Semi-decent phone - physical buttons

Lu Tze

Howdy,

Just wondering if there are any semi-decent phones on the market which still have physical buttons for home, back etc.?

Any recommendations?

duridian

The only decent spec one that comes to my mind is Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active. There's a newer Samsung Galaxy S5 Active as well that's available stateside, but I don't think it is easy to get in Ireland or UK as it hasn't been released over here.

S4 Active is around €335 on Amazon
It is also available in other colours but the grey one is I believe the cheapest.

Depending on how low spec you are willing to consider, there is also Samsung S7710 Galaxy Xcover 2. It is somewhat similar in spec to non-rugged Samsung models that sell for ~€100 or less on prepay. (e.g. Samsung Galaxy Trend Plus is similar but not rugged)
Xcover 2 is just just shy of €190 on Amazon
or Phonesonline IE have it for €209

You're basically talking mostly about ruggedised "builder's" phones really, and even then not all have physical buttons. e.g. CAT B15 and CAT S50 have either capacitive or virtual (on-screen) buttons which wouldn't match your request.

It may be worthwhile asking in the Chinese Android Phone thread if anyone there knows of a cheaper alternative from the less familiar (in the West) brands.

Lu Tze

duridian wrote: »

The only decent spec one that comes to my mind is Samsung I9295 Galaxy S4 Active. There's a newer Samsung Galaxy S5 Active as well that's available stateside, but I don't think it is easy to get in Ireland or UK as it hasn't been released over here.

S4 Active is around €335 on Amazon
It is also available in other colours but the grey one is I believe the cheapest.

Depending on how low spec you are willing to consider, there is also Samsung S7710 Galaxy Xcover 2. It is somewhat similar in spec to non-rugged Samsung models that sell for ~€100 or less on prepay. (e.g. Samsung Galaxy Trend Plus is similar but not rugged)
Xcover 2 is just just shy of €190 on Amazon
or Phonesonline IE have it for €209

You're basically talking mostly about ruggedised "builder's" phones really, and even then not all have physical buttons. e.g. CAT B15 and CAT S50 have either capacitive or virtual (on-screen) buttons which wouldn't match your request.

It may be worthwhile asking in the Chinese Android Phone thread if anyone there knows of a cheaper alternative from the less familiar (in the West) brands.

Cheers for that, ill have a look into them, seems to be a bit of a trade off with camera/screen judgin by review comments etc.

If anybody has any other suggestions please feel free

wotzgoingon

The Oneplus one is a very good phone with a healthy price tag. I know the buttons are not physical but they are capacitive, but not on screen like Nexus devices and other similar.

Lu Tze

wotzgoingon wrote: »

The Oneplus one is a very good phone with a healthy price tag. I know the buttons are not physical but they are capacitive, but not on screen like Nexus devices and other similar.

Thanks i have similar buttons on my sony xperia s, they are ****, though it might just be sonys implementation. Often dont register presses. I think thats where the GFs insistence on physical buttons comes from - using my phone occasionally!

She has an xperia arc S, and in fairness the buttons are good quality

wotzgoingon

Lu Tze wrote: »

Thanks i have similar buttons on my sony xperia s, they are ****, though it might just be sonys implementation. Often dont register presses. I think thats where the GFs insistence on physical buttons comes from - using my phone occasionally!

She has an xperia arc S, and in fairness the buttons are good quality

Must be just that phone. The capactive buttons on Oneplus one work perfect. Never had any problems, I even re-checked with the phone before posting this.