Click Keyboard Review

The Click Keyboard Case for iPhone (starting at $139)—which puts a BlackBerry-style keyboard under your smartphone’s screen—may seem like a novelty at first, but its clicky backlit keys and bright color options help justify its price. That said, its keys are small, and the case adds so much length and weight to your phone that you may not be able to comfortably handle or pocket it. The Click Keyboard isn’t ultimately worth the hassle if you’re completely used to the phone’s virtual keyboard, but if you miss a tactile, BlackBerry-like typing experience, you might be able to overlook its shortcomings.

Design: A premium case with a full keyboard

The Click Keyboard Case is currently available for all iPhone 15 models ($139 for base or Pro, $159 for Plus or Pro Max), as well as the iPhone 14 Pro ($139) and Pro Max ($159). For the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, you get four color options: Bumblebee (yellow), London Sky (grey), Miami Beach (pink with sky-blue keys), and Royal Ink (dark blue). For other iPhone models, you’ll get only two options from that list, the first two for the 15 and the next two for the 14. I tested a London Sky case with my iPhone 14 Pro

The Click Keyboard Case for iPhone 14 Pro measures 7.41 by 2.95 by 0.42 inches (HWD) and weighs 2.19 ounces. It adds 1.6 inches in length to the phone and increases its weight to 9.46 ounces. (For reference, the iPhone 14 Pro itself comes in at 5.81 by 2.81 by 0.31 inches and 7.27 ounces.)

The soft, silicone top case hugs the phone tightly. It has a cutout on the left side for the silent-mode toggle and covers for the volume up and down buttons. The back covers are flush with buttons and pressing them gives instant feedback. A Click logo is visible on the top right of the case just above the power button cover.

The bottom of the case houses a polycarbonate and silicon backlit QWERTY keyboard The diameter of the keys is 5.6mm with 0.2mm travel. All character keys have a secondary function accessible through the 123 keys: numbers for the top row and common symbols and punctuation for the bottom two rows.

The left side of the keyboard has a Shift key, 123 button, Change Keyboard key (toggles between English, Spanish, and Emoji keyboard), and Command button. The backspace, enter, microphone, symbol (which confusingly toggles the virtual keyboard), and tab keys are to the right of the centered space bar.

The keyboard does not require charging, but it does need to be plugged into the Lightning port that sits directly above the keyboard. (The iPhone 15 case has a USB-C connector instead.) Fitting your phone is a simple process: I just had to slide the bottom of my phone over the Lightning connector and then gently press down on the top of my device until everything clicked. was safe

You don’t have to worry about losing your charging port, as the case offers a pass-through Lightning or USB-C port on the bottom. The Click Case is not a MagSafe-certified accessory, although it is approved for full charging speeds with Apple’s original MagSafe charger. MagSafe support is not guaranteed, however, so your experience may vary.

The back of the case has a tough, smooth polycarbonate finish with cutouts for the camera module. A vegan leather panel directly opposite the keyboard provides an excellent grip. The back does a good job of preventing dirt and fingerprints from showing up on the phone, while the thick, raised border around the camera cutout provides good drop protection.

Performance: Difficult to balance

The keyboard is easy to use for basics and includes advanced features for power users. It supports iOS global shortcuts, for example, as well as a handful for each native iPhone app. You can press Command+N in Messages and Mail to compose a new message, the same shortcut brings up a new tab in Safari or Chrome, a new playlist in Music or a new voice recording in Voice Notes.

Command+H takes you to your home screen, Command and the space bar launch a search, and tapping the space bar in Safari scrolls down the page. In all, Clicks lists over 30 keyboard shortcuts you can use to navigate around your phone. All the shortcuts I tried worked as expected.

One of the main benefits of adding an external keyboard to the iPhone is that it frees up the portion of the screen normally occupied by a virtual keyboard. This was one of my favorite aspects of the Click Keyboard; I enjoyed the extra screen real estate for scrolling through search results and reading email.

Clicks claims the buttons take 20 minutes to get used to; Two hours to get comfortable with the layout and controls; Two days to master typing and start using shortcuts; And two weeks to get full mastery. I’ve been using the device for over two weeks for this review, and I can safely say I doubt I’ll ever come close to mastering it.

I’ve never owned a BlackBerry and only used a virtual keyboard to type on the phone, but that doesn’t entirely excuse my lack of awesomeness. One of my main complaints about the Click is that the buttons are hard to hit accurately, even with my small hands. I keep hitting the wrong button, and then hitting another wrong button when I try to press backspace to correct the first error. The buttons feel high-quality and travel great, but their tiny size and rounded shape make them very easy to miss.

I also found it impossible to type a quick message with one hand, since all the numbers and punctuation required an extra 123 keystrokes. Typing a phone number is tedious because you have to press the 123 key before each number. One-handed typing is especially difficult in the dark because the backlight doesn’t stay on reliably. This makes it frustrating to find the buttons (123 and shift-keyboard) you have to simultaneously press to turn the backlighting back on. I returned to the virtual keyboard many times.

The length and weight the case adds is also problematic. My iPhone no longer fit in my pocket with the case on, and it was difficult to slide it into the side pocket of my purse. I even noticed the extra weight when I put my phone in the main pocket of my bag.

The weight and bulk make my phone uncomfortable to use. Clicks suggests that you hold the bottom edge of your phone on your pinky finger and support the back with your ring and middle fingers. I found it uncomfortable to type, so I held the phone with both hands under the keyboard. The company warns that this isn’t the best way to hold the device, and rightly so — it makes the phone feel top-heavy. If you have larger hands you may have a better time holding the phone in the recommended click position.

Verdict: Stylish but unwieldy

Click Keyboard for iPhone can be a dream for BlackBerry fans or Sidekick lovers who miss the tactile typing experience of old: it has a full set of backlit keys, supports various iOS shortcuts, and has several fun color options. But you must weigh these benefits against the significant height and sometimes inconvenient operation they add to your device. Most iPhone users should stick with their virtual keyboard, although the Click Keyboard might be worth checking out if you’re convinced it will improve your productivity or make typing more enjoyable.