MWC Barcelona 2019 is well underway, and among the big companies such as Samsung, Huawei, LG, and Xiaomi are smaller start-ups. One of those start-ups is the UK-based F(x)tec, a company which intends to bring back well-loved features from the smartphones of old. The F(x)tec Pro 1 is their first device, and it features a sliding QWERTY keyboard inspired by the Nokia E7 and N950. I got to meet the team and get hands-on time with the device to gather my thoughts on it. Meet the F(x)tec Pro 1, a slider phone with a QWERTY keyboard that will launch in July.
This Android device ticks so many boxes, yet it’s the price that has me concerned. The starting price of $649 isn’t actually that steep when compared to the devices Samsung and Apple put on the market, but for lower prices you can get comparable and better-specced phones from OnePlus or PocoPhone. I’m not sure if I’m comfortable spending that much money on an unproven company with possible update issues.
Other wise people use these https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bluetooth+keyboard+smartphone
I have one for my tablet to use at home but never really use it much. Who wants to carry around a separate device (that needs batteries or charging) and you need a flat surface or table to use it?
I always use a QWERTY keyboard on my touchscreen, never QWERTZ, AZERTY, Dvorak, etc.
But this one is special by being a PHYSICAL keyboard!
That’s a nice form factor that deserves more love. I’m glad we’re finally moving beyond the slate monoculture and getting back to more variety in phone designs.
Unfortunately, we are only seeing these alternative form factors from small OEMs or startups that are often one and out or the crowd sourced project never sees the light of day. I would never buy into a crowd funded phone myself. I really do like the keyboard on this but the phone part would be a wash from my almost year and half old phone so would be a no go for me. I will say going for a port of LineageOS (or becoming part of the Android One program) is a good idea instead of reinventing the wheel. Ditto on using the same sensor from the Pixel 3.
Hopefully they’ll still be available in the fall, and the price has come down a bit. $650 US is, unfortunately, too much in CAD to pay upfront, and there’s no way this will be picked up by any of the carriers up here for financing.
But, this is something I’ve been looking forward to since the day I gave up my Xperia Pro. The specs are a fairly big jump up from my current phone (Samsung Galaxy S7) and a slight step up from my backup phone (LG V20), so that’s good. Will be nice to have a proper pocket computer again. 🙂
This phone looks very nice. I could see myself using it instead of the portable keyboard I sometimes carry when traveling without a laptop. That setup is clumsy compared to this phone. The only problem is the price, it’s too high for me personally to pay so much for what amounts to being a secondary device. Most of the time it’s more useful to have a laptop around, but this would be great for when I didn’t.
“The starting price of $649 isn’t actually that steep”
I’m sorry, I just can’t stop laughing whenever I read something like this……..
Yes, for that price you can get a very reasonable laptop.
The key labels are ugly as sin too. It makes it look like a budget device once it’s slid open.
Why are you leaving out the rest of that sentence? Why build a strawman?
“The starting price of $649 isn’t actually that steep when compared to the devices Samsung and Apple put on the market, but for lower prices you can get comparable and better-specced phones from OnePlus or PocoPhone.”
you can get comparable and better-specced phones from OnePlus or PocoPhone.”
Because it’s just as much of a joke as the previous statement. Thom before you start declaring what is and isn’t a “steep” price for a cellphone really need to take a serious look at the under $300 market for cell phones. You’ll find most of them aren’t as crippled like the overpriced phones you seem to prefer. They still come with removable batteries,earphone jacks,sd card slots ect.