Dumb Phones With Full Keyboard For Texting

Need your phone mainly for texting? Then a QWERTY keyboard with actual physical keys comes in super handy. This is where dumb phones really shine: It’s a lot faster to type on a keyboard with actual keys, than on most smart phone touch screen keyboards.

Granted, cell phone keyboards aren’t exactly huge. But for me at least, having keys that I can actually touch and feel does a lot to reduce my typing error rate, and saves me a lot of frustration when typing longer texts or chatting with my friends.

At BestDumbPhones.com, our favorite phone for texting by far is the Samsung Alias 2. It’s 2-way-flip design is unique among cell phones, and it’s just so geeky! Also, the context sensitive e-ink keyboard adds a tremendous cool factor. It’s a pity the Alias 2 went out of production, however for the time being, there are still some new units available on eBay.

Of course, not everyone wants or needs a super geeky phone. If you’re looking for a more conservative design, the LG Extravert 2 simply slides out its QWERTY keyboard from underneath the screen.

Check out our reviews:

Blackberry KeyOne Smart Phone

Blackberry KeyOne Smart Phone With Physical QWERTY Keyboard

This site is mostly about dumb phones. However, if you're looking for a *smart* phone with a physical keyboard, you'll want to get a Blackberry. Yes, Blackberry still exist! And believe it or not: At this point (2020), they are the only cell phone manufacturer that still makes smart phones ...
Samsung Intensity 2 dumb phone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard

Samsung Intensity II SCH-U460 QWERTY Slide Phone (Verizon)

The Samsung Intensity II is a slider phone that was designed with texting and social media in mind, making it a great dumb phone especially for kids and teenagers. It has a full number and navigation keypad on the outside, just like a typical bar phone. Sliding the phone open ...
ZTE Z432 Low-Cost AT&T GoPhone with full QWERTY keyboard

ZTE Altair 2 Z432 QWERTY GoPhone (AT&T)

The ZTE Altair 2 Z432 is a popular low-cost GoPhone on the AT&T network. It features a full-scale QWERTY keyboard, great for typing text messages. The keys are kind of tiny though, as we would expect with a QWERTY bar phone of this size. GoPhone means this is a prepaid ...

LG Extravert 2 QWERTY Slide Phone With Touch Screen (Verizon)

The LG Extravert 2 (VN280) is a versatile dumb phone that comes with a touch screen plus a full-blown QWERTY keyboard that slides out from underneath. The QWERTY keyboard is great for texting, while the 3.2" touch screen make it look and feel almost like a smart phone without actually ...
Samsung R355C QWERTY bar phone

Samsung R355C Low-Cost QWERTY Bar Phone (Net10)

The Samsung R355C is a low-cost, good quality bar phone that features a full QWERTY keyboard. Owing to the need to fit all the keys in a rather small area below the screen, the keys themselves are quite tiny, and may not be ideal for those with relatively large fingers. For everyone ...
Samsung Alias 2 QWERTY two-way flip phone

Samsung SCH-U750 Alias 2 Two-Way Flip Phone (Verizon)

This is one of the most popular dumb phones ever, due to its unique two-way flip design (see the pictures below to find out what sets this phone apart from all the others). It has meanwhile gone out of production, so the Samsung Alias 2 can be considered a true ...
LG Xpression C395 QWERTY slide phone

LG Xpression C395 QWERTY Slide Phone (Unlocked)

The LG Xpression C395 is a slide phone that comes with a 3" touch screen on the outside. The phone slides open to the left, revealing a full-scale QWERTY keyboard, ideal for those who dislike typing on tiny touch screen keys. This makes the C395 an ideal phone for texting, but the device also ...

Compare Technical Specs

Best Dumb Phones With Full QWERTY Keyboard 2022

PhoneLG Xpression C395Samsung U750 Alias 2Samsung R355CLG Extravert 2 VN280ZTE Z432Samsung Intensity II SCH-U460Blackberry KeyOne
Approx. price$60$70$15$60$25$70$300
Battery1000mAh880mAh (ext. avail.)1000mAh1000mAh900 mAh1000mAh3500mAh
Bluetoothv2.1, A2DPv2.1, A2DPv2.0, EDRv3.0, A2DP2.1, EDR2.1, A2DPYes
BrowserYesYesWAP 2.0Opera MiniYesYesChrome
Camera2 MP2 MP1.3 MP2MP2MP1.3MP12 MP
CarrierUnlockedVerizonNet10VerizonAT&TVerizonUnlocked
Dimensions4.3" x 2.1" x 0.7"4.0" x 2.0" x 0.7"4.4" x 2.4" x 0.5"4.4" x 2.15" x 0.64"4.5" x 2.4" x .4"4.9" x 2.9" x .7"5.9" x 2.9" x 0.4"
Display (ext)3" touch (400x240px)1.3", 128x128px2.2", 176x144px3.2" Touch (240x400px)2.4", 320x2402.2", 240x3204.5" touch, 1080x1620px
Display (int)2.6", 240x320px
E-mail clientYesYesYesYesYes
FlashlightNoNoNoYes
Form factorSlideFlipBarSlideBarSlideBar
FM RadioNoNoNoYes
GamesYesYesYesYes
GPSYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Headset jack3.5mmNo3.5mm3.5mm2.5mm3.5mm
Hearing aidM3 / T4M4M4, T3M4, T4M3, T3
Memory (RAM)50MB100MB55MB512MB262MB64GB
MP3 playerYesYesYesYesYes
MP3 ring tonesYesYesNoYesYesYes
RuggedNoNoNoNoNoNo
SIM cardYesNoNoNoYesYesNano-SIM
SD card (max.)32GB32GB16GB32GB32GB32GB2TB
Speed dial
SpeakerphoneYesYesYesYesYes
Standby time10 days14 days8.3 days16 days10 days12.5 days81h
Talk time2h20m5h6h6h4.5h5h20h (3G)
USBmicroUSB 2.0Yes (w/ adapter)microUSBMicroUSB 2.0YesMicroUSB 2.0USB Type-C 3.1
Vibration alarmYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Voice dialYesYesYes
WaterproofNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
Weight (oz)3.64.153.244.096.4