As evidenced elsewhere on DDF, I am a physical keyboard person.
I used the Palm in various iterations (mostly Treo), and then the BB (I actually liked the Palm keyboard better).
When the BB platform couldn't keep up with performance and apps, I switch to Android, and kind of grudgingly adapted to touch keyboards (much better once SwitKey came about). (When the iPhone was first announced, while I was impressed with the potential, I was put off by the on-screen keyboard, which I saw as a major productivity drawback).
At a certain point, I needed access to corporate email, which was only made available on the iPhone, so I switched (luckily by that time iOs had begun supporting third party keyboards, though no as well as Android). I've always had my eye on BB developments, tried out the Passport for a couple of days, looked at the Priv, but stuck to the iPhone for its excellent build.
Recently, the same corporate email that made me switch to iPhone, changed their MDM provider to Microsoft InTune. Unfortunately, with that switch, the ability to use SwiftKey in certain areas has been taken away, making phone use really straining. Apparently at this point Android support for the same corporate email is available, and a lot more flexible from an MDM standpoint.
The timing seems to be just right with the imminent release of the BB KEYone, and I am seriously considering a switch. I think it's available in Europe as of May 1, but in the US we are looking at 5/31 as a release date.
I just looked at some videos of the phone, and while it looks good, the one thing that does strike me is that for certain things one still has to use the touch screen, rather than physical keys. When physical keys are used, muscle memory is very strong, and one might be able to operate a device single handedly, and without looking at it. Touch screen keyboards require two hands, and two eyes looking at the screen. I doubt anyone might be able to use a touchscreen with the same level of confidence in accuracy as physical keys. Even when watching some of the KEYone demonstrations on youtube (for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELtszoQLa50), careful observation shows the hesitation in the usage of the touchscreen (and I realize this is a demo that is intentionally slow, but I think the hesitation is still discernible) versus confidence of physical key usage.
What are your thoughts? Are you contemplating a switch to the BB K1? Are you looking forward to a superior device with a physical keyboard?