Tech21 Evo Type case for the Pixel 3 XL is a reason why we don’t need keyboards [hands-on]

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If there’s a reason why there are rarely any smartphones with landscape styled QWERTY keyboards, Tech21’s Evo Type keyboard case for the Google Pixel 3 XL is confirmation of why they’re infrequent. With its spacious sized touchscreen display, there’s more than ample room to quickly type up something fairly accurately with the on-screen keyboards.

For those of you who still somehow yearn for an actual physical keyboard, the Evo Type case certainly makes an attempt at tempting people to check it out. However, it’s far from being a practical thing to use on a daily basis – mainly because of several annoyances we had checking it out. Sure, it’s great that this accessory solves two problems, as it provides a landscape style keyboard and protective case all-in-one for the Pixel 3 XL. But it isn’t technically a physical keyboard!

Instead, the Evo Type closely reminds us of the Touch Cover for the original Microsoft Surface RT – the one that looked like a physical keyboard, but was in fact just a cover with touch sensitive keys. That’s essentially the same situation here with the Evo Type! There isn’t any physical response when keys are pressed, so you just tap on the keys to jot something down. While using the keyboard keeps the display available to other things, the only time that it’s usable is when the Pixel 3 XL is laid on a flat surface. Indeed, the case props up the phone, but there’s no locking mechanism to keep it in place.

It’s honestly pointless because for a keyboard, we don’t want to be isolated to just using it for one particular method. In fact, we’d want to use it at any time! Pricing for the Evo Type has yet to be revealed, but in all fairness, if it’s anywhere near the $50 range, you’re better off just investing that in Tech21’s other dedicated cases for the Pixel 3 XL.

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