CES Live Blog, Day 3: More of the coolest tech we’ve seen

Power keyboard clicks.

Photo: Julian Chocato

Accessory company Clicks makes cases with built-in physical keyboards for select phones, but they’re almost comically long and difficult to fit in a pocket. The new Clicks Power keyboard solves this problem and offers wider compatibility. It’s a magnetic physical keyboard that you can attach to a MagSafe iPhone or any Qi2 Android device, turning it into an old-fashioned BlackBerry. When you don’t need the keyboard, just remove it. It connects via Bluetooth, meaning you can also use it with other smart devices, like TVs, when you want to enter a password. You can pair it with up to three devices.

The keyboard can extend to different lengths to accommodate small or large phones, and you can rotate the Power Keyboard sideways and shorten the length to use the keyboard with your phone in landscape mode. Since it’s not integrated into the phone’s case, the Power Keyboard has larger keys and a dedicated number row, which makes typing on it a little easier. It can also act as a power bank in a pinch, but the capacity is low, and it charges the phone very slowly at 5W, so it’s best to reserve that juice for the keyboard itself. It’s priced at $109 and will go on sale in the spring, but you can pre-order it now.

Power keyboard clicks.

Photo: Julian Chocato

Power keyboard clicks.

Photo: Julian Chocato

That wasn’t the only exciting thing from Clicks at CES. Clicks is now a phone company as well. Clicks Communicator is a convenient Android phone, designed to be a second A phone that focuses specifically on communications. (I was only able to play with a dummy prototype.) Load it up with your favorite messaging apps and type away, and you can even use the selfie or rear cameras to make video calls. The company has partnered with Niagara Launcher to make the home screen look more unique than the usual spread of app icons.

Click communication device.

Photo: Julian Chocato

The Communicator supports a physical SIM or eSIM, has a headphone jack and 256GB of storage as well as a microSD card slot, Qi2 wireless charging and NFC for contactless payments. It even uses silicon-carbon battery technology for the 4,000mAh cell inside. Since it has the Google Play Store, you can pin anything you want to it, even TikTok, assuming it doesn’t look weird on the square OLED screen. There’s a customizable kill switch on one side that turns on Airplane mode by default, and a ‘prompt switch’ on the other side for voice dictation — pressing and holding will enable voice memos.

Click communication device.

Photo: Julian Chocato

Clicks don’t want to force you to limit screen time with this secondary device, unlike similarly sized pocket devices like the Light Phone III or Minimal Phone. Instead, you’re in control and can customize what you want to use it for; Nothing stops you from making it your primary phone. The device will get two Android OS upgrades and 5 years of security updates, though the company is exploring other chipset options to expand the OS update window. It’s priced at $499, you can reserve it now, and it’s expected to launch later this year.