Can I interest you in a phone for your phone?

Clicks is expanding its remit from from accessories to smartphones, sort of.

Announced at CES 2026 in Las Vegas this week, the new Clicks Communicator is billed as a companion for your smartphone that allows you to better manage your various messaging apps using a dedicated device. 

The move represents a pretty big step-up in terms of ambition by the accessory-maker, who launched its signature product - a smartphone case with a keyboard on it - back in 2024.

According to Clicks CMO Jeff Gadway, the “Communicator is to a smartphone what a Kindle is to an iPad.” 

“It’s a complementary product that stands on its own, optimised for a specific purpose,” he said.

To the eye though, the Clicks Communicator looks a lot like an old-school BlackBerry. There’s a 4-inch AMOLED screen on the front plus a programmable and LED-lit “Prompt” key on the side. This is matched by a “kill-switch” toggle that puts the Communicator into silent mode on the opposite edge, which sits next to a pair of pretty conventional-looking volume keys.

Last but not least, there’s a physical keyboard. At a glance, this is similar to the one found on the original Clicks case. However, as opposed to what the company has put together in the past, the keyboard on the Communicator features 30% larger buttons and touch-sensitive keys that allow you to scroll through without obscuring your ability to see what’s on your screen. 

There’s even a fingerprint sensor built into the spacebar. When you use it to unlock the device, you’ll be taken to a custom inbox-style interface rather than a traditional app drawer.

According to Clicks, this streamlined software was built in collaboration with the developers behind Niagara Launcher for Android. It promises to make auditing your unread messages a little more straightforward by collating multiple messaging platforms together, including Gmail, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Slack. 

Since the Communicator runs on Android 16, you can also use it as a regular smartphone as well. Clicks say the device will get two years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates after it launches.

The Clicks Communicator also comes with support for expandable storage via MicroSD and external audio via a headphone jack. However, the real draw card here is the interchangable back covers - which come in a variety of colours and materials. 

The Clicks Communicator is slated to launch later in 2026. If you're already sold, the company is offering “early bird” pricing for those who reserve their unit ahead of time via the Clicks website. Those who take advantage of this offer before February 27 2026, will save $100 on the usual USD $499 (approximately AUD $600) price. 

Fergus Halliday

Digital Content Editor

Fergus Halliday is a journalist and digital content editor at WhistleOut Australia. He’s written about technology, telecommunications, gaming and more for over a decade. He got his start writing in high school before interning at magazines like CRN Australia and freelancing for publications like the AU Review, Gizmodo, Kotaku, GamesHub, Press Start, ScreenRant, Superjump, Nestegg, and more.

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