By 
DROID 5 (Right), Photon Q (Left)
A couple of weeks ago, new photos of the Motorola DROID 5 (or Milestone 5) leaked, suggesting Motorola would look to keep the QWERTY train rolling with a phone that had very respectable specs. According to the rumors, we’re supposed to be expecting the following:
- 4.3-inch 720p display (342 ppi)
- Snapdragon MSM8960 dual-core Krait chipset with Adreno 225 GPU
- 1GB of RAM
- 16GB of internal storage
- microSD
- NFC
- Wireless charging
- 5-row QWERTY keyboard
That would put it a class below Motorola’s current crop of phones when it comes to performance specs, which include the Motorola X8 processing system, 2GB of RAM, and more. Still, it would be a very nice phone when put up against the current offerings from the slide-out QWERTY family of phones seeding the market. Some new photos of the device have leaked, though not much has changed when put up against the originals.
Some are still skeptical that this Motorola DROID 5 will be coming out anytime soon. For starters, the software seems to be a tad outdated and doesn’t reflect the latest experience Motorola has to offer. That doesn’t mean the phone doesn’t exist or that Motorola isn’t planning on bringing it out, but perhaps this particular version was in the works before the likes of the DROID MAXX, Ultra and Mini were dreamed up.
Should that be the case, we could probably expect to see Motorola create a new version of the DROID 5 at some point in the future. Now that we know Verizon isn’t killing the DROID brand off, the chances of seeing a new QWERTY-equipped offering don’t seem farfetched at all. That said, we shouldn’t get our hopes up too high for anything to happen this year — if you’re waiting on a DROID 5, you’ll probably be waiting well into 2014. Take a look at the new images above.
[via NewCellPhones]
Interesting thought. I had a phone with no slide out keyboard and now I have the OG DROID. I find myself using the on screen keyboard more for texting a quick blast. But for longer messages, the keyboard is nice… But not necessary.
The problem here is that this one is running on 1GB of RAM which doesn’t seem quite right. Also the lower powered processor. Again, it’s better than any slideout out there currently. But the specs are troubling. And also the condition of every picture I’ve seen has been pretty rough, similar to the wear patterns on my OG DROID which is a few years old and has seen a lot.
I want more stuff. I already accept the idea of a thicker phone because of the keyboard so why not…
However, this will probably be my next phone since it looks like the best qwerty around
They need to kill this. They have destroyed that brand.
I hope that this is just an old device which is not going to be released. And if they do release it I hope that it doesn’t come with those 2011 specs….
None of this looks anything like Motorola’s current design scheme. The squared off corners and icon theme shown in this picture both seem reminiscent of the old Razr line. The specs also seem dated. I honestly don’t see this launching.
Keyboard people, let go! After my OG Droid, I was convinced I had to have a QWERTY on a phone. Not anymore. Mobile browsers and on-screen keyboards have gotten so good that their physical counterparts are rendered obsolete.
On a tablet, yeah. But even if you have a big phone, a usable soft keyboard has to be so big that you don’t have any screen left to see what you are doing.
When you’re typing, all you need to see is what you’re typing… There is plenty of room left for that.
IMO soft keyboards are far superior to hardware keyboards. This is coming from somebody who swore by full qwerty hard keyboards for years.
No, sometimes you need to see what you’re typing a response to. If you use your phone for actual work, that is. I was a big physical keyboard fan, in fact I still am – the only reason I changed to slate phones is that manufacturers stopped producing high-end physical qwertys. I’d go back in a heartbeat if this thing had a more recent processor and at least 2GB RAM.
Do you type entire paragraphs when you message/email someone or is it stuff like “OMG LOL OK cya @6” responses?
I work in IT and I use my Nexus 4 for just about everything. email, help desk tickets, calendar events. The onscreen keyboard works tremendously.
Thanks for your snark though.
Do you type multiple paragraphs?
Believe it or not, I type multiple paragraphs dozens of times per day. Iv’e never had a problem doing so either.
If I ever run out of screen space, I simply scroll back up to whatever I may need to look at. (The same thing I had to do when I had a physical keyboard and ran out of screen space..) In fact, I’m typing all of this on my Nexus without an issue. I do all my forum browsing and posting on my phone.
Like I said above, I actually used to be on the other side of the fence thinking on-screen keyboards were horrible (once upon a time they were) but ever since I was basically forced into using a phone with no physical keyboard, I got used to it, then I started loving it. I simply had embrace the functionality, and I realized that I will never go back to a hardware keyboard again.
There’s a difference between getting used to something because you were forced to and actually being better. Perhaps a test can be made to see which is faster and by how much.
You are correct! But as I said in the last post, I was quasi-forced into it (There are no good physical keyboard phones in my opinion) So I switched to an on screen keyboard. After I got used to it, **I started loving it** because it IS better (for me) and it IS faster (again, for me)
I use swiftkey as my keyboard, and after the initial learning period, it now autocorrects the typing mistakes I make quite often allowing me to just type and not have to continuously go back and correct my little typos. It still autocorrects the wrong way occasionally, but all I have to do is go back and type the word I wanted to use and it remembers that from then on and will never autocorrect that word incorrectly again. It is basically a smart keyboard that tailors itself to the user. (rather than you having to change how you type based on what version of hardware keyboard you’re using)
You see, it’s not as if I never tried a soft keyboard before. I was just so frustrated with typing secure passwords over and over again just to set up the phone that I didn’t want to put any more effort into it.
