When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2007, he publicly scorned tiny plastic phone keyboards, like those in the then-popular BlackBerry. Standing in front of a huge photo of the leading keyboard-endowed phones of the day, he bragged that Apple’s new smartphone would jettison physical keys.

The iPhone, with its software-based virtual keyboard, has gone on to great success, of course. And nearly every competitor since has ditched the physical keyboard in favor of typing on glass. BlackBerry is in deep trouble, despite its beloved keyboards.

But a determined minority of phone users, especially those who perfected speedy, accurate two-thumb typing in the heyday of BlackBerry, has remained devoted to physical keys. They include TV personality Ryan Seacrest and a Las Vegas taxi-advertising executive, Laurence Hallier — a year ago they launched a company that created an iPhone case with a physical keyboard, called Typo.

These cases take two very different approaches to the unnatural act of grafting a keyboard onto an iPhone. But the Typo 2, which adds its keyboard just below the screen, BlackBerry-style, when held vertically, is more natural. It does add length to the iPhone, and blocks the home button/fingerprint reader, but otherwise allows the phone to be used as you’d expect. And its keyboard is always ready for use.

Smart Typing, Auto Capitalize, “.” and ‘s words all enabled.
Full Backlit Keyboard, Perfect for low light or no light environments.
Battery Indicator, See your TYPO battery life at any time.
Lock Key, No more pocket dialing or typing.
Reclaim Your Screen, TYPO Keyboards bring back 1/3 more screen space.
Quick Currency Access Key, Easily toggle between currencies with one key.

Typo 2 Keyboard Case for iPhone 6