The persistent debate over the ideal mobile input method has seen the physical keyboard rise, fall, and repeatedly attempt a comeback in a world dominated by glass screens. In a striking move that signals a major strategic evolution, Clicks is expanding its vision far beyond its initial accessory, unveiling two distinct products aimed at fundamentally reshaping how users interact with their mobile devices. The company has announced the “Clicks Power,” a universal magnetic keyboard and battery pack, alongside the “Clicks Communicator,” a purpose-built secondary smartphone. This dual launch suggests a company not merely iterating on a single idea but aggressively pursuing a multifaceted future for mobile productivity, blending nostalgic utility with contemporary technological innovation. These announcements warrant a closer look at whether Clicks has found the key to making physical keys a mainstream feature of modern communication once again.
From Awkward Novelty to Intelligent Design
The Problem with the Original
The initial Clicks keyboard case, released in 2024 for the iPhone, was a product that generated significant curiosity but ultimately fell short in practical application. Its core concept, integrating a physical keyboard into a form-fitting case, introduced a host of ergonomic and usability challenges that overshadowed its novelty. The most immediate issue was its physical dimensions. By adding a permanent keyboard below the screen, the case made already large devices, such as the iPhone Pro Max, feel excessively long and unbalanced. This created a top-heavy device that was awkward to hold and even more difficult to carry, struggling to fit comfortably into pockets and bags. The unwieldy nature of the design felt like a regression in an industry that has spent decades perfecting sleek, portable form factors. The “Bananaphone” comparison was not just a clever quip; it accurately captured the cumbersome reality of using a phone that had been stretched to an impractical length, compromising the very convenience it was meant to enhance through faster typing. The integrated design forced a permanent trade-off that many users were unwilling to make.
Furthermore, the fundamental design of the keyboard itself presented a significant functional flaw that limited its appeal. The narrow, vertical layout was a direct consequence of its integration with a portrait-oriented smartphone, but it proved to be a poor fit for comfortable, two-handed typing. Users accustomed to the wider, more accommodating layouts of classic keyboard phones or even landscape on-screen keyboards found the Clicks case cramped and inefficient. This ergonomic misstep was a critical failure, as the primary justification for a physical keyboard is to provide a superior typing experience. The vertical layout failed to deliver on this promise, making extended typing sessions a chore rather than a pleasure. A crucial piece of feedback from early adopters centered on the desire for a horizontal keyboard, a configuration that would offer a more natural hand position and better utilize the phone’s screen real estate in landscape mode—a context where on-screen keyboards are notoriously intrusive, often obscuring a significant portion of the content. The original case was an interesting experiment, but its limitations made it clear that a more flexible and thoughtfully designed solution was needed.
The Solution Clicks Power
The new Clicks Power accessory represents a far more intelligent and refined approach, directly addressing the critical flaws of its predecessor through a completely re-imagined design. Shifting from a permanent, form-fitting case to a detachable, universal accessory is a transformative decision. The Clicks Power leverages the Qi2 and MagSafe magnetic standards, allowing it to securely attach to a wide array of devices, including the latest Pixel 10 and Galaxy S25 series, as well as any phone equipped with a magnetic case or an add-on ring. This move from a device-specific enclosure to a universally compatible standard dramatically broadens its potential market. The use of Bluetooth for connectivity, rather than a physical USB-C or Lightning port, further enhances its versatility. This wireless connection not only simplifies the attachment process but also untethers the keyboard from the phone, enabling its use with tablets, smart TVs, and other compatible devices, positioning it as a multi-purpose input tool rather than just a phone accessory. This design is a masterclass in learning from feedback and market realities.
Most importantly, the Clicks Power directly answers the call for a better typing experience with its innovative magnetic attachment system. This design allows the keyboard to be extended and used in both vertical and horizontal orientations, finally delivering the landscape typing mode that was so sorely missed in the original. This flexibility allows users to choose the orientation that best suits their task, whether it’s firing off a quick message in portrait mode or composing a lengthy email in the more ergonomic landscape layout. Beyond the keyboard itself, Clicks has added another layer of utility by integrating a 2,150 mAh battery pack. This feature, conspicuously absent from the bulky original case, transforms the Clicks Power into a dual-function device that serves as both a keyboard and a portable charger. This added value makes it a genuinely useful item to carry, justifying its place in a bag even when not actively typing. With a compelling pre-order price of $79 for its Spring release, the Clicks Power has evolved from a niche novelty into a practical, multi-functional tool for a wide audience.
