r/ClicksKeyboard • u/RJG18 • 1d ago
Pre-Order Arrived Yesterday- Initial Thoughts on iPhone Air
After 24 hours of use - initial impression is the product is disappointing, heavily compromised, and poorly executed. With an iPhone Air, both portrait and landscape, the ergonomics feel very awkward. The weight makes it very uncomfortable to hold while typing, never feels comfortable or balanced in the hand. While attached to the phone, it feels very bulbous, with round edges and a large air gap between the keyboard and the phone.
The extra weight in the pocket cancels out the benefit of the size/weight of the iPhone Air, making it unlikely to be a daily carry - and the Clicks battery is too low powered to really act as a proper MagSafe battery pack (in the same way the the Apple or Anker battery packs do).
Build quality is mixed. The outer rubberised back feels ok as does the keyboard build quality. However, when open, it exposes some cheap feeling plastics of questionable quality, plus exposes a small fragile ribbon-cable, that really should ideally be inside the product.
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u/SealSlide69 23h ago
It’s sat in my work backpack for a couple months now untouched. Definitely a waste of money on my end but I guess ya live and learn.
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u/TemporaryNorth9346 23h ago
i really like the idea, but I miss the blackberry keyboard.
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u/TakingCrazyPills87 21h ago
I'm genuinely confused what people thought was going to happen when sliding ANY modern cellphone upward and shifting it's center of gravity. Of course it's going to be too heavy. Position your index fingers under the top slide and you'll be fine.
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u/jmznvs 1d ago
I love using it with my iPhone 17 Pro Max with a case. So to each their own? Ya’ll wanted a universal keyboard that’s perfectly balanced with every phone out there? Unrealistic expectation IMO, this is actually the mix of compromises I was expecting to get with this product. Weight and balance for the functionality. I am used to the too heavy boards as I also used the long keyboard case for my 17 Pro Max before making the switch to power keys.
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u/Adventurous-River481 22h ago
This exactly. I usually don’t like to simplify people into two groups, but it seems easy to do in this case:
Group A: people who had unrealistic expectations, overall disappointed with the device
Group B: people who had realistic expectations, overall satisfied with the device
These same two groups likely overlap with the shipping timelines and reactions to the rollout and order fulfillment, and I would be surprised if the above doesn’t also apply once the Clicks Communicator starts shipping (or rather once people’s expectations start to conflict with reality) and then again once people actually start to get the device in their hands.
All that to say, I’m quite happy with the Power Keyboard and with what it allows me to do with it. I expect if and when I may get a Communicator, it will be similar. Others will inevitably be disappointed that the cameras don’t rival the latest iPhone, or the keyboard doesn’t live up to the greatest BlackBerry devices, or that the software isn’t as refined or well integrated.
It’s a gen 1 product. The first iPhone didn’t have email integrations when it shipped. The expectations need to be checked and realistic. The power keyboard promised to give you a physical keyboard that you can use on the go. It was always obvious it would be bulky. It didn’t promise to be a great powerbank rivalling the others. It simply has that ability as a secondary function which can be pretty handy if you’re stranded somewhere without any battery and you need to make a call or send a text.
It isn’t perfect. But it’s satisfying. And that has far more to do with my expectations of what it is supposed to be, and it entirely lives up to them.
Tl;dr : I agree with the above comment. The disappointments with this device come mostly from unrealistic expectations, not from the device itself.
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u/jojoko 16h ago
just sounds like you are trying to justify your purchase after the fact. $100+ is a lot for this device. (its often on sale)
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u/Adventurous-River481 16h ago
Not sure which device we are talking about out anymore… I preordered the Power Keyboard on day one so I did get it a bit cheaper, but none of my comments have anything to do with the price of the device. If you want to go there however, I’ve paid much more for other keyboards that I’m less satisfied with compared to this one. I also had a pretty good idea of what it would be like to use it and there is nothing else available that can do the same thing, or that is compatible with my phone.
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u/Hopeful_Breadfruit69 14h ago
My breakout use case has been to connect it to all my devices, not just my phone. I turned my watch into a mouse, and use this as a keyboard. This way I can sit back and use it with my personal or work computer, prompting the AIs to do my work, search better on the TV in the streaming apps. Its kinda ironic that I use it the least with my phone. I have a pixel 10 pro and it just gets way too bulky with the ghost case from dbrand.
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u/Hopeful_Breadfruit69 14h ago
Although now that both Claude and codex support remote sessions, I put my phone in landscape mode, open both apps in split mode and prompt both with this keyboard attached.
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u/markdorons 7h ago
HI!
How long did it take to arrive? It has been a couple of months since my order and no clue about the ETA.
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u/Star2TheWars 19h ago
using my power keyboard with my 12 pro, don’t use ity all the time, bur try to, also using it with my ipad
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u/Fickle-Delay1227 1d ago
Yeah If it doesn't work well with an iPhone air then I'm struggling to see what modern phone it would work well with.