Android smartphones featuring a QWERTY keyboard aren't too common these days, especially since most handsets come with large capacitive touchscreens. However, there's still market demand from users who want to type on physical keyboards for long emails and text messages. If you belong to this category, here are are five models you can consider.
| 1. | HTC ChaCha CNET Asia rating: 7 out of 10 The good: Cute design with a premium finish; Facebook is integrated well. The bad: Small screen is problematic; some apps appear sideways; average battery life and camera. The bottom line: The HTC ChaCha does a great job of being a Facebook phone, but the lack of a bigger screen and auto-rotation makes the user experience less than satisfactory. Review | See full specs | Rate this | ||||
| 2. | Huawei Boulder First take It's been quite a busy year for Huawei so far, with the Chinese company launching three new Android smartphones. One of which is the budget Huawei Boulder, an Android 2.2 (Froyo) candybar handset with a QWERTY keyboard below a landscape-oriented touchscreen. Hardware wise, it's packing a Qualcomm MSM7225 clocked at 528MHz, which should be sufficient for day-to-day usage. First take | See full specs | Rate this | ||||
| 3. | Motorola Charm CNET Asia rating: 7.7 out of 10 The good: Relatively slim and portable; roomy keyboard; runs on Android 2.1; Wi-Fi, HSDPA and GPS connectivity; seamless wireless connection with a computer via Phone Portal. The bad: Small, low-resolution touchscreen only for basic uses; some apps aren't written to run on landscape screens; below-average photo quality. The bottom line: The Motorola Charm is an affordable entry-level Android 2.1 smartphone that should please users who are primarily texters. Review | See full specs | Rate this | ||||
| 4. | Samsung Galaxy Pro First take With a lightweight chassis and undersized footprint, the Samsung Galaxy Pro doesn't exude the "pro" charisma of its larger and more advanced Galaxy cousins, but it offers a mechanical keyboard and touchscreen functionality. And if you think the Galaxy Pro looks familiar, you're not alone. The Samsung candybar smartphone bears an uncanny resemblance to the Motorola Charm, but packs a slimmer girth and a lip along the bottom edge at the back like theGalaxy S. It is also lighter than the Motorola by a few grams. The back is made of a mesh-like cover which adds grip (and a different look) to the handset. First take | See full specs | Rate this | ||||
| 5. | Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro First take Though overshadowed by the launch of the Xperia Play (a.k.a. the PlayStation phone), the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is quite an important product in its own right. There are still users out there who cannot do without a physical keypad. With so many smartphone users turning to Google's mobile OS, it makes sense for the company to offer the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) Xperia Pro as a replacement for the Symbian-based Vivaz Pro. First take | See full specs | Rate this | ||||






