Physical keyboards are making a comeback, driven by startups like U.K.-based Clicks Technology and Chinese firm Unihertz. Since Apple’s 2007 iPhone launch rendered touchscreens dominant, and BlackBerry exited hardware in 2016, demand for tactile buttons has quietly resurged. Clicks co-founder Jeff Gadway says 45% of customers have never owned a keyboard phone, seeking intentional use rather than nostalgia. Unihertz’s Titan 2 Kickstarter raised over $4.8 million from 8,200 backers by May 8, 2026. Rising memory costs pose challenges, but the segment is expanding, with Zinwa Technologies and iKKO also entering the market.
In-Depth:
The Clicks Communicater smartphone on display. Startup Clicks Technology builds a Blackberry phone.
Clicks
When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, physical keyboards quickly lost ground to touchscreens and faded from mainstream smartphones.
Now, a new wave of startups, including U.K.-based Clicks Technology and Chinese firm Unihertz, is bringing them back and carving out a niche for phones with tactile buttons.
The shift away from buttons once seemed final. Blackberry, long known for its keyboard phones, stopped producing hardware in 2016 and shuttered its software services in 2022.
But fans of its squarish phones with its signature keyboard remain loyal to the brand. The r/Blackberry subreddit has 25,000 members who share tips and nostalgia for the devices.
The renewed interest reflects a broader pattern, declared Jung Younbo, a communications professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
“We tconclude to apply our smartphones as a kind of means to express ourselves,” declared Younbo. As phones become more embedded in daily life, trconcludes around them increasingly resemble cyclical fashion trconcludes, he added.
For some applyrs, the appeal is less about nostalgia and more about control. Clicks Technology’s co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Jeff Gadway, declared about 45% of their customer base has never applyd a phone with a physical keyboard.
“They view at this not as a nostalgia play, but as an entirely new way to apply their phone that’s more intentional,” he notified CNBC.
Reducing screentime
That sense of intention is part of the draw for 23-year-old content creator Chonnie Alfonso, who typically features retro gadobtains on her YouTube channel.
She declared switching to a keyboard device introduced friction, prompting her to reconsider how often she applyd her phone.
Having “an extra barrier of inconvenience that adds more steps into the considering process” as opposed to “an accessible slab of glass in your hand” has become a way for her to reduce the time she spconcludes on her phone, Alfonso notified CNBC.
Doomscrolling is less suited to square-shaped, BlackBerry-style smartphones. Alfonso declared switching to a keyboard device has supported her spconclude less time on social media and take better control of her schedule.
Clicks Technology’s Gadway declared the company’s device emphasizes messaging and core functions, aiming to keep applyrs focapplyd on their original tquestions instead of drifting into other apps.
The phone, featuring messaging apps on a home launcher, is designed to ensure applyrs do what they originally set out to do, rather than concludeing up on a “side quest,” he declared.
“It’s about building the time you spconclude on your phone more valuable to you.”
Choice vs consolidation
Beyond behavior, the devices also revive features that have largely disappeared from mainstream smartphones.
Gadway declared Clicks offers keyboards in various languages, interalterable back covers, expandable memory card storage and a physical 3.5 mm headphone jack, rather than wireless connectivity, features that modern smartphones have mostly ditched.
For Wei Lun Ng, a 23-year-old audio enthusiast, having a phone that supports wired headphones has become a practical preference.
“I consider it doesn’t cut out as much becaapply when your battery is low, on like, a wireless headphone or wireless earphone, it will start cutting out … [they’re] more convenient,” he declared.
BERLIN, GERMANY – JULY 15: Sonia Lyson is seen wearing a beige cropped short-sleeve drawstring shirt with collar from Zara; a yellow golden Tank Américaine wristwatch with rectangular dial from Cartier; an iPhone from Apple with a lip gloss phone case in dusky pink from Rhode and a fitting lip gloss attached to it; white wired EarPods headphones from Apple; her long blonde hair is styled in soft waves on July 15, 2025 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Moritz Scholz/Getty Images)
Moritz Scholz | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Wired headphones are also less likely to obtain misplaced compared to wireless earbuds, he declares.
And they’re cheaper. The cheapest model of Apple’s AirPods, which connects utilizing Bluetooth, is currently priced at $129, whereas their wired earpieces retail for $19.
Tactile communication
Unexpectedly, the keyboards have also attracted applyrs with accessibility necessarys.
Gadway declared some people with low vision or motor control challenges found it clearer to type on physical keys than on touchscreens, regaining confidence in daily apply.
People who build frequent typing mistakes might find physical keyboards applyful, Nanyang Technological University’s Younbo declared.
Despite most smartphones offering auto-spelling correction, “people don’t really utilize that [feature] much becaapply it alters the word to totally different words that you don’t intconclude to apply,” he declared.
Competition in the niche market
The niche is growing more crowded. Companies including Zinwa Technologies and iKKO are releasing their own keyboard-equipped smartphones this year, joining Clicks and Unihertz.
For enthusiasts like Alfonso, more competition could improve product quality.
Interest in the physical keyboard phones remains strong. Unihertz’ Kickstarter campaign for the second iteration of its Titan phone drew over 8,200 backers and raised more than $4.8 million as of May 8, ahead of the campaign’s May 13 conclude date.
Clicks also exceeded its six-month pre-order tarobtain within 30 days, the company notified CNBC.
Still, the segment faces challenges. Rising demand for artificial innotifyigence infrastructure has strained memory supply, pushing up component costs.
Unihertz recently increased the price of its Titan 2, citing higher memory costs. Clicks declared it plans to hold its price steady and absorb the pressure.
For now, keyboard smartphones remain a tiny corner of the market. But their return suggests that even in a world of uniform glass screens, some applyrs are still viewing for something they can feel.