A Bold Gamble on a New Device Category
Introducing the Clicks Communicator
While the Clicks Power refines the company’s core accessory concept, the Clicks Communicator reveals a far grander ambition: to create an entirely new device category. This product is a standalone Android 16 smartphone, engineered from the ground up to function as a secondary, “companion” device. Its purpose is not to replace a user’s primary smartphone but to complement it by offering a focused and distraction-free experience centered exclusively on communication. The hardware and software are tightly integrated to serve this singular goal. The device features a custom Android launcher that prioritizes messaging applications like Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, and Gmail, deliberately pushing content consumption apps like social media and video streaming to the background. This design philosophy directly targets the growing sentiment of digital fatigue and the consumer desire for tools that help manage, rather than amplify, the constant influx of information. The Communicator is Clicks’s bold attempt to carve out a niche in this emerging market for focused computing.
However, the path for such a device is fraught with challenges. The Clicks Communicator enters the notoriously difficult market of “complementary devices,” a category littered with products that failed to gain traction. The primary hurdle for any secondary device is justifying its existence—and its cost—when a user’s primary smartphone is already an incredibly powerful, all-in-one machine that they have already invested heavily in. Consumers have historically been reluctant to carry and manage a second gadget that performs a subset of functions their main phone can already handle. For the Communicator to succeed, it must offer a user experience that is not just different, but demonstrably better for its specific purpose. It needs to convince potential buyers that its focused nature provides a tangible benefit to their productivity and well-being, one that is worth the price tag of $499 and the inconvenience of managing another piece of hardware. This is the central challenge that Clicks must overcome to turn its ambitious vision into a commercial reality.
Clever Concept Cautious Optimism
Despite the inherent market skepticism, the Communicator is built upon a compelling pitch that taps directly into the modern zeitgeist of digital wellness. It offers a solution for those who want to disconnect from the overwhelming nature of their primary smartphones without becoming completely unreachable. The device is not just a concept; it incorporates several thoughtful design elements that demonstrate a deep consideration for the user experience. For instance, a physical side button is designed to glow with different colors, providing at-a-glance information about the source of a notification without requiring the user to even turn on the screen. Another clever innovation is the touch-sensitive physical keyboard, which doubles as a trackpad for navigating the user interface. This feature allows for precise cursor control and scrolling without ever needing to touch the screen, keeping the display free of fingerprints and fully visible. These details show that the Communicator is more than just a smaller phone with a keyboard; it’s a purpose-built tool designed for efficiency.
Nevertheless, the path from a clever concept to a successful product is exceptionally difficult, particularly for a smaller company venturing into both custom hardware and software development. The challenge is immense. Executing a seamless and polished experience that can compete, even as a companion device, requires a level of integration and refinement that major tech giants spend billions to achieve. While the ideas behind the Communicator are intriguing, the reality of manufacturing, software support, and market adoption presents significant hurdles. The device must not only work flawlessly on its own but also integrate smoothly into the user’s existing digital life. For these reasons, a sense of cautious optimism prevails. The product is undeniably clever and addresses a real-world problem, but its success will hinge entirely on execution. Consequently, a “wait-and-see” approach seems prudent before committing to a pre-order, even with the discounted price, to see if Clicks can truly deliver on its ambitious promise.
A Dual-Pronged Strategy
The two product unveilings from Clicks painted a clear picture of a company with a multifaceted vision for the future of mobile interaction. On one hand, the creation and launch of the Clicks Power demonstrated a remarkable capacity to listen to market feedback and intelligently iterate on a core concept. This move transformed a niche, flawed accessory into a mature, well-designed, and broadly appealing tool that solved the practical and ergonomic problems of its predecessor. The shift to a universal, multi-function design broadened its potential from a novelty item to a versatile instrument for a wide audience. On the other hand, the Clicks Communicator revealed a much larger, high-risk, high-reward strategy. This endeavor was not about refining an existing product but about attempting to forge an entirely new market for focused, communication-centric devices. It was a bold gamble that showed Clicks was not content with merely enhancing the current smartphone ecosystem but was actively exploring ways to build a new one alongside it. This dual-pronged vision showed a company aggressively pursuing the future of mobile productivity, blending nostalgic utility with modern technological standards in two very different, yet complementary, ways.
