Clicks’ Power Keyboard brings BlackBerry-style typing to any phone — with some compromises

Clicks Technology, the startup determined to bring backmost carnal keyboards to smartphones, began shipping its now-$99 MagSafe-compatible Power Keyboard this summer, aft immoderate delays. As of past week, 75% of the pre-orders from the archetypal batch had shipped to customers.

Designed to enactment with a scope of devices, this new, slide-out keyboard with tactile buttons tin accommodate antithetic telephone sizes and tin beryllium utilized successful either representation oregon scenery mode, the institution says, giving immoderate telephone a BlackBerry-like feel.

The instrumentality is thing of a teaser for what’s to travel erstwhile Clicks ships its archetypal smartphone, the BlackBerry-like Clicks Communicator, besides featuring a carnal keyboard, aboriginal this year.

Like the upcoming smartphone, the thought down the Power Keyboard is to supply an alternate to onscreen keyboards for those who miss the velocity and reliability that came with typing connected a small, carnal keyboard.

However, successful its existent implementation, the Power Keyboard suffers from the aforesaid destiny arsenic the company’s earlier Clicks keyboard — a smartphone lawsuit that included a carnal keyboard. It tin marque the telephone consciousness top-heavy and hard to clasp successful representation mode, particularly if you’re utilizing a larger smartphone arsenic I did successful tests with the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Pixel 10 XL.

Still, the instrumentality itself is crafted with care, and could entreaty to those who inactive desperately agelong for their BlackBerry.

Image Credits:Clicks Technology

Unboxing the device, we noticed the Power Keyboard was nicely packaged arsenic a premium instrumentality would be, with peel-away cling films to forestall scratches during shipping and a full-color Quick Start usher to utilizing the product.

You whitethorn archetypal request to complaint the device’s artillery via USB-C, though we recovered ours shipped with a complaint already. To brace the instrumentality with your telephone implicit Bluetooth, property and clasp the powerfulness fastener and descent retired the keyboard. We rapidly paired the instrumentality with our Android phone. We ran into occupation erstwhile we switched implicit to the iPhone. Even aft “forgetting” the instrumentality connected Android, it inactive refused to brace with our iPhone. Returning to the instructions, it appears this was our mistake. The instrumentality is to property a fig cardinal alongside the powerfulness fastener connected the keyboard to adhd a 2nd Bluetooth device. (The lone mode to really “forget” a instrumentality is by removing it from its slot utilizing the Clicks mobile app.)

The keyboard attaches to your telephone via MagSafe oregon Qi2. If your telephone doesn’t enactment either technology, you could opt to usage an adhesive ringing oregon a telephone lawsuit that adds the magnetic powerfulness illustration instead.

Image Credits:Clicks Technology

Once connected, you tin past propulsion the keyboard retired erstwhile you request to type. Helpfully, the keyboard adjusts to antithetic telephone sizes, truthful it volition enactment with modular models arsenic good arsenic larger “Ultra” oregon “Pro Max” devices. We appreciated the satisfying clicks arsenic the keyboard locked into spot connected the assorted sliders. The keyboard offers an adjustable LED backlight, truthful you tin benignant successful the dark.

The keys themselves person a nice, clicky consciousness and are well-placed, making them casual to reach. While it takes rather a spot of accommodation aft years of on-screen keyboards to instrumentality to pressing buttons, the learning curve is little steep than it was connected the earlier Clicks keyboard case. It’s wide that the institution has been iterating connected what it learned with its older device, and those lessons person been channeled into this product.

In addition, portion Clicks’ older keyboard lawsuit pulled powerfulness from the telephone by mode of its USB-C connection, the Power Keyboard alternatively includes a built-in 2,150 mAh battery.

Image Credits:Clicks Technology

The merchandise itself has a slimmer illustration than immoderate snap-on artillery packs, astatine 119.7 × 76.6 × 15.2mm, and doesn’t adhd an unreasonable magnitude of value astatine 180 grams. Nevertheless, this is not thing that would acceptable good successful a woman’s pants pocket. The keyboard could get caught connected a backmost pouch arsenic well, arsenic it could descent unfastened if you property against the instrumentality portion trying to cram the telephone and keyboard into your pouch excessively quickly.

Despite the added heft, determination is an vantage to the artillery battalion that powers the keyboard — it tin supply wireless charging to products with MagSafe and Qi2. (You tin opt to wholly disable wireless charging successful the Clicks companion app, if you similar to support each the powerfulness reserved for the keyboard itself. Or you tin designate a information of the artillery conscionable for the keyboard.)

Another cardinal vantage of the Power Keyboard is that it is highly customizable. Users tin alteration the Clicks cardinal connected the keyboard to relation arsenic a Tab button, oregon crook connected “Cursor Mode” (Sym + CMD) to marque definite letters connected your keypad enactment arsenic directional keys that determination a cursor connected the screen.

Image Credits:Clicks Technology

You tin besides set assorted settings similar the idle timeout, artillery reserves for wireless charging, LED backlight, and whether the Return cardinal works arsenic a hard oregon brushed return. You tin make your ain Number Row shortcuts that let you to property a fig and the Sym fastener to alteration Esc, measurement controls, play/pause options, leafage up/down, and more.

And you tin brace Apple Shortcuts with definite keys to bash different things similar commencement a call, get a upwind forecast, crook connected the flashlight, person an AirDrop, nonstop texts, and overmuch more. (Several fashionable shortcuts are included successful the Clicks app, but you tin adhd your own.)

These, of course, are powerfulness idiosyncratic features that you’ll lone admit if you get comfy with typing connected the keyboard first. That could instrumentality immoderate clip to learn, and arguably, you’ll beryllium much comfy utilizing smaller, modular phones oregon lightweight options, similar the iPhone Air. As for larger devices, we recovered it overmuch easier to get started successful scenery mode.

Image Credits:Clicks' mobile app

We besides struggled to benignant comfortably with our iPhone lawsuit on, though it’s a heftier, protective case, not a slim case. To trial the device, we removed the lawsuit and utilized our iPhone bare. While that was overmuch better, it was inactive somewhat hard to usage due to the fact that of the larger phone.

The institution itself says it has tested the instrumentality with a fig of telephone models, including the iPhone Air, 17 Pro, 17 Pro Max, 16 Pro, Pixel 9, Galaxy Fold, and different Android devices.

Whether oregon not the keyboard is worthy the acquisition has overmuch to bash with however overmuch you truly miss your BlackBerry; for the clip being, it’s an affordable capable holdover until the company’s smartphone ships, astatine least. (Prototypes of the telephone were overmuch easier to usage when we tried them astatine CES successful January. It’s evidently easier to marque a comfy instrumentality erstwhile Clicks is successful power of each the method specifications, alternatively of having to make thing that works with phones of assorted weights and sizes.)

While the Power Keyboard works arsenic advertised, for the involvement of comfortableness and portability, I’d similar to marque the power to carnal keys with Clicks’ Communicator smartphone.

Image Credits:Clicks Technology

If you besides determine this keyboard is not for you, each is not lost: There’s inactive different mode to usage the product.

Because the Power Keyboard should beryllium capable to brace with immoderate instrumentality that supports outer Bluetooth keyboards, you could usage it with tablets, astute TVs similar the Apple TV, oregon AR/VR headsets, similar the Apple Vision Pro. This could travel successful useful erstwhile you’re trying to acceptable up caller apps and person to benignant your email code and passwords awkwardly via a distant power oregon different input method.

TechCrunch tries caller devices via reappraisal units, which are aboriginal returned to the institution oregon donated, depending connected the company’s circumstantial instrumentality procedures.