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Which style of phone keyboard do you prefer?

We ask CNET readers which phone keyboard they prefer.

Nicole Lee Former Editor
Nicole Lee is a senior associate editor for CNET, covering cell phones, Bluetooth headsets, and all things mobile. She's also a fan of comic books, video games, and of course, shiny gadgets.
Nicole Lee
Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint)
The Samsung Epic 4G is one phone with a very roomy physical keyboard. Josh P. Miller/CNET

In the early days of the smartphone, physical keyboards were the way to go if you wanted the phone for messaging or email. That's why the Palm Treo and the early BlackBerrys proved popular back then because of their full QWERTY keyboards. The trend has carried onward to today's smartphones, with devices like the Samsung Epic 4G, the T-Mobile G2, and of course the recent crop of BlackBerry phones (the BlackBerry Style, for example) still carrying on that QWERTY keyboard tradition.

But ever since the rise of the iPhone, touch-screen smartphones have caught on in popularity, with many people finding the on-screen keyboard to be intuitive and even faster than physical keys. This is because of various autocorrect features and different keyboard technologies like Swype that really make tapping on the screen a viable alternative to the old-school keyboard. Some of the most popular smartphones these days are touch-screen only -- the Motorola Droid X, the Samsung Fascinate, and of course the Apple iPhone 4, are just a few examples.

With all these options available, we wanted to ask our readers if they leaned one way or another. Do you prefer a keyboard you can feel with your fingers? Or do you find it much faster to type with a touch-screen? Or do you not care at all? Answer our poll and sound off in the comments.