Side Keys
Side Keys are simply buttons on the side of the phone, designed to be used by your fingertips while holding the phone in your hand.
Modern smartphones typically have side keys that consist of a volume up/down rocker and a single lock/power button.
Some phones have additional buttons, which can often be customized to perform additional actions specified by the user. Common options include PTT and launching the camera.
See: PTT
Some phones have an additional switch for silencing alerts.
Last updated Feb 13, 2023 by Rich Brome
Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
