r/ClicksPhone

I was a pre-order on day one customer; mainly amped that Blackberry style phones are making a comeback. Physical keyboard phones were always more accurate for me than typing on glass. I went back and forth on Clicks vs Titan 2E and while I prefer the more svelte body of the T2E I really liked the notification light and the team behind Clicks. After seeing numerous videos on each phone I'm honestly on the fence about asking for a return.

The main reason(s) why? Thickness and lack of water protection. I was hoping for the looks of a late model Bold but with today's internals (but not a Zinwa as it doesn't refresh enough internals for me).

Wondering if I should just hold out for version 2+ of both varietals as they likely will address both issues. The big assumption is that there will be version 2s of each. I actually have more faith a 2.0 will come from Unihertz than Clicks.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Just curious if the communicator may be capable of supporting diabetes management apps. I feel stuck with my iPhone now that I manage my diabetes on my mobile device and would love to have the physical keyboard and get away from Apple products.

TLDR: Don't buy any of the keyboard phones that this company is selling. Their hardware does not last long, and they don't have replacements available. Unihertz's warranty is also really really useless.

I don't have any other option after trying to get my Titan 2 fixed through customer support, so this is the only other way I can think of now.

I've been a supporter ever since I bought the Titan Pocket (whose keyboard broke because I put it on a wet table, my fault I admit) and supported the Titan 2 on Kickstarter.

If I sound so dramatic, just keep in mind that I'm not wealthy and that the Titan 2's price on Kickstarter is more than half a month's wages (hello third-world living).

After less than 8 months of using the Titan 2 as my only phone, the "M/?" key stopped registering inputs consistently. I've taken good care of this phone, making sure that it didn't get wet etc. especially after what happened to my Titan Pocket.

I can help but think that customer support is just dodging servicing my device because of the hassle, claiming that their warranty only covers hardware issues and not software issues. They claim that a factory reset would work, but I've had this phone long enough that it would just be a pain to get everything set up again.

What's worse is that Unihertz doesn't even have the replacement parts for their most recent phone. I can only imagine how much worse it will be for the Titan 2 Elite, a phone obviously so rushed so that they can beat the competitor.

This is so disappointing since I could've just spent the money that Unihertz is so reluctant to refund on a conventional smart phone. I use this phone for work so typing out emails and messages missing the letter M is just so stupid and annoying. I've accepted when I backed this phone on Kickstarter that all other features of the Titan 2 will be subpar, but the keyboard will be worth it. Ironic that it was the first thing that broke on my Titan 2.

If any of you are like me who will probably spend a painful chunk of their savings looking for a keyboard phone from this company, I suggest you look elsewhere.

For reference, here is the email thread, videos demonstrating the problems, and all other stuff that Unihertz customer support made me supply just to make me run in circles:

Email Thread: Unihertz is useless the email thread.pdf

Everything they made me do and send: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1a6tShqyAJGG3zw0WFoS0d39Gv7zMyqL5?usp=drive_link

181 days until the end of the year .. Still no phone yet.. 🥺

#Sarcastic

Hi u/jeffgadway,

Seeing the latest progress on the Clicks Communicator, it’s great to see the Niagara Launcher integration in action—it clearly feels like the right choice for this form factor.

Since the Niagara implementation is part of the core experience, I’m curious about the interaction design regarding the UI navigation. In the latest demo, I noticed the standard "Niagara button" is absent from the screen.

Could you shed some light on how the navigation is mapped for the final units?

Specifically:

Has the functionality of the Niagara button been moved entirely to the hardware, for instance, mapped to the dedicated "red button"?

Or is it triggered via a specific gesture on the display/keyboard that replaces the need for the on-screen button?

I’m really interested in how you’re bridging the gap between the software launcher and the physical controls to maintain that minimal flow.

Keep up the great work—looking forward to the next update!

It's great that the Clicks software handles different languages, but we really need physical keyboards with dual-language layouts (like English + regional letters).

BlackBerry used to do this perfectly for international markets! If that’s not possible right now, it would be amazing if the team could share the 3D files for the keys so we can 3D print our own customized layouts.

Thanks.

I like the back cover and that it is customizable and removable but if it's only use is to replace sim and sd cards and the battery won't be removable/user replaceable, I'm honestly not too keen on it.

All I can think of is going back to the days when my phone would fall out of my pocket in school and I'd have to scramble to find the battery and back cover and pop everything back in place again, but there isn't even the advantage of having access to the battery with this.

I can just imagine the phone tumbling off my desk at work and the back cover flying off and me awkwardly having to crawl around looking for it to reassemble it. I'm hoping a case can help prevent that at least, but then I feel like a case might add some bulk which I wouldn't be too fond of.

Maybe I'm overthinking it and it won't be an issue? Maybe they have the back cover clip on in a way that prevents it from falling off?

