Clicks Communicator Bets $199 on the Anti-Smartphone Revolution
Clicks Technology just launched the "Communicator," a $199 device that challenges the iPhone by doing less, not more. Here is the business case for the anti-smartphone.
The Clicks Communicator features a full QWERTY keyboard, a 4.03-inch AMOLED screen, and a silicon-carbon battery.
The era of the "glass slab" monopoly is cracking. While Apple and Samsung race to build brighter, faster, and more addictive screens, a London-based startup is betting $199 that you actually want to use your phone less.
The Data Sandwich
Clicks Technology, the startup that went viral last year for slapping a BlackBerry-style keyboard on the iPhone, just upped the ante. After shipping over 100,000 units of its debut keyboard case and proving how a $139 plastic case could outsmart the AI hype cycle, the company today announced the Clicks Communicator.
It’s not an iPhone killer. It’s a standalone, physical-keyboard device designed to be a "second phone" for pure communication. The thesis is radical but grounded in hard data: users are exhausted. With the global "dumbphone" market quietly surging and competitors like Nothing posting 567% year-over-year growth by challenging the status quo, Clicks is capitalizing on a lucrative new demographic: the digital ascetic.
The "Kindle for Communication"
The Clicks Communicator doesn't run Instagram. It doesn't do 4K video editing. It types.
Jeff Gadway, Clicks’ CMO, frames the device not as a downgrade, but as specialized hardware. "Communicator is to a smartphone what a Kindle is to an iPad," says Gadway. "It’s a complementary product that stands on its own, optimized for a specific purpose."
This positioning is savvy. By pricing the device at $199, Clicks avoids a direct brawl with the $1,200 iPhone 17 or Galaxy S25. Instead, they are targeting the "two-phone lifestyle", previously the domain of drug dealers and investment bankers, and rebranding it as a wellness choice for the burnout generation.
Under the Hood: Small Screen, Big Battery
Despite the minimalist philosophy, the hardware defies the "budget" label. The device centers on a compact 4.03-inch AMOLED display, an intentional constraint for focused use, backed by a massive 4,000 mAh silicon-carbon battery that promises marathon endurance. It runs Android 16 with modern essentials like Qi2 wireless charging and a 50MP OIS camera, proving that "disconnecting" doesn't mean capturing low-quality photos. Crucially for the enthusiast crowd, Clicks has resurrected the holy grail of lost features: a 3.5mm headphone jack and expandable MicroSD storage (up to 2TB), signalling that this device respects user utility over industry trends.
The Economics of Nostalgia
The business model relies on high-margin hardware appeal rather than the software services trap. Co-founder Michael Fisher (known on YouTube as MrMobile) argues that the market is starving for tactile utility. "The two-phone lifestyle is becoming more common," Fisher notes. "Some people need a second phone for work... others want to be more intentional."
The "weird tech" sector is having a moment. Nothing, the company founded by Carl Pei, proved that design-led differentiation moves units, selling 100,000 units of its CMF Phone 1 in just three hours. Clicks is drafting behind this slipstream, banking on the idea that hardware feel, the click of a button, is a luxury feature in a touch-screen world.
However, the risks are real. The Communicator is a niche device. Unlike a case, which piggybacks on the iPhone's massive install base, a standalone phone requires its own supply chain, carrier certification (or lack thereof), and software support. At $199, margins will be tight, and the company will need substantial volume to recoup R&D costs.
The Clicks Communicator is a gamble on behavioral psychology. It bets that we are willing to pay $199 not for what a phone can do, but for what it won't do.
The initial run will sell out immediately, driven by tech enthusiasts and "digital detox" advocates. However, the true test will come in Q3 2026. If Clicks can convince corporate IT departments that a distraction-free communicator is better for employee productivity than a standard smartphone, they won't just be a niche hardware startup, they'll be the BlackBerry of the 2020s.
