I actually prefer the hard buttons vs the touch of the OG Droid! I am sure it depends on hand size but I can operate with one hand no problem. I also can see them from a ways off.
If you read the op's intro in the first paragraph I can sense that he is a geezer or pre-geezer, like myself (the 50 plus crowd).
If that being the case I can see where he would have trouble seeing
the buttons far away. I myself have that problem if I need to use
my phone while driving if it is dark.
But I still prefer the physical buttons over the soft buttons for
one simple reason.
I love playing Raging Thunder2 and often times I would press the home
screen button on my original Droid while playing because it was right
next to the boost button and of course it would knock me outa of the
game. Also overall with the hard physical buttons u are less likely to
accidently press the navigation buttons period, which for me makes
a much better user experience.
To the op nice rerview, very well written.
Thanks