this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
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That's definitely a unique phone, it looks like the company went bankrupt in 2019. I'm afraid I wasn't clear about my need for a dual-screen, however, as my target usage is to have the second screen act as the keyboard since sliders are no longer available. Obviously this model wouldn't work for that, but thank you for pointing it out.
Then check this out https://store.planetcom.co.uk/products/astro-slide
I actually did see that model recently but it's ridiculously expensive, and I'm not sure you understand what a 4.5" screen means. I did pull up my current phone and it's actually listed as a 4.6" screen (the whole phone is 129x65mm). The search on GSMarena is apparently broken because when I try to find anything with a max size of 135x70 it doesn't even bring up the line of models my phone is from despite them having pages for each of the phones, so I've given up trying to find anything there.
What really drives me nuts is that technology is supposed to get smaller over time, and yet cell phones are going in completely the wrong direction. I used to be able to get phones with a 4" screen and a slider keyboard that was very easy to type on, and yet trying to type on a larger on-screen keyboard feels cramped and even after several years of practice still results in constant errors. This requires using the stupid spell checker, which itself introduces frequent errors to the words I DID type correctly so I still spend a lot of time correcting mistakes in every test I send.
Oh, I do hate touchscreen keyboards. They do suck. But I don't think a foldable phone would help there, I wish they'd bring back sliders or make a clamshell like the tablet keyboard covers, but make it possible to hold the phone by the keyboard.
I've seen a number of pictures of dual-screen clamshell type phones where the second screen is used as the keyboard, and I would assume a foldable could be used the same way? That's what got me thinking of checking into the models of phones available now with dual screens that might fit the bill.
I have a Sony Xperia compact (4.6" screen) that I designed and 3D-printed a custom case for which includes a slide out tray to hold a keyboard. I designed a keyboard circuit board with the assumption of connecting it directly to the USB port, but can't seem to find a suitable way to break out the existing USB-C port to provide a second very simple USB connection (without compromising the USB-C functionality of the primary port) that I could connect the keyboard to. My alternate plan is to upgrade from an Arduino chip to an ESP32 Pico D4 chip which could provide a bluetooth connection to the phone. I'm currently trying to wrap up some custom circuit boards for some computer control on a model train layout, but maybe I'll get back to this project once that one is finished.
Hmmm, nice, but I have no 3D printer or ability to custom program a keyboard chip.
Yeah this definitely isn't a project for everyone. At the moment I'm not even quite sure how I would print the keys nicely although I do have some ideas. Maybe some day I'll get back to it and make it work.