Clicks’ Power Keyboard brings BlackBerry-style typing to any phone — with some compromises
Clicks Technology has begun shipping its MagSafe-compatible Power Keyboard, a physical accessory designed to provide a BlackBerry-style typing experience for modern smartphones. While the device offers tactile feedback, early testing suggests it can make larger phones feel top-heavy and difficult to handle.
Why it matters
It highlights a niche consumer demand for retro hardware interfaces in an era dominated by touchscreen-only devices.
Clicks Technology , the startup determined to bring back physical keyboards to smartphones, began shipping its now-$99 MagSafe-compatible Power Keyboard this summer, after some delays . As of last week, 75% of the pre-orders from the first batch had shipped to customers.
Designed to work with a range of devices, this new, slide-out keyboard with tactile buttons can accommodate different phone sizes and can be used in either portrait or landscape mode, the company says, giving any phone a BlackBerry-like feel.
The device is something of a teaser for what’s to come when Clicks ships its first smartphone, the BlackBerry-like Clicks Communicator , also featuring a physical keyboard, later this year.
Like the upcoming smartphone, the idea behind the Power Keyboard is to provide an alternative to onscreen keyboards for those who miss the speed and reliability that came with typing on a small, physical keyboard.
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