The new android phone will include a keyboard with buttons as well as a shutter button used for taking photos. The creators of this new phone want to return the keyboard to its customers after research has shown that nothing can replace the childish satisfaction people experience after pressing a physical button.
The success of phone giants Huawei and Samsung have made it clear that people want a keyboard with buttons and these new phones plan to capitalise on this.
There are several problems associated with phones that have buttons. Folding handsets tend to be chunkier and heavier than standard smartphones. There is also a risk that sliding keyboards can become stiff if the hinge isn’t well designed. There is also concern that people are so used to buttonless phones, that they may not embrace their return.
The new android phone was reportedly inspired by an early Nokia prototype. The developer of this phone reportedly used this prototype as his actual phone until 2015.
This new phone will still have a touch screen, despite the addition of a physical keyboard leading many to question the point of the buttons. UK start-up ‘Planet Computers’ is also producing phones that have physical keyboards.
Despite the claims made by these companies that buttons are the way forward, the mainstream phone making industry are showing no sign of including buttons in any of their upcoming phone designs, valuing the efficiency of the touch screen over the nostalgia of buttons.
