter.
- YUKI93
- K1L
- 06 Feb 2023
notafanboy, 05 Feb 2023If you want a tactile display with a physical keyboard then... morePlease, no. Not everyone want to bring large screen everywhere.
- YUKI93
- K1L
- 06 Feb 2023
I am still truly in love with this idea since it gives me the sheer flexibility to do real office work on the go with a physical keyboard in landscape mode. But looking at how Mediatek has screwed Planet Computers by giving a less powerful SoC than planned, I think it's about time for them to make a Gen 2 version of this phone with a modern Qualcomm SoC. At least something like Snapdragon 750G should be alright.
As for the phone itself, the most recent video on YouTube was back in November 2022, so there are backers who did manage to get their orders delivered.
- EskeRahn
- n4L
- 06 Feb 2023
Peter-B, 05 Feb 2023Yep, the F(x)Tec Pro1-X project ran out of Snapdragon 835 s... moreActually a bit worse than "ran out". They had paid for the chips but was swindled and never got them.
The FxTec Pro1X have had quite similar issues as described in this article on the Astroglide. First hit by the swindle so they had to redesign the inner almost completely. Then the Covid. And finally since about August issues with shipping so they only arrives drop-wise.
- M
- Max
- mAU
- 06 Feb 2023
I ~~HAVE~~ to have a physical full QWERTY Android. Just tell me who I have to murder to get one and be done with it...