Clicks Communicator and Clicks Power Keyboard

Friday, 2 January 2026

Two years ago, I linked to the then-new Clicks keyboard case — an iPhone case with a built-in BlackBerry-style hardware keyboard jutting out from the bottom. I wrote then:

I don’t know how much I’ll wind up using it but it looks fun, useful, and clever — and I’m just a sucker for upstart indie hardware projects. Clicks is even a great name.

I wound up not using it much at all. I never owned a smartphone with a hardware keyboard (I went straight from this Nokia dumbphone right to an iPhone), so I have neither muscle memory nor nostalgia for hardware phone keyboards. I wound up typing slower — much slower — with my Clicks keyboard case than I did using the on-screen keyboard. Plus the way the keyboard juts out from the bottom makes your phone, when encased, something more akin size-wise to a TV remote control. I’m glad I bought it, was happy to try it, but it just wasn’t for me.

The Clicks team — including co-founders Michael “MrMobile” Fisher and Kevin “CrackBerry” Michaluk — is out today with two major new products. The best place to start is this nicely-done 12-minute keynote introducing both products.

The first is an entire BlackBerry-style phone: Clicks Communicator. It runs Android but ships with a custom launcher that emphasizes messaging and notifications, has a hardware mute switch, and a side button with a color-coded alert light they call the Signal LED. It’s set to ship “later this year” and will cost $500, but you can pre-order one today for just $400. It looks cool. They’re pitching Communicator as a second phone — less distracting, focused on messaging — but one that could be your primary phone if you want it to be. CrackBerry Kevin has a whole write-up about it. I have zero need for one but I kind of want one.

The second is the Clicks Power Keyboard. It’s a MagSafe-compatible battery back with a keyboard that slides out, underneath your phone. (Reminiscent of the Palm Pre?) It’s a Bluetooth keyboard, and you can pair it with up to three devices. Examples they cite including pairing with an iPad, Apple TV, and, intriguingly, a Vision Pro. (I’d rather type with my thumbs on a device like this than peck at the virtual keyboard in VisionOS, I think.) This strikes me as a much better idea for a hardware phone keyboard accessory than a case. Cases need to be made per each device. A Clicks keyboard case for an iPhone 15 won’t fit an iPhone 16. Hell, a case for an iPhone 15 won’t even fit an iPhone 15 Pro. And here we are in January and Clicks still doesn’t have cases for the iPhones 17 or Air. But MagSafe and Bluetooth mean the same Clicks Power Keyboard will work with any modern iPhone — or Android phone. It’s shipping “in the spring” and will cost $110, but can be pre-ordered for a limited time for $80. It comes in one color, black (the correct color if you’re only going to offer one). I’m going to buy one of these for sure, even though I’m quite certain my thumbs haven’t gained any muscle memory for such keyboards since I abandoned my Clicks keyboard case. Fisher has a whole video about the Clicks Power Keyboard on his YouTube channel.

I just love the chutzpah of these guys. They started with a good minimal launch product and are back two years later with what looks like a much better idea for a phone keyboard accessory. But they’re also now making their own whole goddamn phone. That’s going big, not going home.