I have a hard time believing you work in IT. I work in IT too and it is a complete pain in the a$$ to use a soft keyboard to do anything involving symbols (such as ssh, URLs, or pretty much anything involving the command line). If you need to use arrow keys, that’s even more of a headache as many of the soft keyboards out there don’t even include them. The “hacker’s keyboard” is about the only one I’ve found that is sufficient for doing IT work, and you need a huge screen at that, or the keys are too small to have accurate key presses.
Why would I lie? I work for a school district’s IT department. I use my phone’s soft keyboard every day. I use Swiftkey, which does indeed have arrow keys (you need to turn them on in the options) All the symbols I need are one function button press away….
More power to ya… I am a network admin, and there are times that I need to VPN into my company’s servers. I’ve tried using the soft keyboard (also Swiftkey) on my 7″ tablet to do some work, thinking it would be nicer than my phone since I’d have a bigger screen; well, I almost got a new tablet that day as I was ready to chuck it against a wall. I pulled out my Droid4 and went to it on the hardward keyboard as usual before I got any more pi$$ed.
It’s funny how even people who work in a fast changing technological field can have a hard time with change. I hear you.. There are some things that other people swear by that I just cannot stand using because I’ve been doing it my way for so long.
My QWERTY keyboard on my phone used to be one of those things. I was frustrated a few times after switching to an onscreen keyboard, but I just stuck with it, learned how to use it, and found out that I like it better.
Swiftkey auto-correction is a big pain in the ass and has caused me problems on various devices when it decides to garble what I have written, causing me to look like an idiot on several occasions.
Nothing beats the precision of a proper QWERTY device, nor the screen visibility offered. Unfortunately, Motorola doesn’t like to release these in Europe.
I’ve typed many huge paragraphs and debates on forums using Swype
If you’re doing RDP or SSH a physical keyboard is absolutely necessary. I’m constantly jealous of my wife’s Droid 4; leaving me on a Bionic. I even went so far as to get the lapdock just to have a keyboard when I wanted one. If the Droid5 were more phone I’d consider it. As is I’ll just use a bluetooth keyboard with a Note 3
I hate giving my screen real estate up to keyboards, but I’d give my first born (ok…that doesn’t exist but whatever) for a decent phone with a keyboard. Just because I put up with screen based, doesn’t mean it’s what I want. =|
I also had an OG Droid. I was worried about not having a physical keyboard when I upgraded to the GNex, but I got used to using the on-screen keyboard quickly enough. It got easier once Android 4.2 came out with its swype-like keyboard… I’m lovin’ that. I see no reason to go back now, especially as phone screens get bigger and bigger, making on-screen typing that much easier.
That being said, to each his/her own. I’m sure there’s still people that would be better off with a physical keyboard… it’s a shame there aren’t any decent phones anymore that have one. Despite what the fragmentation complainers say, choice is good!
I miss my Samsung Epic 4g, the galaxy 1 with slideout qwerty. It was really nice having the full screen and a full keyboard and was still a slim phone. One of best phones ever. I would consider this phone if it had more high end specs. Why not higher resolution and ram? Seems silly. Skip the NFC, I dont know 1 person who uses NFC other than to show somebody what NFC is.
the resolution is fine 1080p on a 4.3 is stupid, 720 looks drop dead gorgeous when its non pentile. the internals of the moto x would be preferred though
I miss my HTC G2. I liked the way it slid out. I felt like the phone wasn’t going to break when I slid it up. My cousin’s sidekick broke off from him always popping it open. LoL!!
*patiently waiting for the HTC G3*
Amen, the G2 was the last phone with a physical keyboard I had and I still don’t think I can type as efficiently with a touch screen keyboard. Probably all in my head.
Do you miss having a QWERTY that decided when it didn’t like you typing the same key twice in a row too quickly or inability to get a GPS lock? That was my experience with the EPIC. I was so frustrated by both of those things. I had to resort to screen keyboard since half of what I typed would be gibberish and I couldn’t use it for GPS and had to purchase an external one since I was in LA for work. I’ve learned to live with a phone that doesn’t have a physical keyboard since out of necessity, but I’d really like to have a physical one on my HTC One (or another decent caliber phone). It stinks that manufacturers assume keyboards are a feature for low end phones as of late. It’s a stupid trend and I don’t think it’s representative of what people want. The reason they don’t sell is because they toss the keyboards on phones that are junk. People don’t buy it because it’s junk, not because it has a keyboard. Rawr.
Ewe.
Like, a sheep…?
You know it.
Seriously why can a qwerty not get any love? all i’m asking is for you to weld the droid 4 keyboard onto the maxx and you will have created the IT nerds’ dream phone. Honestly i’m fine dropping as small as a 4 inch screen if thats what it takes to get it.
I do not understand why every phone model has to be different, they could almost zero r&d, just add a keyboard driver and a keyboard…then stop, you are done.
That being said my droid 4 is so terrible in so many ways (except for the keyboard which is perfect), even if a droid 5 did come out it would take a lot of consideration before i went for it.
The samsung stratosphere is even more of a redheaded stepchild. Does marketing research say qwerty users are children? especially if you combine it with KNOX and market it to enterprise customers. (which in the droid 4’s defense does have encryption if you bother to use a full length password)
at least they’ll finally be ditching the awful battery devouring monster that is the ti omap.
Also i just noticed, the picture at least has the back button back where it should be like on the OG droid.
the specs on this make no sense, its not enough of an upgrade from droid 4, plus it will most likely not come out till january -may to pick up 2 year customers coming off contract from d4.
tinyurl.com/l3cselt
v