Rubenerd

When I got my first smartphone in 2002, the only people who had them were nerds and business executives. Those of us in school who had them we were routinely mocked for having these ungainly devices. Nice pocket bulge, losers! My how times change.

For those who’s first smartphone was a touchscreen dinner tray, physical keyboards probably seem quaint, even archaic. To be fair, I can type just as fast on my iPhones as I could on the physical keyboards of my Palms. But I still longed for the satisfying feedback of a physical row of buttons I could crunch away on.

So enter the Typo2 Keyboard. I ordered one last week, and have been using it in lieu of the onscreen keyboard since. Let’s run down the list of problems:

• The keys aren’t Blackberry or Palm calibre.

• It covers the home button. That means no touch ID, and taking screenshots is more difficult.

• You can’t swipe up to enable WiFi and such. I’ve somewhat replaced its functionality with Launch.app in my dock, but can still be annoying.

• If you thought the iPhone 6 was big, you now have something taller.

• Unlike Mophies, its internal battery has to be charged seperately. It also uses one of this disgusting Mini-USB connectors that makes me appreciate just how lucky Apple people have been not having to deal with them.

• Oddly, the ALT key is massive, but SHIFT is among the smallest of the buttons.

• The backlight works almost too well, and can’t be adjusted for dark rooms.

• If you have a gold or silver 5S, the white front looks weird with the black case.

If I’m in a situation where I know I’ll be typing a lot of text, I’ll snap this on and fly away. For day–to–day use though, I think I’ll stick with the on–screen keyboard.