Clicks Keyboard Review: Delivers a Tactile Typing Experience, Extra Screen Real Estate, and Extra iPhone Functionality

If you’re an iPhone user who misses the tactile typing experience of using a BlackBerry, Windows Phone, or Palm Treo, the Clicks Keyboard may be right up your alley. Clicks offers a practical two-in-one solution to the iPhone 14 Pro, 14 Pro Max, and iPhone 15 series; it provides some protection to your phone combined with a built-in physical keyboard. Using Clicks frees up valuable screen real estate that would otherwise be occupied by the onscreen keyboard while entering text, and it adds Mac and iPad keyboard shortcut functionality to your iPhone. Intrigued? Let’s dig in.

For the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, the Clicks Keyboard is available in BumbleBee (yellow with a black keyboard) and London Sky (grayish-blue with a black keyboard).

The iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max Clicks Keyboard case colors include Bumblebee and London Sky, as well as Miami Beach (pink with a baby blue keyboard) and Royal Ink (navy blue with a black keyboard).

I was sent a Clicks Keyboard in London Sky to try on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. The Clicks PR team was kind enough to include some swag, including a welcome note, stickers, and the paper coaster that my iced tea is sitting on as I type out this review.

My Clicks Keyboard for the iPhone 15 Pro Max came with swag.

What’s in the Box?

Nestled inside the sliding retail box is the Clicks Keyboard, an insert that says “Scan Me” with a QR code that takes you to a Getting Started|Clicks for iPhone page, a Welcome to Team Clicks message, and a Quick Start Guide.

Clicks Keyboard Walk-Around

As I mentioned, I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max, which measures 6.3″ long by 3.02″ wide by o.34″ thick (not counting the camera module) and weighs 8.02 ounces without a case.

Going into this review, I knew that adding several inches of keyboard to the bottom of my phone and a bit more weight would make it slightly unwieldy, but I was game to see if Clicks’ benefits outweighed any caveats.

The Clicks Keyboard for the iPhone 15 Pro Max measures 8.01″ long by 3.14″ wide by 0.44″ thick and weighs 10.5 ounces with the iPhone inserted. The upper enclosure of the case is made of liquid silicon, while the areas that house the keyboard and the case’s back panel are made of hard polycarbonate.

Inside the case is a USB Type-C connector, which connects the keyboard directly to the iPhone for text input and powers the Clicks Keyboard backlight when activated. If you buy the iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max version, there will be a Lightning connector instead.

“It just Clicks,” get it? 😉

The Clicks Keyboard’s case has a ~3mm protective bumper around the camera module on the back and a ~1.5mm bumper around the display to offer face-down protection. All of the iPhone’s buttons are covered in silicone, and a black faux leather insert adds a nice tactile touch to the case’s back.

Although Clicks isn’t sold or marketed as a protective case, its design does provide some added protection for your iPhone against scratches, minor bumps, and drops, similar to what you would expect from a silicone rubber case.

Installation and Keyboard Backlight

Installing the Clicks Keyboard is straightforward: you’ll bend the top of the case back slightly, slide your iPhone onto the exposed USB-C plug (in the case of the iPhone 15 series) or the Lightning Plug (in the case of the iPhone 14 series), and then snap the phone into the top of the case.

The keyboard’s 36 keys are round and flat, with an app-adjustable white backlight. A thoughtful feature is that the Shift and 123 (Alt) keys light blue when pressed, signaling that the next key will be a capital letter, number, or symbol.

When in the Clicks Keyboard, the iPhone’s speaker and microphone ports on either side of the USB Type-C Port are covered, but their intended uses are preserved via molded ~11.3mm wide channels on each side that extend ~6.6mm toward the front of the case.

Call me crazy, but this actually seems to improve the sound of the iPhone’s speaker, as it is now aimed at me rather than down.

Two speaker ports are located under the iPhone 15’s display when it is in the Clicks Keyboard.

And yes, the keyboard has backlighting, which is pretty handy in poorly lit areas. By pressing the 123+Globe keys simultaneously, you can toggle it off or put it into auto mode; you can further tweak the backlighting from inside the Clicks app.

Backlighting on the Clicks Keyboard.

Design and Usability

I was offered my choice of Clicks Keyboard colors to review; I ultimately chose London Sky, figuring that it would be slightly less flashy, but it turns out that even if you’re using one of the more professionally acceptable colors, your Clicks Keyboard is still going to garner comments like, “What phone is that?”

Going into this review, I knew that when my (already oversized) iPhone 15 Pro Max was in the Clicks Keyboard, it wouldn’t be quite as pocketable and would most likely not fit inside any of my “going out” purses. It would make sense to use a different case for those types of events. 

Clicks expects this, so the keyboard has been tested to withstand over 2,000 installations and removals.

Getting used to typing on the Clicks Keyboard will feel a bit strange at first, especially if you’ve never used a phone with a physical keyboard.

I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t say that using Clicks doesn’t come with a learning curve or, like anything new you might try to teach yourself, doesn’t require practice.

It took keeping Clicks on my iPhone exclusively (except for one event I had to attend for a few hours) for over two weeks before I felt sufficiently proficient and comfortable with all the keyboard could do.

To begin with, you’ll need to adjust how you hold your iPhone when using the keyboard; this is not a one-handed affair. With a now larger and slightly top-heavy phone—especially the 14 or 15 Pro Max—you’ll need to hold your phone in what Clicks calls the “cradle position” when using the keyboard.

Michael Fisher, one of the Clicks Keyboard co-creators, shows how it’s done.

I’d be lying if I said using the Clicks Keyboard was effortless at first; it takes a little while before typing on the keyboard becomes comfortable, but that’s to be expected.

Using the Clicks Keyboard is a bit awkward at first, but I promise that it isn’t as bad as this meme!

