That’s a nice segue into how typing on the Veer goes. It’s surprisingly easy to peck out SMSes and emails on the Veer despite its size. I can get both thumbs on the keyboard and type fairly easily, as long as I use my fingernails to press on the key domes rather than the fleshy part of the thumb. 

While errant key-presses are definitely the norm, the situation is mitigated rather well by the inclusion of autocorrect in WebOS 2.0, which works impressively well at most words. It’s called Text Assist in WebOS 2.0. If you type a word incorrectly and have done a decent enough job to get most of the characters right, it’ll autocorrect and get underlined with dashed grey dots. If you’re too far away from a commonly misspelled word, it’ll be underlined in dashed red just like every other word processing program. 

This can then be tapped on revealing a number of correction options, and for the most part it does a decently good job. If you type a word that isn’t in the dictionary, it will likewise be underlined in red (or, annoyingly enough, autocorrected), and then tapping on it will make a pop up with “+” prepended to the word, symbolizing the option to add it to the autocorrect dictionary. 

 

My only complaint about WebOS’ autocorrect implementation is that unlike iOS and Android, there isn’t a fast way to tell the keyboard software that you really did mean to type “pwned” instead of “owned,” and to leave it spelled how the keyboard software thinks is wrong. Sometimes you can get into a tug of war, where successive backspaces correct back to the “misspelled” word you want, but then typing more yields the correction. It’s just unnerving occasionally. 

Where WebOS’ autocorrection beats iOS is that it (thankfully) allows easy entry of words into the autocorrection dictionary without making you encounter it in real use. Instead there’s a menu for both adding user defined words and autocorrection shortcuts. Oddly enough I had to add HSPA, HSPA+, and the Veer’s own name to the dictionary pretty much immediately since they weren’t present by default. HPalm is being way too modest if they’re not including all their product names in the autocorrection corpus - every other smartphone I’ve played with seems to include every one of the manufacturer’s products in its own correction corpus. As an added leg up on the competition, the autocorrection dictionary on the Veer includes the full spectrum of insults and swear words. It won’t correct to these words, but they thankfully aren’t marked as being misspelled.

The next discussion point about the Veer’s keyboard is tactile feel. Honestly the Veer’s keyboard doesn’t feel as good as the Pixi’s, even when my comparison point is a very used loved Palm Pixi. The keys on the Veer are considerably more mushy and accommodating, which is accentuated by both the mushy plastic material used for the domes, and a lethargic click mechanism. The Pixi on the other hand has rigid domes that click much more decisively, and as an end result yields a much more confident typing experience. When it comes to physical keyboards, I think communication is the big issue. Honestly, the Veer’s keyboard feels a lot more like a aspect-scaled Palm Pre keyboard than the Pixi’s keyboard which is laid out in a very rectangular fashion. The keys on the Pixi are also slightly taller than those on the Veer. 

Anand used the word communication in a discussion with me about driving, and it got me thinking about how the same can be said about the haptic experience of typing. Two things need to be communicative on a physical keyboard for it to be great - the first is that the key tops need to be easy to feel for positioning one’s fingers atop the appropriate keys for alignment. The second is that the key dome mechanisms need to click in a way that communicates successful character presses. If either of those things isn’t right, typing on the keyboard will never quite be full-speed. The Veer gets the first one right (the domes are convex, easy to locate, and the F character has a recognizable bump), but only is middling at the second one - there’s just a tad too much travel.

I know I sound like I’m ripping on the Veer’s keyboard, but in practice I didn’t find myself want for more physical area or a larger keyboard, just slightly firmer domes and clicking. The presence of autocorrect in WebOS 2.0 catches about 80% of my typing mistakes when going super fast, which is respectable. That said, if you have large fingers, couldn’t type on the Pixi, or even found the Pre keyboard frustrating, then the Veer is likely going to be less than ideal for you.

