Clicks’ Power Keyboard brings BlackBerry-style typing to any phone — with some compromises
Clicks’ Power Keyboard brings BlackBerry-style typing to any phone — with some compromises
Clicks’ Power Keyboard 为任何手机带来黑莓风格的打字体验——但伴随一些妥协
Clicks Technology, the startup determined to bring back physical keyboards to smartphones, began shipping its now-$99 MagSafe-compatible Power Keyboard this summer, after some delays. As of last week, 75% of the preorders from the first batch had shipped to customers. Designed to work with a range of devices, this new slide-out keyboard with tactile buttons can accommodate different phone sizes and can be used in either portrait or landscape mode, the company says, giving any phone a BlackBerry-like feel. The device is something of a teaser for what’s to come when Clicks ships its first smartphone, the BlackBerry-like Clicks Communicator, also featuring a physical keyboard, later this year.
致力于让智能手机重回物理键盘时代的初创公司 Clicks Technology，在经历了一些延期后，于今年夏天开始发售其售价 99 美元的 MagSafe 兼容款 Power Keyboard。截至上周，首批预订单中已有 75% 发货给客户。该公司表示，这款全新的滑出式触感键盘专为多种设备设计，可适配不同尺寸的手机，并支持纵向或横向模式，让任何手机都能拥有类似黑莓的打字手感。该设备可以看作是 Clicks 即将推出的首款智能手机——同样配备物理键盘、外观酷似黑莓的 Clicks Communicator——的一次预热。
Like the upcoming smartphone, the idea behind the Power Keyboard is to provide an alternative to onscreen keyboards for those who miss the speed and reliability that came with typing on a small, physical keyboard. However, in its current implementation, the Power Keyboard suffers from the same fate as the company’s earlier Clicks keyboard — a smartphone case that included a physical keyboard. It can make the phone feel top-heavy and difficult to hold in portrait mode, especially if you’re using a larger smartphone as I did in tests with the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Pixel 10 XL. Still, the device itself is crafted with care and could appeal to those who still desperately long for their BlackBerry.
与即将推出的智能手机一样，Power Keyboard 的设计初衷是为那些怀念小型物理键盘打字速度和可靠性的人们提供一种屏幕键盘的替代方案。然而，在目前的实现中，Power Keyboard 遭遇了与该公司早期 Clicks 键盘（一款集成物理键盘的手机壳）相同的命运。它会让手机重心偏上，在纵向模式下难以握持，尤其是当你像我在测试 iPhone 17 Pro Max 和 Pixel 10 XL 时那样使用大尺寸手机时。尽管如此，该设备本身制作精良，对于那些仍然极度渴望黑莓手机的用户来说，依然具有吸引力。
Image Credits: Clicks Technology 图片来源：Clicks Technology
Unboxing the device, we noticed the Power Keyboard was nicely packaged as a premium device would be, with peel-away cling films to prevent scratches during shipping and a full-color Quick Start guide to using the product. You may first need to charge the device’s battery via USB-C, though we found ours shipped with a charge already. To pair the device with your phone over Bluetooth, press and hold the power button and slide out the keyboard. We quickly paired the device with our Android phone. We ran into trouble once we switched over to the iPhone. Even after “forgetting” the device on Android, it still refused to pair with our iPhone. Returning to the instructions, it appears this was our mistake. The trick is to press a number key alongside the power button on the keyboard to add a second Bluetooth device. (The only way to actually “forget” a device is by removing it from its slot using the Clicks mobile app.) The keyboard attaches to your phone via MagSafe or Qi2. If your phone doesn’t support either technology, you could opt to use an adhesive ring or a phone case that adds the magnetic power profile instead.
开箱时，我们注意到 Power Keyboard 的包装非常精美，符合高端设备的定位，配有防止运输过程中刮擦的撕拉膜，以及全彩的产品快速入门指南。你可能需要先通过 USB-C 为设备充电，不过我们发现收到的产品已经预充了电。要通过蓝牙将设备与手机配对，请按住电源键并滑出键盘。我们很快就将其与安卓手机配对成功。但在切换到 iPhone 时遇到了麻烦。即使在安卓手机上“忽略”了该设备，它仍然拒绝与 iPhone 配对。查阅说明书后发现，这是我们的操作失误。诀窍是在按下键盘电源键的同时按下一个数字键，以添加第二个蓝牙设备。（真正“忽略”设备的唯一方法是使用 Clicks 移动应用程序将其从插槽中移除。）键盘通过 MagSafe 或 Qi2 连接到手机。如果你的手机不支持这两种技术，你可以选择使用磁吸环或带有磁吸功能的手机壳。
Image Credits: Clicks Technology 图片来源：Clicks Technology
Once your device is connected, you can then pull the keyboard out when you need to type. Helpfully, the keyboard adjusts to different phone sizes, so it will work with standard models as well as larger Ultra or Pro Max devices. We appreciated the satisfying clicks as the keyboard locked into place on the various sliders. The keyboard offers an adjustable LED backlight, so you can type in the dark. The keys themselves have a nice, clicky feel and are well-placed, making them easy to reach. While it takes quite a bit of adjustment after years of on-screen keyboards to return to pressing buttons, the learning curve is less steep than it was on the earlier Clicks keyboard case. It’s clear that the company has been iterating on what it learned with its older device, and those lessons have been channeled into this product. In addition, while Clicks’ older keyboard case pulled power from the phone by way of its USB-C connection, the Power Keyboard instead includes a built-in 2,150 mAh battery.
