Nokia 5800 QWERTY Text Input

After using the Nokia 5800 for about a month I can honestly say that I’m not too happy with the qwerty text input. It’s not that it’s poorly implemented on Nokia’s first S60 touch smartphone – I have just come to the conclusion that I don’t like typing on a completely flat surface. Why? Because it requires my full attention and constant brain power just to make sure I hit the right letters. It’s not that I’m looking at it and the wrong keys are being pressed. That’s not the issue here. The problem is I’m so used to the raised keys on both the E71 and N82, so I don’t have to concentrate on typing. I’m a master at no-look texting when I’m in a hurry. Kind of like how Kobe throws a pass while faking out the D-man with his eyes and shoulders. On top of this, I’m not 100% comfortable with QWERTY keyboards – period. Even the Nokia E71 leaves me unhappy at times. I was raised on a T9 style keypad, and I don’t think I’ll ever be entirely comfortable without one. On the other hand, my fiancé loves the qwerty text input of the Nokia 5800 and has no problems with it at all. She prefers a qwerty device, so this is a plus for her. She doesn’t mind concentrating on the screen while typing. Turning the touch vibration settings up to 3 really helps give you that feedback you get when you push a real button as well.  So to conclude my thoughts on the qwerty method of the 5800 – I’m biased towards T9. Keep that in mind, and take it with a grain of salt if qwerty is your thing.

Nokia 5800 T9 Text Input

This method really hits the spot for me when it comes to pounding out short text messages. The numbers and letters are laid out just like a standard T9 keypad so I’m already loving that part. As you can see in the picture the buttons are extremely large, making it easy to type and without much effort. After a few days of using T9 on the 5800 you get used to where the buttons are at. I’m typing just as fast as I do on my Nokia N82, the only difference is I need to make sure to look a little bit more closely at what I’m typing to make sure there are no errors. Once again, turning the touch screen vibration setting to level 3 drastically improves the texting experience on the 5800. So far this is my favorite way to type.

Nokia 5800 Handwriting Text Input

This is perhaps one of the most interesting text input methods that the Symbian developers have come up with for S60 5th Edition. Using the stylus pen that comes with the device you can write out your message letter by letter, word by word. Using the calibration the 5800 can be “taught” your handwriting style making this input method very good for when you don’t feel like using your fingers. I find this method faster than qwerty, but slower than T9. That red box you see in the picture is where you write. If you can fit a whole word on there, then go for it. Or you can go letter by letter too. To make a space draw a dash from left to right. To backspace you draw a dash right to left. I’ve written very fast and sloppy and it seems that it’s about 90% accurate. If you teach it good and learn to trust it, this method can be very useful. With that said, I only use this method when I have time to pull out the stylus (which is stored hidden away within the phone) and have a long, thought out message to write.

Nokia 5800 Mini-QWERTY Text Input

This last method is just silly to me. I’ve only used it once, just to try it. It’s not worth it because the boxes are so tiny. I won’t even waste my time taking a picture of this. The mini-qwerty text input method can only be used with the stylus pen since the letters are so damn tiny.

Conclusion

As you’ve read, T9 is my favorite way to type on the Nokia 5800. But for other people like my fiancé and her friends, QWERTY works just fine. It all depends on taste, and again it’s not a matter of the implementation being bad – I simply can’t get used to it typing on a full keyboard style format. I’d rather have real buttons to type, and a touch screen for everything else. Does that ring a bell? Gosh I can’t wait to get my hands on Nokia N97.

If you have any questions about text input let me know. If you have any questions you’d like answered in my next article about a different 5800 topic – Just Ask!

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