I had two BlackBerry devices for work, right about the time they were going away. I'd heard the keyboard was good on earlier models but it seemed like the quality had gotten pretty cheap on the later phones. The BlackBerry 10 OS on my last phone was actually pretty good, and probably would've kept them in the market if they'd launched it 5 years earlier.

Yes please I hate fucking virtual keyboards and haptic feedback.

I literally go out of my way to use shit like KDE Connect to not have to type on a shitty phone virtual keyboard

Check out Unihertz. Can’t offer any advice or if they’re good, but they look interesting.

I have a 60% bluetooth keyboard that I'll use when I need to type on my phone. A pain to carry with me, but taking a whole laptop is sometimes even worse.

Hah, yeah, I had a work one in latter days, too, and there was definitely a sense of weird self-importance associated with it you don't get from touchscreens.

I don't know if people reviling virtual keyboards would get much from it, though. Honestly, typing on it was just as annoying. I am probably faster and more accurate using swipe inputs than I was on that thing.

That said, as a Canadian, it’s always fun to look back at Blackberry’s history and remember a time when a home-grown gadget was the star of the tech world.

Others that fit description were ATI Techologies (now the AMD graphics card division that makes Radeon) and Nortel networks, a maker of corporate and commercial telecom gear (including hardware routers and firewalls).

You can get these folding keyboards that will fit in a pocket, often have a roughly-cell-phone-sized case.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=folding+keyboard

Still another item to carry, but it might fit the niche you're looking for better if you're not happy with hauling a regular 60% keyboard. Larger than those Blackberry-style thumbboards.

Keyboard feels great to use but their current layout sucks majorly

God I don't know how anyone likes the haptic feedback. Turn that shit off.

Swiping is pretty cool though.

Finally we can begin to chip away at BlackBerry’s dominance.

60% Bluetooth, but what's the other 40%?

Haptic feedback maxed out plus the tap sounds with the volume turned up to 100% is the way to go.

Any takers? Any?

What's special about Blackberry keyboards that every early slider phone didn't have?

I would love to have something like my HTC G1 again with modern hardware and screen.

Dolomite

"Boomer mode"

I'm guessing OP means the build quality, as defined by the mechanical and material standards that are needed to recreate the keyboard.

They're on discount. You don't have to pay for the extra 40% of a keyboard.

Swype is the best method if don't have individual key feedback IMO. I find it's generally pretty good at figuring out what I'm trying to say, and in the odd case it doesn't I'm usually spelling something wrong, or using a word I almost never use. And then, typing individual letters every once in a while isn't the end of the world.

With our luck? Carcinogens.