Gemini is a 90s PDA-style smartphone with a keyboard

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

Gemini, made by Planet Computers, has a keyboard attached. A user can flip open the device to reveal the smartphone screen and QWERTY keyboard.

Janko Mrsic-Flogel, CEO of Planet Computers, told CNBC that this is a device for anyone “who does a lot of typing on the move and who misses typing on a physical keyboard,” citing professionals such as doctors or teachers.

The founder of the company is hoping that this will appeal to a mass market of users.

“We expect there to be users that use it as their only device and others that use it as a replacement to carrying a laptop everywhere. You can plug in a keyboard, mouse and screen and you have a working replacement computer, but you can still fit it into your pocket,” Mrsic-Flogel said.

Keyboards on phones have fallen out of fashion in recent years, replaced by ever-growing display sizes and devices where the screen takes up the majority of the front space.

But there are other potential competitors in the market to Gemini, notably BlackBerry. TCL Communications makes BlackBerry-branded phones and last year released the KeyOne, a $549 handset with a physical keyboard.