An Incredibly Tiny Phone The Veer's Display and Square Aspect Ratio
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  • ClockerXP - Saturday, June 11, 2011 - link

    Dial ##3-836# to get to the menu where you can disable 3G. Works on my Pre+ on Verizon!
  • ClockerXP - Saturday, June 11, 2011 - link

    I mean ##3836# (no dash)
  • dananski - Sunday, June 12, 2011 - link

    I agree that the hardware is better than people say. I haven't had any problems with mine and it only has minor scratches from all the times I've dropped it. But the OS is good too. Cards and synergy are two things I couldn't go without, and I like the simple gestures.
  • ioannis - Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - link

    Brian, thanks for the comprehensive review, delivered in the usual Anandtech quality.

    The App Catalogue compatibility seems to be the only major complain I'd have over this phone. My question is, will WebOS 3.0 with the Enyo framework come to the Veer? And assuming that all the apps eventually get ported to it (or at least all apps released from the time 3.0 is out will be based on it), would that solve the 'pixel density'/resolution-dependent apps problem?
  • softdrinkviking - Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - link

    Hi Brian. Great review. I especially liked your explanation of HSPA+, nice work there.

    I had one question. You again referred to Super LCD as (IPS) in this article, as you did in the article a few days ago (HTC evo 3D). In that article you crossed out the (IPS) and I assumed that meant you were reassessing that. Have you come to any conclusions about Super LCD and what process it is made with?
  • Brian Klug - Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - link

    So I was mistaken earlier about Super LCD being IPS, I went over my notes and have written down that Super LCD is just PVA. I'm going to try and do some more digging to find out why I have that here and what the implications are. Honestly though the SLCD display on the Sensation looks quite good.

    -Brian
  • Solidstate89 - Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - link

    I haven't owned a WebOS phone because of the flakiness of the hardware, but the OS has always appealed to me. Similarly although the Veer isn't for me, I do like just how much better WebOS 2.0 is looking.

    I sincerely wish them the best in the market as it is quite simply a brilliantly designed OS. However it's just taken too long to get to market. I wanted to get a Pre 3 on Verizon, but realized it would be too late with Verizon Wireless nixing its Unlimited Data plans before it could be released so I went to sprint and picked up a WP7 device.

    Quite happy with it, and although it's a blatant rip-off, I can't wait for the card-style multitasking to arrive with the Mango Update :)

    Best of luck to WebOS.
  • softdrinkviking - Tuesday, June 7, 2011 - link

    cool, thanks for the reply & info. i have seen plenty of PVA screens in the store and they look pretty good to me, maybe not as good as the high-end NECs and other professional monitors, but i had a hard time telling the difference between the led backlit LG IPS and the similar sized BenQ with a PVA. (this is in Japan, so i can't say what models you have in the states).

    As long as they are good quality, and a decent resolution, I can't imagine that PVA would be unacceptable on a cel phone. they are undoubtedly better than TN.
  • jamawass - Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - link

    I think the veer makes sense if you take into consideration hp's tablet strategy. A veer with mobile hotspot would be an excellent combo with a 7 in touchpad ( to be released after the 10 in later this yr). I have a 7 in sony reader which fits in all my jacket's pockets. That's my device of choice when I'm waiting at the auto shop, etc and I always receives glances when I whip it out of my jacket. It's light, and much more portable than an ipad.
    I suspect this is one of hp's strategies with the veer and I wouldn't be surprised if they market them as a combo deal in the future.
    I've used webos for a year now and generally like it's efficiency, but Apple and other companies have been cannibalising their innovations. As stated above, hp needs to accelerate the upgrade cycle in both soft and hardware to survive.
  • marc1000 - Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - link

    Brian and Anand, I could not find a way to contact you. So I will write this down on the comment section.

    Microsoft is killing the only thing cool on all older WindowsMobile phones (6.5 & below): the MyPhone service will die in a couple months.

    please read this thread at XDA where some users reported receiving the same MS email with the news.

    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1...

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