I got a real production unit of the F(x)Tec Pro1, in the unshifted (qwertZ) variant on Nov 19. 😀
ADD I’m more than likely to make minor adjustments and additions in the first days/weeks, only altering the “published” stamp
Reading this blog, I assume you already know that I have previously had the pleasure of using a “Final Sample” and a “Pre production” unit. If not, start by reading this and this. As the differences to this one are minor improvements.
Initial unpack
Here first a bunch of imaged from the unpacking (And adding a screen protector – yes got bubbles again)
The unshifted QWERTZ
To my usage it is a bliss to get an unshifted keyboard, it is so much better for Danish using FinQWERTY, but also better for English IMHO, as it is closer to a standard keyboard.
But I already talked on the shifted versus unshifted in the post on the “Final Sample”, so not much point in repeating that.
As I’m not likely to ever use it for qwertZ but for qwertY, I took a simple black marker, and blackened the Z. Y and Ãœ keys.
Perhaps not super elegant, but could help if other should borrow it. I kept the Ö and Ä keys as these matches Swedish (and to some extend Norwegian)
The marker will most likely wear off, and a more ideal solution would be some black mate paint, but not sure I would like to modify that much.
I expected this unit to be almost identical to the “Final Sample” otherwise. But the Fingerprint reader is substantially better on this real unit. 😎
A tiny detail s that the visible difference of the small corner stickers to the surrounding plate is less on the real unit.
The real over the “Final sample”:
The Caps lock LED is substantially improved. On the Pre-production unit it was a very small green dot, a good bit better on the “Final Sample”, and now even better
Usage of the wider unit
Some have talked about the size of this device compared to the old sliders, and that is should be hard to use for some. But actually it is much a matter of how you hold it.
I think the discussion of this will die once people get it in their hands….
My hands are not large, So I can not operate a 16:9 slab much above 65mm wide while keeping a secure grip.
Both an Iphone S6- or Galaxy S8- are slightly too large for my hands.
And yet I can hold the Pro1 securely but still be able to reach D from the right and L from the left… And stretching one key further…. It all depends on the way we hold it.
The NATURAL way to hold it is to place the corner in the palm of your hand (old images with the shifted):
But if you need more reach, it is just a matter of moving this anchor point. Still resting the phone on a couple of fingers, and have the index fingers on the support plate.
Here moved extremely, giving a reach of almost the whole keyboard from both sides for me
Tiny DIY improvement
If you (like me) are a little hysterical with unwanted sounds, and also dislike the rattling side effect of the haptic feedback, a little investigation will lead you to the culprit being the tiny support arm that has room to rattle when the device is closed.
A strategically placed piece of self adhesive shortly cut felt (like used for e.g. jewelery boxes) of about 20×5mm fixes it.
Here in black on the real unit, and before I got it in black, in red and thus more photo-friendly for the “Final Sample”
If you look closely, you can see that the red is actually a bit larger than the black – it does not really matter for the function, so no precision cutting needed.
On the preproduction unit I actually had eight small pieces placed in strategical positions, and on the final sample two, but things have been improved with higher accuracy so the others are no longer needed. 😎
ADD I also done some simple DIY modifications on some cases for other devices with matching dimensions, see this
e.g. a flip case
