Former BlackBerry employees bring back physical keyboard with new smartphone

CTV’s Spencer Turcotte speaks with some former Blackberry employees who are trying to bring back a phone feature from the past.

Do you ever miss sending texts on your BlackBerry?

It’s been quite some time since people were walking around with them, but some former BlackBerry employees are bringing back the idea of a physical smartphone keyboard, and they’ve dubbed the new phone the Communicator.

It’s created by a company called Clicks and it’s not the first time they’ve tested out the keyboard. In fact, they’re known for smartphone keyboard attachments.

“We started in 2024 with the Clicks keyboard case,” explained Clicks co-founder Jeff Gadway, who is also the former head of marketing at BlackBerry.

He says there is a current gap in the smartphone market.

“Smartphones have become really good at a lot of things,” said Gadway. “But when you’re good at everything, you’re not great at anything in particular.”

Gadway has insisted on being great at one thing and that’s physical phone keyboards.

One version that was recently unveiled is called the Power Keyboard. It is a slide-out keyboard that attaches to your existing phone and includes wireless charging.

“It has a power bank that goes on the back of your phone,” Gadway said as he showed how the keyboard works. “Whether it’s the auditory feedback or the actual feeling of the buttons underneath your thumbs, you can type with more confidence, more precision and just do more on your phone on the go and not have to wait to get back to your desk.”

Gadway’s team has taken it a step further, though, with the Communicator. It’s their new standalone phone that has a built-in physical keyboard. They hope to simultaneously take everyone back in time while pushing their ideas forward.

It has an emphasis on messaging and productivity.

“The keys are ergonomically contoured,” said Gadway. “What we found is that there’s a group of people today that really want to be better at communicating, taking action, avoiding distraction, doing, versus doomscrolling.”

Aside from the keyboard it has a rear camera, 3.5 mm audio jack, operates on Android 16 and is equipped with the Google Play Store.

But its messaging and productivity apps are what’s in focus. The Communicator is meant to be a second phone, or work phone, with typical smartphones geared towards content and in turn, more distractions.

“What we’ve done is built a signal light into the prompt key here on the side so when somebody like a VIP, or maybe an app that’s important to you is looking to get your attention, this will light up,” said Gadway.

That signal light can be customized with different colours, making it easier to categorize who you do or don’t want to respond to in the moment.

Don’t think it’s just an older demographic that’s interested in the physical keyboard.

“I think the option of having it there is always great,” one person told CTV News on Tuesday.

“It was just fun to play with as a kid, I think it’s pretty nostalgic as well,” said another person.

Other people spoke about how touchscreen keyboards sometimes don’t pop up when they’re supposed to or they can lag.

Gadway believes younger people may be looking to reshape their relationship with technology.

“Forty-five per cent of our customers have never typed on buttons before,” he explained.

As for when people can get their hands on the Communicator, it can be pre-ordered for $399 USD and will be shipped to customers later this year.

Gadway is optimistic that the smartphone keyboard resurgence sticks, or rather “clicks” with consumers.