It also takes a little time to learn the keyboard’s layout, but making capital letters or using alternate characters is quite intuitive—until you want to use one of the less common characters or an emoji.

When you need one of the lesser-used characters or a series of emojis, you can press the keyboard-up button (second bottom from the bottom right).

The iPhone’s onscreen Keyboard is pulled up by pressing the second button to the bottom left on the Clicks Keyboard.

For quick access to emojis without the full virtual keyboard, you’ll press the globe button (second button from the bottom left) and then select the emoji keyboard (provided that you’ve enabled it in your phone’s keyboard settings).

Pressing the second on the bottom left of the Click’s keyboard pulls up the onscreen Emoji keyboard.

Clicks says it takes:

• 20 Minutes to learn Clicks and get used to pushing buttons
• 2 Hours to get comfortable with the Clicks keyboard layout and controls so you’re using alternate characters, symbols, and emoji with ease
• 2 Days to master Clicks typing and start putting shortcuts to use and figuring out which apps you find Clicks adds the most value
• 2 Weeks to build up the muscle memory and become addicted to Clicks (you’ll never want to use your iPhone again without Clicks!)

The main thing to realize is that just because the buttons are now at the bottom of your keyboard doesn’t mean you have to use them all the time, although as you become more comfortable with them, it becomes second nature.

Functionality and Features

One of the standout features of the Clicks Keyboard is its ability to free up screen real estate; this gives you a significant advantage while typing captions for or replies on social media, composing emails, or writing something longer in your favorite notes app. You can now take advantage of the much larger display.

Clicks supports Mac and iPad keyboard shortcuts, such as copy (Cmd + C), paste (Cmd + V), home (Cmd + H), search (Cmd + Space), and many more.

Clicks Mode, explained here by Clicks co-founder Kevin Michaluk (aka Crackberry Kevin), also allows you to assign Apple Shortcuts to any key, enhancing the keyboard’s versatility.

Rather than having only one app work by pressing your iPhone’s Action key, you can enable up to 36 shortcuts accessible directly from Clicks.

The keyboard’s tactile feedback is surprisingly good, thanks to the nickel-plated domes under each key that provide the right amount of travel and actuation pressure. Of course, this means the keyboard is “clicky” rather than silent; personal preference will decide whether you consider that a feature or a nuisance.

The Clicks App

The Clicks app, available from the App Store, lets you customize the backlight brightness and timeout, alter the behavior of the Caps Lock, Alt lock (123 key), and Return keys, enable battery-saving mode, and update the firmware. The app is straightforward but functional.

Downsides and Limitations

Despite its many advantages, the Clicks Keyboard does have some drawbacks.

The most notable is its bulkiness; the case adds about 1.7″ in length and 2.5 ounces of weight to the already hefty iPhone 15 Pro Max, making it a bit uncomfortable to hold and use for extended periods. However, if you can lie it flat before you, the keyboard is very easy to type on with two to four fingers.

Setting up Clicks Mode might be another challenge, as it requires some knowledge of Apple Shortcuts and navigating the Accessibility menu. While the video and link from Kevin Michaluk posted above will be helpful, the process might be daunting for less tech-savvy users.

Two significant limitations need to be pointed out:

On the iPhone 15 series Clicks Keyboard, there is no data pass-through on the USB Type-C, which will directly affect you if you rely on external devices like wireless microphones or wired Apple CarPlay. This limitation is not present on the iPhone 14 Pro series Clicks Keyboard, which uses Lightning.

When your iPhone is in the Clicks Keyboard, the case is slim enough to allow wireless charging when laid on a flat Qi charger, but it does not support MagSafe accessories.

Any or all of these drawbacks may be a dealbreaker for some users.

Should You Buy the Clicks Keyboard?

For former Blackberry, Windows Phone, and Palm Treo users, the Clicks Keyboard will feel like a trip down memory lane. The keys have a satisfying click, and the backlighting is practical for typing in the dark.

The Clicks Keyboard also has a premium build quality, comes in fun colors, offers excellent tactile feedback, provides more onscreen real estate, and adds a plethora of productivity shortcuts. However, it also comes with significant compromises in size, weight distribution, compatibility with MagSafe accessories, and wired CarPlay.

Some will consider the Clicks Keyboard a niche product catering to a specific audience, and that’s fair. But if you purchase a Clicks Keyboard with the realistic expectation that it will be a useful peripheral that can be pulled out and used as needed rather than planning to use it as your iPhone’s only case, Clicks’ limitations may no longer seem daunting.

The Clicks Keyboard Case is available for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max and the entire iPhone 15 lineup. It is priced at $139 for the iPhone 14 Pro, 15, and 15 Pro models and $159 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, 15 Plus, and 15 Pro Max.

The Click Keyboard for iPhone 15 Pro Max retails for $159; it is available directly from the manufacturer.

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample

What I Like: The keys have nickel-plated domes, providing satisfying tactile feedback with adequate travel and actuation pressure; Provides more screen real estate on the iPhone’s display; Supports Mac and iPad keyboard shortcuts; Backlighting is available when needed on the Keyboard; Available in multiple colors; Adds decent protection to the iPhone when inserted; Has a sturdy and premium feel; The Clicks app allows you to customize the keyboard’s backlight, key behavior, and other settings; Clicks Mode allows for up to 36 customizable shortcuts

What Needs Improvement: Adds significant length and weight to the iPhone; Requires time to get used to the physical keyboard and adjust to the larger, top-heavy phone; Setting up Clicks Mode and other shortcuts can be challenging for less tech-savvy users; The iPhone 15 series Clicks Keyboard lacks data pass-through on the USB Type-C; Clicks does not support MagSafe accessories, limiting its compatibility with some wireless chargers and accessories; Clicks is relatively expensive