Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
It’s one thing to have a great idea, but it’s another thing to turn it into reality. Newly announced The communication phone clicksfrom the keyboard phone case company of the same name, is a breath of fresh air that’s also fashionable. You could easily get that wrong BlackBerry phone Since around 2007, that’s because it was designed by a former BlackBerry designer. However, it works Android 16 It has a sleek and simple app launcher that looks elegant and contemporary. In the hour I spent learning it and using a non-working prototype, Clicks Communicator quickly became my favorite CES Tool In years.
The Communicator is a surprisingly smart device that combines old and new phone features in a different way MotorolaVery few phone makers have succeeded in doing this before. It’s an Android smartphone that’s easy to use and has all the popular features that companies have removed over the past decade.
Housed in its compact design is a physical keyboard, a notification light, a headphone jack, a physical SIM card tray, microSD card support, and plenty of buttons. Jony Ive’s soul must be hurting right now.
Watch this: The Clicks Communicator phone is my favorite thing at CES
At the time Phones Clicks Communicator has become increasingly sophisticated, attention-stealing, and driven by artificial intelligence. Clicks Communicator aims to provide an enhanced typing and voice-to-text recording experience, all while reducing distractions. It is designed to be a secondary device that complements your regular smartphone. The idea is similar to What palm tried Nearly a decade ago, when it sold a small Android phone, it was meant to complement larger phones. However, the Palm phone didn’t offer amenities like a physical keyboard.
“Communicator is to a smartphone what Kindle is to the iPad,” Jeff Gadway, chief marketing officer at Clicks, said in a press release. “It’s a stand-alone, complementary product, optimized for a specific purpose. In the case of Clicks Communicator, that means communicating with confidence in a noisy world.”
We expect our smartphones to do anything we want, but that often means compromising on how features are implemented. on iPhone 17 ProFor example, I can certainly type and respond to texts, emails, and jot down the occasional random thought in the Notes app. But for me, and I expect many others, I have a much more enjoyable experience typing on a physical keyboard. I prefer to use my laptop to respond to long or complex emails rather than typing them on the phone.
But Communicator’s unique focus on input, combined with the fact that it can be your only phone, opens it up to much broader appeal (at least on paper). I can see the Communicator being the perfect “work” phone for those jobs where you want a device separate from your personal smartphone. You can quickly reply to a Slack thread without having to check TikTok or Instagram.
The prototypes shown came in white or dark green.
It could be an attractive option for a growing number of people who crave a phone that doesn’t need their full attention every minute. This could be someone burned out by the obsession with the Internet or someone who misses having a physical keyboard and features like a headphone jack. It can appeal to a person who wants a simple smartphone like Light phone and a pointeach with their own opinion on what a less distracting phone might look like.
Communicator costs $499 and will launch later this year. However, you can pre-order the phone for $399 or reserve one for $199 right now. It joins the Clicks Keyboard Pro and Keyboard Case.
“We’re really trying to help people see us as a company that’s building technology specifically designed for people who want to do bad things and not doom scroll,” Gadway told me.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased technical content and lab reviews. Add CNET As Google’s preferred source.
Clicks on notable Communicator features
The back of the communicator is angled to better fit your palm.
name: The phone is named in part after the popular portable audio device from Star Trek. Michael Fisher, co-founder of Clicks, explained that calling the device a “communication device” really embodies what the phone was designed for: providing the best typing and voice-to-text experience (in terms of hardware and software) you’ll find on a phone.
design: The phone is compact. Its aluminum frame and polycarbonate body felt solid in my hand. Fans of small phones, this phone looks like it’s for you. It weighs only 170 grams. Compare that to the iPhone 17 Pro, which weighs 206 grams. It’s roughly the size of a small SSD or magnetic battery pack. It has a 4-inch display and a keyboard similar to the one found in the Clicks keyboard case – with 43% larger keys on the Communicator.
Here’s the Niagara Launcher on the Motorola Razr Ultra. It organizes apps into a clean list that, as you scroll, contains a waterfall-like animation
Android 16 and Niagara Launcher: Communicator runs on Android 16 and has a customized version of Niagara App Player. Messages from apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Slack are organized directly on the home screen, allowing people to quickly review and respond to them without having to open and navigate between apps.
Instant switch and signal light: On the right side of the phone there is a button called “Prompt Key”. You can press and hold it to record audio to text. Surrounding the button is an indication light (think Android notification light from years ago) that makes it easy to distinguish between messages and notifications at a glance. It can be customized with different colors and lighting patterns to glow when receiving messages from specific people, groups, or apps.
The back panel on the Clicks Communicator can be swapped out for different colored versions.
Removable back panel: The back has a sloped, ergonomic, interchangeable panel – think Moto X. During my brief, there were six different panels made of polycarbonate and leather. The back panel also supports Qi2.2 wireless charging.
Other features:
- 50-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization
- 24-megapixel front camera
- Silicon-carbon battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh
- 256GB internal storage plus an expandable microSD card
- Physical SIM and eSIM tray
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Android 16 with 5 years of security updates
- Global 5G, 4G LTE and 3G/2G support, unlocked
- NFC with Google Pay, Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 6
- USB-C and wireless charging
- 4000 mAh battery
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Configurable mute switch