In the News Archives | Page 2 of 2

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

March 18, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

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.

Read ExtremeTech’s full report here: https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/286640-the-fxtec-pro-1-is-a-qwerty-slider-blast-from-the-past

Fxtec Pro1 hands on: The sliding QWERTY keyboard phone is back, again!

March 6, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

Back in the day, there were several phones with sliding QWERTY keyboards like the T-Mobile Sidekick, the original Motorola Droid and the HTC myTouch 4G Slide (see, phones had bad names even then). However, touchscreens quickly became a more popular input method and sliding keyboards became a thing of the past. Despite this, many of us never lost our nostalgic attachment to physical keyboards or sliders – and now they’re back. Again.

A London-based startup company called Fxtec wants to bring real keyboards back to Android smartphones. The company’s mantra basically revolves around updating the classic tech of yesteryear for today’s demands. During MWC 2019, it showed off its first phone, the horrendously named Fxtec Pro1, with a display that hides a sliding landscape QWERTY keyboard.

My initial response to seeing the Pro1 was a pleasant surprise. Seeing that it looked like a pretty regular phone running stock Android+ in normal mode was nice, but seeing it flick open for the first time instantly made me want to grab it. I have to admit it took me a few minutes to perfect the hand movements required to gently lift the screen with your index fingers while simultaneously pushing with your thumbs on the opposite side, but once I got it the experience was every bit as pleasurable as it was back in the good old days.

Read Android Authority’s full report here: https://www.androidauthority.com/fxtec-pro1-review-960653/

F(x)tec Pro 1 Is a Smart Take on the Old-School Slider Phone

March 6, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

Could sliders make a comeback? A new company called ReadyFX thinks so, and its slider phone, the F(x)tec Pro, was on display here at MWC19.

BARCELONA—When T-Mobile launched the Sidekick in 2002, it was an instant success thanks to a tiny 3.5-inch display and QWERTY keyboard that suddenly made texting easy. The slider phone trend continued for nearly a decade, but smartphones eventually won out.

Could sliders make a comeback? A new company called F(x)tec thinks so, and its slider phone, the F(x)tec Pro 1, was on display here at MWC19.

At first glance, you’d have no idea the F(x)tec Pro is a slider. But look a little closer and you’ll notice this is a thick phone; it measures 6.06 by 2.9 by 0.55 inches. And while the company did not disclose the F(x)tec Pro 1’s weight, it has a satisfying heft you rarely find on smartphones.

The front of the phone features a 5.99-inch AMOLED display with substantial bezels on all four sides. Display resolution comes in at 2,160 by 1,080. The back plate is constructed of a textured aluminum alloy that gives the phone a little extra grip. With the exception of a dual-camera module on the upper-left side, the back of the phone is bare.

On the right side of the phone, you’ll find a power button, volume rocker, camera shutter button, and fingerprint sensor. The fingerprint sensor is placed toward the bottom of the phone, making it easy to reach; most smartphones that put the fingerprint sensor in the same location tend to place it much higher.

Click here to read the full report: https://www.pcmag.com/news/366813/f-x-tec-pro-is-a-smart-take-on-the-old-school-slider-phone

F(x)tec Pro 1 brings a full-size keyboard to a modern-looking smartphone

March 5, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

Lusting for a physical keyboard on a smartphone? You’re not the only one. We’ve seen TCL’s success in licensing the BlackBerry brand name to create phones with keyboards again. But those devices at the moment don’t look anything like most smartphones — there are no large screens with slim bezels, hole-punch cameras, or notches in the displays. If you want a physical keyboard on a phone with a spacious, modern-looking screen, you’ll want to keep an eye on a London company called F(x)tec, as its Pro 1 smartphone is worth a look.

The keyboard

Why a phone with a keyboard? Well, the founders of the company wanted to make one for themselves.

“There’s still a huge following and a huge desire for things like buttons, keyboards,” Adrian Li Mow Ching told Digital Trends. “So for us, we’re users — we’re customers of smartphones — and we wanted to bring those things back.”

The team wanted to pair the keyboard with a modern screen. Samsung’s latest Galaxy range have some of the thinnest bezels (edges) around the screen, so you’re getting a beautifully large screen. The BlackBerry Key2 has a 4.5-inch screen, and it’s not ideal for consuming a lot of media.

See their first look, read full story here: https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/fxtec-pro-1-keyboard-phone/

The F(x)tec Pro 1 is a love letter to your old QWERTY keyboard phones

March 5, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

If you’re a geek of a certain age, you probably had some kind of phone with a physical keyboard. For me, it was the BlackBerry Tour. For my younger sister, it was the magnificently chunky Motorola CLIQ. And for F(x)tec co-founder Liangchen Chen, it was the Nokia N900.

