Needs for my next mobile device

Trying to choose a new phone is tough – none of them meet all my needs, so I have to give up some things.

Most Important:

1.  Physical keyboard – sorry, the on-screen keyboard doesn’t work for my needs.  I do sysadmin work, and when I’m using SSH to login to servers or even run commands from a Windows command prompt, I need accuracy.  I cannot afford to make a typo.  I also have to enter crazy mixed case, numeric, and symbols for passwords.  That turns into a lot of extra key presses with a software keyboard.  I can cruise through them with a slider.

2.  Battery Life – what good is a phone if it doesn’t have power?  Enough said.

3.  Speed – as I get older, and have more responsibility, I don’t have time waiting for my phone to catch up with me. 

4.  Root access – I customize my phone to the way I work, and some of that customization requires full access.  Automation apps like “Automate It” and “Tasker” require root.  Also, a decent backup app like “Titanium Backup” also require root.

5.  Vanilla Google – Android has really come a long way from the early days, and when manufacturers had to add their own skin on top of Android to make them more competitive with iPhone features.  Android has jumped ahead of iOS, and the stock Google experience (in my opinion) is much better than the custom skins from HTC, LG, Sony, Samsung, etc..  Motorola probably has the closest to a stock Google experience than any other manufacturer, so I’ll probably stick with Moto.

Least Important:

1.  Thinness – I’ll take a thicker, sturdier phone with a real keyboard any day.  I really don’t care how thin my phone is.  I use my phone for real work, and not show.

2.  Weight – Having a super light device makes them feel a bit cheap, and less durable.  Some of the light, thin phones I have tried, felt like they would snap in half, or shatter if I dropped them. 

3.  Manufacturers custom skins – I don’t like any of them.  Motorola wins hands down here.  As close to a stock Google experience as you can get.  Too much fluff just hogs resources. 

My Choices:

1.  Droid 5 (rumored)

2.  Droid Maxx

3.  Moto X

I’m hoping for the Droid 5, as the physical keyboard is my number one need.  I can carry an external battery charger if need be.  Hauling around a physical keyboard (if the right size) might be a possibility, but I’d rather have it built it..