It’s 2024 but there is a company on a mission to convince us that we need a physical keyboard for our smartphones. The company is called Clicks Technology Ltd – cofounded by tech reviewer MrMobile aka Michael Fisher – and it has a keyboard case for iPhones called Clicks to sell you.
I know. It does feel like we are back in 2010 when some smartphone users were still relishing the days of physical keyboard. Fast forward to 13 years later, Clicks Technology thinks it is time again for the real keyboard to exist.
Where in the past we witnessed keyboards designed for use in landscape orientation, Clicks is a portrait-oriented keyboard. While that isn’t new either, Clicks will turn your iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max into a Blackberry but with a huge screen.
Since Clicks takes the keyboard outside of the screen, it leaves with the entire screen for your livestreaming, TikTok video captioning, working on your Spreadsheet, and whatnot. The only downside is that it elongates the phone making it super tall.
While it is not officially MagSafe compatible, it does work with a MagSafe charger. Though MagSafe accessories may not work as well. They will stick but perhaps not as strongly as they should if it had magnets built-in.
The coolest part of the keyboard case is no doubt the keyboard layout. Using 36 keys, it marries the iOS on-screen keyboard with a Mac keyboard. In addition to the usual QWERTY layout, there are also the number keys across the top row, accessible by tapping the “123” key in the bottom left corner.
There is also the CAP key, the language selection key, the CMD key, tabs, and even a microphone to trigger Siri or voice input. And oh, it even has a backlight too.
Having a physical keyboard brings about another awesome feature: shortcuts. With Clicks, you can scroll through websites by tapping the Space bar, hit CMD and Space bar to launch Spotlight, or CMD+H to return to the home screen, and more.
So, yeah, Clicks basically makes your iPhone feel more like a computer. The only thing you may have to get past is the size.
Clicks use no battery; it is powered by the phone that it connects to. Speaking of connection, it has no wireless connection; it connects to your device via either Lightning or USB-C. Once plugged in, iOS will recognize it as an external keyboard.
Clicks is available to order for iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro for US$139 a pop. Clicks for iPhone 14 Pro is slated to ship by February 01, while Clicks for iPhone 15 Pro will be shipping in mid-March. Clicks for 15 Pro Max is available for pre-order now for US$159, with shipping in “early Spring.”
Images: Clicks.
