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How fast can you type on a phone?


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Anyone reporting speeds over 100 wpm (phone or PC) gets a visit from this guy:

Image result for blade runner

I know there are people who type faster than that, but we aren't taking any chances.

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I haven't taken the test yet, but it really depends on what you type. If it's RDP+SSH and +bash-related stuff, there is much more to consider: visible screen area while you type.

Like... typing sudo apt get and editing config is simply painful with on-screen keyboards. Typing regular text works alright via voice and especially gboard.

Though I like typing on the pro1 keyboard, because it usually doesn't vanish of I touch the display somewhere by accident (and that happens rarely if I use my pointy fingers while the pro1 is e.g. on my bed). I am not as good with my thumbs.

Gonna give it a try later.

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6 hours ago, divstar said:

I haven't taken the test yet, but it really depends on what you type. If it's RDP+SSH and +bash-related stuff, there is much more to consider: visible screen area while you type.

Like... typing sudo apt get and editing config is simply painful with on-screen keyboards. Typing regular text works alright via voice and especially gboard.

Though I like typing on the pro1 keyboard, because it usually doesn't vanish of I touch the display somewhere by accident (and that happens rarely if I use my pointy fingers while the pro1 is e.g. on my bed). I am not as good with my thumbs.

Gonna give it a try later.

Well, there's also a big difference between a keyboard like the one I use (PC layout) and those from Google or Apple. Their layout is horrible and you have no direct access to specific letters (äöüß), numbers and special characters ( §$%&/=?{[]}\ ).

Writing code would also be much easier with the keyboard I use since <> and similar characters are easily accessible.

The main difference I see is that you can type completely blind on hardware keyboards while I do have to look from time to time what I am typing on the touchscreen. That makes writing more comfortable (and you can pay more attention to your surroundings.

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  • 5 months later...

64 wpm from the Pro1. Physical keyboard, of course 😋

When I first got the phone in January, I struggled to break 30 WPM (and that was also before the OTA update that fixed the key ghosting problems).  Things have gotten much better with practice.

Screenshot_20200724-215129.png

Edited by edlinfan
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Virtual GBoard, Nokia 7.2, single hand: 10 WPM on the first test, 13 WPM on the second one.

I can't try it with both hands these days, but I don't expect it to be much better, 20 WPM would be a surprise.

Little background: Until recently, I've always had a phone with a physical keyboard (smartphones: SE X10 mini pro, SE Mini Pro, BB Priv, BB KeyOne, BB Key2), but the end of security updates for Key2 had caused me to buy the Nokia 7.2. I've kept some of my old habits, most notably looking at the text rather than looking at the keyboard. This is also supported by my computer keyboard with blank keycaps. Moreover, the GBoard has a weird staggering, which resembles no layout I have ever used (traditional keyboards and typewriters, columnar ErgoDox layout, grid layout with Z under S on BlackBerries and Sony Ericsson Mini Pro, grid layout with Z under A on Sony Ericsson X10 mini pro). Without feeling the key edges, I don't have much sense of the staggering.

So, as a result, I heavily rely on autocorrect, sometimes even on glide typing. GBoard does an awesome job at turning unreadable letter soap into the text I intended to write, but it isn't definitely perfect.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

So I was told that it was this thread where I could brag about typing speeds (I completely forgot about it since I got my (used) phone four months after my last visit).

Comparison:
up to 250 keystrokes with Clavis software keyboard on a smaller phone (G3, traveling distance matters)
up to 280 keystrokes (if I remember correctly) back in the days of the Droid 4 / Photon Q
up to 440 keystrokes  with my laptop and cramped fingers

up to 250 keystrokes with my Pro1 keyboard just a month ago (now up to 300).


Sadly I can't do the german tests since sticky shift doesn't work in kiwi browser. But I'm very happy with the results and it's fast enough for most messages I write over the day.
Now I simply hope that the keyboard will survive longer than the Droid keyboard (same as Photon) did back in the days.
 

305.jpeg

312.jpeg

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  • 1 year later...

I missed that topic this far! The below video shows 60 wpm/252 cpm, but I'm now about 10% faster. 

 

There seems to be a convergence to about 40-65 wpm here, which together with the accuracy (very little mistake rate) should be enough to convince people about how useful can a hardware thumb keyboard be; and that's without bringing screen estate and application/OS keybindings into the equation.

Edited by matf
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On 6/13/2022 at 5:07 PM, matf said:

I missed that topic this far! The below video shows 60 wpm/252 cpm, but I'm now about 10% faster. 

 

There seems to be a convergence to about 40-65 wpm here, which together with the accuracy (very little mistake rate) should be enough to convince people about how useful can a hardware thumb keyboard be; and that's without bringing screen estate and application/OS keybindings into the equation.

You're a beast! I'm still stuck at 50WPM but I have been out of the game for a bit due to a dislocated thumb 😬 (no worries, it's fully recovered by now). For me what i'd call a "leasurely" pace would be 40-45WPM which I'm sure people can do on a touchscreen, but for me it's not even so much about speed, it's just way less frustrating and harsh on the fingers when there's some feedback rather than just hammering my thumbs on a pane of glass.

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46 minutes ago, netman said:

You're a beast! I'm still stuck at 50WPM but I have been out of the game for a bit due to a dislocated thumb 😬 (no worries, it's fully recovered by now). For me what i'd call a "leasurely" pace would be 40-45WPM which I'm sure people can do on a touchscreen, but for me it's not even so much about speed, it's just way less frustrating and harsh on the fingers when there's some feedback rather than just hammering my thumbs on a pane of glass.

Add to that not having to look concentrated at the keyboard during typing, to keep touches inside the dedicated 'key' areas.....

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6 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

Add to that not having to look concentrated at the keyboard during typing, to keep touches inside the dedicated 'key' areas.....

After typing on a keyboard phone again for a while, I can just feel again how awkward touchscreens are to type. I do not type enough to get really fast but I do type on it!
On the touchscreen I often wait until I am at a computer before I reply.

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41 minutes ago, Doktor Oswaldo said:

After typing on a keyboard phone again for a while, I can just feel again how awkward touchscreens are to type. I do not type enough to get really fast but I do type on it!
On the touchscreen I often wait until I am at a computer before I reply.

Indeed, touchscreens are just fine for replies like "OK", "Thanks" or "See you". And works tolerable for most web-addresses too. But a longer reply.... nah...

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I've recently discovered typeracer as well which seems easier since you have full sentences.

Best achievement with the Pro1 today were 370cpm which should equal to about 74wpm in german language. In english I get around 65-70 wpm but I have to quit many texts since they have special characters which I don't regularly use (as ' ).

On the computer I get to up to 500cpm at max - in best times though.

65-70wpm.jpeg

355-370cpm - 74wpm.jpeg

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