And here is how this going to happen.

Google Gboard Rambler.

I ALREADY see how this "speech to text" works and SHOCKS me - especially in DUAL language in same time!

Even if you moan something quiet it will understand based on context.

And those 2 times you need to type in secret - you will survive with touch keyboard.

So this thing would be cool about 20 years ago - but not these days

Originally was deadset on the Black communicator but that Blue with the White looked too good. My only concern is will white Gadgets stain easy depending on its material?

My Preamble - Skip it if you don't care

I'm very excited for the Communicator. My first phone was a Nokia candy bar, immediately followed by a Blackberry. It's difficult to describe the world that opened up when you went from typing on numbers or using T9 predictive text to using a full keyboard. Both were accurate in ways you've probably never experienced with a touchscreen keyboard - the clicking was tactile, you could feel (without looking) when you'd hit the wrong key and backspace without looking, and you could feel confident 95% of the time that your message was okay to hit send without ever proofreading it. The move from 9 keys to a keyboard turned what could be a chore to type out into a breeze. I used to write personal notes, type out thoughts, email myself paragraphs of text for college papers... you name it.

It's also difficult to describe how frustrating life became for typing once you felt this and had to move to a touchscreen. Every text has at least one mistake to be edited, even with autocorrect. Using proper grammar became much more difficult. The entire typing experience became much less tactile. I hoped, over the years, I would get much better or the tech would get much easier. But predictive touchscreen typing just never cut it for me.

New details from the video

Awesome Stuff:

• Almost everything looks very snappy. I see almost no input lag live. If you want to nitpick, I see Jeff tap messages in the opening visual, and you get just under 20 frames from the moment his thumb touches the screen to messages being opened. Phone call from Telegram jumped in quickly, and answering was snappy.
• Apps we see in action that look great in the form factor: Google Keep, Google Maps, Google Messages, Android Auto, Spotify, Telegram, Gmail (looks like you can get 4 emails on screen vs. 7 on a full smartphone), Windy, WhatsApp call. Given we have stock and third-party apps looking great, I feel a lot more confident about how things will render.
• Homing Bars! Homing bars are the tiny nubs you see on F and J. If you know how to type on a keyboard, you probably feel them all day and don't even think about them. They allow you to get your fingers back into position without looking down, even if you accidentally move your fingers or slip. It looks like they've positioned them on the inside of the key - very thoughtful, given the key's tall shape and the slightly outward-pointing angle of the keys themselves, it means your thumbs will rub up against them as you push inward with the angle of the key. Getting this right feels small, but is essential for when you move your fingers to do something like hit the Clicks key and need to get back to typing quickly.
• Fingerprint sensor is huge. I'm hopeful this means you don't have to be super accurate to use it.
• Android Auto - looks to be connected and showing almost zero lag between phone and screen. The processor looks to be holding up well on multi-screen displays.
• Text Dictation - We see a half-second preview of Jeff dictating in a voice note (I think - it's hard to see from the angle of the screen) - it doesn't looks like he's holding down the prompt key while doing so, and there's a giant red recording indicator on the bottom of the screen.
• Niagara adjustments? The default on Niagara when you pop open an app is to display a reply button. It looks like the box to reply to the top message is open by default? I could be wrong here.

Work to be done?

• They've got a little work to do on spacing out the notification bar, but it sounds like they are on it - apps render a few pixels too high, and the notifications in the bar are spaced oddly in the video.
• The unlock is still a little janky - it looks like Jeff already unlocked the screen, and when he swipes up, you get 1-2 frames of the full app drawer before the message center pops up.

Random details/conspiracy theories

• Apps seem to look better with smaller font - might be annoying if you prefer large text, but it makes sense given the form factor.
• Screen has a slight bit of sheen when held at an angle, but looks to be visible from a pretty decent field of view. When viewed from top down, the screen is clearly visible within the studio.
• The startup graphic is pretty cool (If that's what they go with)
• The battery is exposed, but it looks like there's holes to seal off the battery.
• The prompt key sticks out a bit, while the mute toggle and volume rockers are much more flush to the actual device.
• Jeff always flips the phone over the prompt key/LED notification side. I don't think that's intentional, but I was trying very hard to get a close look at all the sides, and could only get a view of the left side from the videos where he's on conference calls. What are you hiding, Jeff?!?!

Question for you, I did not see the cursor feature demoed in your latest announcement— understandable as the software is still under development. But, can you confirm if this is a feature you still are looking to add?

Thanks!

After seeing it in action I’m hyped. But I have a few questions:

1. Look of the phone app and how to type the number, keyboard row or traditional layout?
2. Can it take calls like traditional phones or will it always be in speaker mode?
3. Pinned apps can be other than the messaging/email apps?