When I first smelled Clicks, the new company that wants to bring keyboards to iPhones, I scoffed. “Who would want or use this?” I thought, seeing how Apple's sleek industrial design is drowned out by a thick polycarbonate shell with a built-in BlackBerry-style keyboard.
In some context, I'm one of those weird people who doesn't like using cases with smartphones. There are much smarter and more creative people than me who have put a lot of effort into making smart, stylish rectangles of technology look cool, so I don't want to smother such devices with a piece of plastic. And I certainly don't want a case that adds bulk with damn keyboards.
But at the Showstoppers exhibition at MWC 2024, where a host of brands are showing off their latest products, I spoke to the Clicks co-founder and smartphone star. Michael Fisher, also known as Mr Mobile (watch the TikTok video below). And that's when Clicks started to make sense.
Of course, Fisher has something to do here, but still, he clearly explained that the Clicks case won't be for everyone, but will appeal to the fancy of people who miss the BlackBerry keyboards of yesteryear.
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But then it went further. For the so-called Generation Z, who did not grow up with phones with physical keyboards, Clicks could be attractive. The key here is that eliminating the need to use a virtual keyboard frees up screen space, something that can be very useful for content creators. And when you see this in action, it really stands out how much space one can reclaim from pop-up software keyboards.
While the Clicks Keyboard Case may not be something one would use day in and day out, for people who want to do things on the go, like me stalking the halls of MWC, the case could come in handy. I can imagine placing it on top of my iPhone 15 Pro Max to get some work done quickly without needing to awkwardly balance my laptop on my lap.
There's more to Clicks too, with Fisher demonstrating clever keyboard shortcuts, something that should make cutting and pasting on iOS much easier and faster than I currently find. It may seem simple, but in action it is impressive and discreet.
They say seeing is believing, and when it comes to clicks, this was emphasized. What once seemed like an unconventional proposition now appears to be an attractive accessory for iPhones. Naturally, I'd need to test the Clicks case properly for about a week to see if I can really accept the idea of a physical keyboard returning to a phone.
However, at a time when phone innovation seems close to stagnating (the hype around generative AI aside), Clicks is intriguing and takes phone accessories forward by looking back. Now, if companies like Samsung and others on our list of the best Android phones can do something similar and bring back easily expandable storage and swappable batteries, a wry smile may appear on my jaded tech journalist face.
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