If you’re a creator, or you just miss the old physical QWERTY keyboard phones, this iPhone case might be right up your street. While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the Clicks phone case is intriguing, and makes us wonder why phone cases with physical keyboards aren’t more of a ‘thing’.
Often, accessories like this can feel a bit gimmicky – check out our list of the best iPhone accessories for those that we think are nothing of the sort – but this phone case is actually pretty impressive. It’s produced by Clicks Technology, a new company started by Michael Fisher and Kevin Michaluk – or MrMobile and CrackBerry Kevin respectively – and the iPhone 14 Pro version will start shipping at the start of next month. Meanwhile, there’s also going to be an iPhone 15 Pro version in mid-March, and one for the 15 Pro Max, set to arrive in early spring. The first two are available for $139, with the latter set to be $20 more expensive at $159.
Clicks is showing the new case off at CES this week, but early reaction has been largely positive – and it’s easy to see why. The case fits on your phone like a Backbone controller – just slide your phone in and make sure everything lines up, before snapping the case around the top.
It comes in two colours to begin with: Bumblebee (yellow), and London Sky (grey-blue). But the first people to buy will get ‘Founders’ Editions’ of the cases, with additional support and early access to new colours too.
The case doesn’t rely on Bluetooth, or contain a battery. Rather, it takes power from the phone directly, and it supports pass-through fast charging on the iPhone 15 Pro. Other features it has include a backlight and a CMD key, to help you use iOS keyboard shortcuts.
There are some minor disadvantages, as Fisher has acknowledged in a YouTube video about the product. It’ll make your phone feel oddly large, as you’d probably expect, and it doesn’t have a magnet built in, so MagSafe accessories probably won’t work very well. However, wireless charging should still be fine. And, there’s set to be an app arriving soon that’ll improve the functionality of the keyboard.
Fisher also said of the case, “Clicks brings the tactility and precision of a physical keyboard to iPhone, so people don’t have to wait until they get back to their desks to create or communicate with the satisfying feedback only real buttons can provide.”
And the company have explained that, because smartphone keyboards take up a lot of the screen, using physical keys gives that space back, so users can “immerse themselves in apps and content.”
This isn’t the first physical keyboard case for iPhones, however. There was one, Typo, that was actually sued by BlackBerry – twice – for alleged similarities, for example. And interestingly, last year, BlackBerry itself developed an accessory to allow you to use one of its keyboards with a PC, Mac, or tablet
But Clicks is surely the best for a smartphone – could it herald a return to the physical keyboard in one of the most impressive tech comebacks since Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997?
We don't know whether the company will make a case for the iPhone 16 when it comes out, but in the meantime, here's everything we know about the upcoming device.