His undying fondness for that aging smartphone’s keyboard meant he clung to it for longer than he probably should have, and it eventually led him to try his hand at building a failed QWERTY keyboard mod for Moto Z-series smartphones. Once that venture tanked, though, Chen linked up with future co-founders Adrian Ching and Leon Feng to build the modern, QWERTY-packing smartphone they always wanted to use. Meet the $649 F(x)tec Pro 1.

See the video & read the full story here: https://www.engadget.com/2019/02/27/f-x-tec-pro-1-qwerty-keyboard-phone-hands-on/

Technobuffalo Names F(x)tec Pro1 One of the Best Products of MWC 2019

March 4, 2019/in Blog, In the News, F(x) Company/by Sam Liu

From 5G to foldables, and everything in between, MWC 2019 has played host to lots of innovation. Huawei delivered its entrance into the foldable market in a big way – including dominating advertizing throughout the Catalan city – while Nokia made the world’s first five camera smartphone.

Sony made a 4K HDR OLED smartphone with the unique 21:9 aspect ratio, Samsung showed off its foldable Galaxy Fold to the wider public, Lenovo made the perfect travel monitor and BlackBerry launched its flagship with a hot new paint job. Beyond those, TCL surprised us all with some incredible innovation, and London-based startup F(x)tec bought back an iconic device with a modern twist.

We’ve spent the last few days looking at the best that MWC 2019 and here’s the products that stood out for us.

F(x)tec Pro1:

However, if a keyboard beneath your screen doesn’t float your boat and you’d rather have a phone with a keyboard that doesn’t get in the way, this London-based startup has you covered. The F(x)tec Pro1 is the spiritual success to the Nokia N900, but brings a gorgeous five row keyboard, excellent specifications and a large 6″ AMOLED screen.

Read the full report, and see the full list here: https://www.technobuffalo.com/mwc-2019/

Slider phone reborn: Fxtec Pro1 delivers Android 9 plus slide-out QWERTY keyboard

March 1, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

Mobile keyboard fans now have a new option in Fxtec’s Pro1 for the same price as the BlackBerry KEY2.

If you don’t mind running with Qualcomm’s 2018 flagship CPU, the Snapdragon 835, and want an Android handset with a Blackberry-like mobile keyboard, Fxtec’s Pro1 could be your next mobile device. It’s available in the US for $649, the UK for £649, and across Europe for €649.

The London-based company took the wraps of its Pro1 at Mobile World Congress this week, offering the world the chance to cling on to a disappearing world of mobile devices with physical keyboards.

Keyboard fans have the option of an Android BlackBerry KEY2 for $649 in the US, but not with a slide-out keyboard and a high-end OLED display.

The Pro1 features a slide-out screen that rests at 155 degrees for viewing and is designed to be used primarily in landscape mode, with five rows of 64 backlit keys that leave users less hostage to autocorrect software bugs.

Read the full story at: https://www.zdnet.com/article/slider-phone-reborn-fxtec-pro1-delivers-android-9-plus-slide-out-qwerty-keyboard/

BBC | The phone-makers bringing buttons back

February 28, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

An Android phone that slides open to reveal a physical qwerty keyboard inside has launched at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The F(x)tec Pro1 phone also has a bespoke shutter button on the side to click when taking photos.

The London start-up behind it said it wanted to “return the keyboard” to consumers.

Other handsets with keyboards built in, from brands such as BlackBerry Mobile and Swiss firm Punkt, were also on show.

“A lot of consumer tech still has buttons even though the tech is there to get rid of them,” said Adrian Li Mow Ching, founder of F(x)tec.

“Haptic feedback never gives the same satisfaction as pressing a physical button.”

He said that the folding handsets unveiled by phone giants Huawei and Samsung demonstrated that “people want more than the single slab”.

Click here to read the full article on bbc.com: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47364932

A Nokia-inspired QWERTY slider in 2019? Meet the F(x)tec Pro 1

February 27, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

Keyboards on phones. They’re a niche a vogue these days from the likes of BlackBerry to Planet Computers. But now, there’s at least one more player that wants to bring the HTC Dream back with a sliding keyboard phone… and a worthwhile experience to go with it.

F(x)tec, a UK-based startup, has spent the past year with private funding to create their Android-powered device, the Pro 1 (or, more accurately, the Pro¹). And it brings back the sliding mechanism that turns it from a full-screen device to one with a five-row, 64-key typing machine with just a simple “clack.”

For full article and coverage click here: https://pocketnow.com/fxtec-pro-1-announcement

F(x)tec Pro 1 – A Slider Phone for QWERTY Keyboard Lovers?

February 27, 2019/in In the News/by Sam Liu

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.

Original coverage and article available at: https://www.xda-developers.com/fxtec-pro-1-initial-review/