I guess making it watch smarter every day with you wasn't such a great idea, after all....

I used to have an Xperia Pro (I should still have it in a box somewhere), though not the mini version (I prefer to have my thumbs be able to click a single key at a time). I really enjoyed the keyboard, and if another company decided to go with that idea again, I would buy said phone as soon as I could.

Now I have a Jolla, it's decent enough for native applications, but the fairly low specs (RAM and CPU) are starting to show, and the Android translation layer is starting to get a bit old at 4.1.

Thinking of getting one running Ubuntu next time, unless Jolla manage to get a more powerful SailfishOS device released -by themselves or through partners (I missed out on the Jolla C, and from what I can see, the partners that have already released phones don't yet sell to Europe).

Samsung Galaxy S7. Not doing anything spectacular with it, and don't have any particular gripes.

Blackberry have a couple of new phones out that are similar, with Android as the OS too (though I imagine a modified version like Amazon uses, it even mentions the Amazon store).

The and the [url=http://uk.blackberry.com/smartphones/blackberry-passport/overview.html]Passport. I'm a little tempted myself (though only if I could get one cheap, I don't spend a lot of money on smart phones) as I used to have the Mini Pro and loved the physical keyboard for typing.

Anyway, my current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3. Great phone but starting to show it's age (a bit slow, can't use some newer apps, random bugs and failings now and again). I'll probably be upgrading to a newer galaxy model, an S5 or A5 or something in the near future.

Unfortunately, the Passport is a bit too large, and though the Priv looks interesting, I'm not so sure about the portrait-mode keyboard (I really want one for when the phone is in landscape mode, as the Xperia Pro had).

Personally, I think you can't get away from it, but at least you can reduce the craps and save some battery.

There are "package disabler" apps or an XDA program called Debloater that let you disable system apps that aren't allowed to be disabled. So I can disable Knox on my Samsung.

The most practical is really to get a Nexus and flash CyanogenMod rom. Then you can choose to flash Google apps or not. Then you can use Adaway to block ads on the whole system, and AFWall+ is a program that control the linux's kernel iptables basically a network firewall. I think you can do a lot simply with stock Android (Google Android is not stock Android) if you want to without going to another OS.

Yeah, looking further into it the Passport is also on Blackberry's own OS which isn't ideal.
I'm some what tempted with the Priv, but as you say the portrait mode keyboard probably isn't all that much better than the on screen one anyway and a landscape one would be much better.

I don't know why more companies don't do a phone with a slide out keyboard... there must be enough demand to do it on some scale...

There was a third-party project to build a keyboard for the Jolla, using the phone's "The Other Half" interface intended for add-ons like that. The OS even has official support for hardware keyboards since a while back (I think since the release of 2.0). I didn't manage to get a TOHKBD though (read about the project, then forgot about it for a while, and when I remembered about it again, there were only DIY bits and pieces left).

Not a single person on the planet has a smart phone.

Indeed. A smartphone, however, is a different thing entirely :-P

LG G Pro 2
Was free so cant complain.It took getting used to as it was one of the biggest phones at its time of release. Still going great .Battery life terrific (even tho replacement batteries are hard to find - none local - had to order one from overseas). Great screen.Good camera.
Only downsides -- only on Android 4.4 (yes its rooted but im not bothered to get roms for this) & having to fit it into daily wear -- ie not all my shirts/pants had big enough pockets to fit the monster . Had been considering upgrading. LG3 (poor battery), LG4 ( major boot loop issues), LG 5 (boot loop issues) -- really disappointed none of those were without issues . Shame . Last few LG phones arguably also have best cameras on a mobile as well...

Interesting. Using the NFC (I assume that's what they're doing) to link it up is pretty genius.
Reminds me a bit of the Lego smart phone (Project Ara apparently, didn't realise it was a Google thing), I wonder will they do a keyboard for that...

....not until I install the wireless connection on Puzzle-Bot, that is!

None.

(The Kickstarter campaign I linked in the previous post has better detail)

The Jolla phone has contact points below the back cover, which can be used to provide power and two-way I2C communication to add-ons (the intention of the "The Other Half" system was to replace the back cover with another that has the function you want).

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have caught on very well (of course, the Jolla phone itself is fairly unknown), and the official TOH's only utilise the NFC sensor to identify themselves in order to authenticate for a download of a new theme (one for each available cover colour).

See this image. Four contact points are close to the SIM card slot (right side) and two are on the left side. Also showing is the bundled "Snow White" TOH, with the NFC chip under the sticker (slightly lighter than the cover itself).
Project Ara has, also unfortunately, been cancelled only a few days ago, though some software bits are in use in devices by other manufacturers. There is the similar PuzzlePhone, though it's much less modular and only has three standard pieces - camera/CPU/storage, buildingbase/screen, and battery/secondary features - rather than Ara's "add five cameras and three batteries if you wish" connect-anything-anywhere idea.