The BlackBerry is back, sort of. Mobile keyboard maker Clicks Technology last week announced its debut phone, the $499 Communicator, which sports a physical keyboard. The company is also offering a separate $79 slide-out physical keyboard that fits on any device.

At CES, TechCrunch chatted with Clicks’ chief marketing officer and co-founder, Jeff Gadway, and went hands-on with the latest prototype of the upcoming smartphone.

The device offers a BlackBerry-like keyboard and messaging-focused touchscreen, and runs Android 16 under the hood, which means the Communicator can run any Android app. The company has partnered with the minimalist launcher, Niagara Launcher, to display apps on the homescreen. Other apps are within easy reach via a scrollable list.

Reception for the new devices has been better than expected, Gadway told TechCrunch. Although he declined to share sales numbers, he said that over the past week, the company was making a sale every 6.5 seconds between both devices.

While the prototype we tried was not a fully functional phone, it’s the same size and weight as the device that’s preparing to ship later this year, giving an initial feel for what it would be like to use the Communicator. Onboard storage lands at 256 gigabytes, with expandable microSD storage of up to 2 terabytes of data. The device will also sport a 4000mAh silicon-carbon battery and is currently weighing in around 170 grams (or 6 oz). Underneath the back is where your nano-SIM card will go.

The phone also comes with interchangeable back covers that you can pop off to change its look. While not present on the prototype, the cover will have a small notch at the top and then a little finger pick at the bottom.

In our hands-on test, the phone felt good to hold — not too heavy or light, and was easy to grip. Gadway told me the company settled on the device’s final form after dozens of 3D-printed shapes. The winning design for the phone features a contoured back that makes it easy to pick up and hold.

The device’s screen is also somewhat elevated off the body, and its chin is curved up to create a recess that protects the keys when you place it face down.

That’s where the device’s light-up side button can help. Called the “Signal Light,” the button can be configured to glow with different colors or patterns when you receive messages from certain people, groups, or apps. So you can be sure to respond if it’s your boss or the kids contacting you and ignore less important notifications.

The tactile, physical keys feel good, though the prototype’s version may actually be a little less “clicky” than the final product. (There’s a debate on whether the keys should have 110 grams of pressure or 120 or 130 grams, and feedback so far is that the latter figures are winning.)

With less pressure, the keys feel softer, which could be more accessible for those who haven’t used a BlackBerry before. But people who type fast tend to prefer more clicky keys because there’s more feedback.

“This is the stuff that Michael Fisher and myself and Kevin Michaluk fight over all the time,” said Gadway, referring to his co-founders. “We’re fighting over grams.”

The keys and the screen are also at the same vertical height, so you can seamlessly move from the keyboard to the touchscreen.

The Clicks Communicator comes with a fixed-focus, hole-punch front camera that can capture 24-megapixel photos. The rear camera features optical image stabilization and electronic image stabilization for video, and can capture 50-megapixel images.

The phone runs on a 4-nanometer, MediaTek 5G IoT processor, with 8 gigabytes of RAM.

The Communicator will have a 4.03-inch AMOLED display at 1,080 x 1,200 resolution. Wired charging is supported at up to 18 watts, and wireless charging at up to 15 watts. The device is also Qi compatible and Android Strongbox-ready, which will appeal to security-minded customers.

The phone has other standard features too, like GPS and NFC, and will offer five years of security updates as well as Android updates through Android 20.

The device is expected to ship in the second half of 2026.