A 9 Way Keyboard Comparison

[Brandon Miniman]

In this video, I cover the keyboards found on 9 common devices: HTC Touch Pro, AT&T Tilt, HTC Touch, Samsung Omnia, Apple iPhone, Motorola Q9h, Palm Treo Pro and 700w, and BlackJack II.

In doing a speed comparison, the Q9h came out on top, allowing me to type "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" in just 8 seconds. That said, testing out keyboards is quite subjective and what works for me may not work for you.

What we can take away from this comparison is that despite popular thinking, a smaller keyboard may mean quicker text entry for those with average or small sized hands. The keys being close together means less thumb travel while typing. Those with large-sized hands probably feel more comfortable with larger and more spaced out keys like on the Palm 800w, BlackBerry Bold, or AT&T Tilt.

With all of that said - what's the best mobile device keyboard you've ever used?

[BoyBawang]

Atlast! this is the kind of review I was looking for! I love it probably because i'm a qwerty guy and I type really fast =)

But you missed to test the landscape qwerty of the OMNIA which is a much appreciated feature.

Also, your tests are not so reliable because your sample words are too short. A slight slip affects the duration in greater degree. And i'm sure you will get a different result if you try that same test again.

Much better if you typed it in three continuous sentences. "the quick brown fox..."(3x) which provides better statistical average.

[Brandon Miniman]

Originally Posted by BoyBawang

Atlast! this is the kind of review I was looking for! I love it probably because i'm a qwerty guy and I type really fast =)

But you missed to test the landscape qwerty of the OMNIA which is a much appreciated feature.

Also, your tests are not so reliable because your sample words are too short. A slight slip affects the duration in greater degree. And i'm sure you will get a different result if you try that same test again.

Much better if you typed it in three continuous sentences. "the quick brown fox..."(3x) which provides better statistical average.

For the sake of keeping the video short, I elected to type the phrase just once. But I agree, the test could have been more accurate if I had expanded the test sentence.

How about the Nokia e71 and e90?

Originally Posted by Brandon Miniman

For the sake of keeping the video short, I elected to type the phrase just once. But I agree, the test could have been more accurate if I had expanded the test sentence.

You can just run these tests like that, and just post the results here =) That would be much appreciated.

Also, what device do you own?

BTW, another great idea - test native windows mobile on-screen keyboard with the stylus. That might be even faster, and as convenient as a slide-out one. You still need both hands for typing using both of them. But native windows mobile keyboard is spaced very tightly, and your travel path is very short.

This was a great review. I wish you would have included one more device (not sure you still have it, Samsung SGH-I620). I am a proud owner of Samsung SGH-I620 and find its keyboard awesome. I totally agree with your point here that the more cramped keyboards perform much better/faster. I am so tired of hearing of well spaced and large keypads. My personal experience is that I am much more happy with the T-Mo dash than the HTC vox just because of the smaller and kinda pointy and minimally spaced out keys on the Dash. On the same token I am saying this from the perspective of a guy with sorta mid-sized hands/fingers.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this one as I did the multi-sequel video review of the SGH-i620.

[Brandon Miniman]

Originally Posted by Atmozphere

This was a great review. I wish you would have included one more device (not sure you still have it, Samsung SGH-I620). I am a proud owner of Samsung SGH-I620 and find its keyboard awesome. I totally agree with your point here that the more cramped keyboards perform much better/faster. I am so tired of hearing of well spaced and large keypads. My personal experience is that I am much more happy with the T-Mo dash than the HTC vox just because of the smaller and kinda pointy and minimally spaced out keys on the Dash. On the same token I am saying this from the perspective of a guy with sorta mid-sized hands/fingers.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this one as I did the multi-sequel video review of the SGH-i620.

Glad you liked our coverage of the i620. As you implied, I don't still have it. That said, it's almost the same exact keyboard as the BlackJack II, which I did test.

[maram42]

I know i'm a bit late, but on the Verizon XV6900, are you using windows mobile 6.1? Or is that homescreen just a download or something? Does windows mobile 6.1 alter the homescreen on the XV6900bat all? I really like the original black/white/red homescreen and would not want that to be changed after downloading winmo 6.1. Thanks!