设备连接后，你可以在需要打字时拉出键盘。键盘可以适配不同尺寸的手机，无论是标准机型还是更大的 Ultra 或 Pro Max 机型都能使用，这一点非常贴心。我们很喜欢键盘在不同滑轨上锁定到位时那种令人满意的咔哒声。键盘提供可调节的 LED 背光，方便在黑暗中打字。按键本身手感清脆，布局合理，易于触及。虽然在习惯了多年屏幕键盘后，重新适应物理按键需要一些调整，但其学习曲线比早期的 Clicks 键盘壳要平缓得多。显然，该公司一直在根据旧设备的经验进行迭代，并将这些经验融入到了这款产品中。此外，Clicks 的旧款键盘壳是通过 USB-C 接口从手机取电，而 Power Keyboard 则内置了 2,150 mAh 的电池。
Image Credits: Clicks Technology 图片来源：Clicks Technology
The product itself has a slimmer profile than some snap-on battery packs, at 119.7 × 76.6 × 15.2 mm, and it doesn’t add an unreasonable amount of weight at 180 grams. Nevertheless, this is not something that would fit well in a woman’s pants pocket. The keyboard could get caught on a back pocket as well, as it could slide open if you press against the device while trying to cram the phone and keyboard into your pocket too quickly. Despite the added heft, there is an advantage to the battery pack that powers the keyboard — it can provide wireless charging to products with MagSafe and Qi2. (You can opt to entirely disable wireless charging in the Clicks companion app, if you prefer to keep all the power reserved for the keyboard itself. Or you can designate a portion of the battery just for the keyboard.) Another key advantage of the Power Keyboard is that it is highly customizable. Users can enable the Clicks key on the keyboard to function as a Tab button, or turn on “Cursor Mode” (Sym + CMD) to make certain letters on your keypad work as directional keys that move a cursor on the screen.
该产品本身的尺寸为 119.7 × 76.6 × 15.2 毫米，比一些磁吸充电宝更纤薄，180 克的重量也不会增加过多的负担。尽管如此，它并不适合放进女性的裤兜里。键盘也可能会挂在后口袋上，因为如果你在匆忙将手机和键盘塞进口袋时挤压到设备，它可能会滑开。尽管增加了重量，但为键盘供电的电池组有一个优势——它可以为支持 MagSafe 和 Qi2 的产品提供无线充电。（如果你希望将所有电量留给键盘使用，可以在 Clicks 配套应用程序中完全禁用无线充电。或者，你也可以指定一部分电量仅供键盘使用。）Power Keyboard 的另一个关键优势是其高度的可定制性。用户可以将键盘上的 Clicks 键设置为 Tab 键，或者开启“光标模式”（Sym + CMD），使键盘上的某些字母键变为移动屏幕光标的方向键。
Image Credits: Clicks Technology 图片来源：Clicks Technology
You can also adjust various settings like the idle timeout, battery reserves for wireless charging, LED backlight, and whether the Return key works as a hard or soft return. You can create your own Number Row shortcuts that allow you to press a number and the Sym button to enable Esc, volume controls, play/pause options, page up/down, and more. And you can pair Apple Shortcuts with certain keys to do other things like start a call, get a weather forecast, turn on the flashlight, receive an AirDrop, send texts, and much more. (Several popular shortcuts are included in the Clicks app, but you can add your own.) These, of course, are power user features that you’ll only appreciate if you get comfortable with typing on the keyboard first. That could take some time to learn, and arguably, you’ll be more comfortable using smaller, standard phones or lightweight options, like the iPhone Air. As for larger devices, we found it much easier to get started in landscape mode.
你还可以调整各种设置，如空闲超时、无线充电的预留电量、LED 背光，以及回车键是作为硬回车还是软回车。你可以创建自己的数字行快捷键，通过按下数字键和 Sym 键来触发 Esc、音量控制、播放/暂停、翻页等功能。你还可以将 Apple Shortcuts（快捷指令）与特定按键配对，以执行其他操作，如拨打电话、获取天气预报、打开手电筒、接收 AirDrop、发送短信等。（Clicks 应用程序中包含了一些常用的快捷指令，但你也可以添加自己的。）当然，这些都是高级用户功能，只有当你习惯了使用键盘打字后，才能体会到它们的价值。这可能需要一些学习时间，而且可以说，使用较小的标准手机或轻量级机型（如 iPhone Air）会让你感觉更舒适。至于大尺寸设备，我们发现横向模式更容易上手。
Image Credits: Clicks Technology 图片来源：Clicks Technology
We also struggled to type comfortably with our iPhone case on, although it’s a heftier, protective case, not a slim case. To test the device, we removed the case and used our iPhone bare. While that was much better, it
我们在佩戴 iPhone 保护壳时也难以舒适地打字，尽管那是一个较厚重的保护壳，而非超薄壳。为了测试该设备，我们取下了保护壳，直接使用裸机 iPhone。虽然这样好多了，但它……