The F(x)tec Pro 1 Is a QWERTY Slider Blast From the Past

In was just a decade ago when we all lived in the golden age of the QWERTY keyboard smartphone. Devices like the Palm Pre and Motorola Droid seemed like viable alternatives to the iPhone largely because they had all those tactile keys for inputting text. Smartphones with physical keyboards are all but extinct now, but F(x)tec is trying to bring them back with the F(x)tec Pro 1. It faces a tough uphill climb, though.

F(x)tec has been carrying the torch for QWERTY sliders for some time now. The company initially came together as a project to build a keyboard Mod for Motorola’s Moto Z line of modular phones. That dream fell apart for a number of reasons, and now F(x)tec aims to build its own phone with a keyboard. It will join Blackberry/TCL, which is currently the only source for modern Android phones with keyboards.

The $649 F(x)tec Pro 1 looks like something straight out of 2009 with a dash of modern flair. It has a five-row landscape QWERTY keyboard consisting of 64 backlit keys. The keyboard slides out in landscape orientation, and the display tilts up at a 155-degree angle for more comfortable viewing. The phone’s launcher will be optimized for landscape usage, and there are even arrow keys on the keyboard for navigation. It’s really a blast from the past.

On the inside, the Pro 1 is also a bit of a dinosaur with a Snapdragon 835, an ARM chip that graced most flagship phones in 2017. It also has a 3200mAh battery, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 1080p OLED display. One place where buyers will be happy to see the Pro 1 living in the past is on the top edge where you’ll find a headphone jack.

F(x)tec is taking pre-orders for the Pro 1, which is claims will ship in July. In general, it’s not a great idea to buy phones months in advance without a firm ship date. Many phone buyers have learned their lesson from boondoggles like the Saygus V2 and Turing Phone.

Is it time for QWERTY sliders to make a comeback? These phones made sense years back because touchscreen keyboards were terrible and the screens were small. Now, the software is much improved, and phones are so large that you’ve got room to spare for an on-screen keyboard. F(x)tec might find that the apparent demand for QWERTY smartphones is made up of a small number of loud voices. And most of them are probably going to buy a BlackBerry Key2.

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