Modern New Android Cellphone Comes With Options Google’s Pixel Cannot Match

The Clicks Communicator appears to be like nothing like what you’d count on from an Android cellphone in 2026. It contains a reasonably small 4.03-inch show and a built-in QWERTY keyboard reminiscent of a BlackBerry as a substitute of resembling the all-screen sweet bar or foldable telephones that almost all smartphone distributors promote as we speak. Whereas the Clicks Communicator might appear to be little greater than nostalgia bait for smartphone customers who as soon as owned a BlackBerry, it is filled with options that fashionable customers might respect. In reality, the Clicks Communicator delivers a number of options that aren’t obtainable from Google’s personal Pixel telephones.

Google Pixel handsets, like the Pixel 10 series unveiled final summer time, are high-end smartphones that ship Google’s imaginative and prescient of what Android needs to be, from the smartphone expertise to the software program and AI integration. The Pixel telephones are additionally costly, beginning at $799, identical to their direct rivals from Apple. The Clicks Communicator just isn’t a flagship cellphone. Priced at $499, or $399 throughout preorders, the gadget is not even alleged to be your essential cellphone, with the corporate promoting it as a complementary gadget.

Besides, the Clicks cellphone will supply customers just a few thrilling options past the distinctive built-in keyboard and extra compact design. The checklist features a Immediate Key for voice-related duties, an LED that lights up in numerous colours, a mute swap, a Clicks key shortcut button, a 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD help for as much as 2TB of additional storage, interchangeable backplates, a bodily SIM card, and a silicon-carbon battery.

The Communicator comes from the identical firm that produces the standalone Clicks Keyboard accessories for conventional smartphones, together with choose iPhones and Pixel telephones. However reasonably than add a keyboard case to a smartphone, the corporate created a compact cellphone that measures simply 130.5 × 78.63 × 12mm and weighs 170g. As a degree of comparability, the Pixel 10 measures 152.8 × 72 × 8.6mm and weighs 204g. A extra bite-sized providing is precisely what some customers might want, particularly in terms of the rationale the Clicks Communicator exists within the first place: it is meant for use for texting and electronic mail apps, although it helps a full Android 16 expertise.

Regardless of the smaller dimension, the cellphone options aggressive {hardware}, together with a 4.03-inch AMOLED show, a 4nm processor, 256GB of built-in storage, a 50-megapixel essential digital camera, a 24-megapixel selfie digital camera, Qi2 (magnetic) wi-fi charging, USB-C connectivity, Bluetooth, and NFC help. A few of these specs might sound typical for conventional Android telephones, together with Google Pixel gadgets. They need to guarantee an honest cellphone expertise for the Communicator. Nevertheless it’s the additional options which will impress patrons. 

The keyboard comes with contact help and a built-in fingerprint sensor. The 4,000mAh silicon-carbon battery additionally cannot be discovered on Google’s Pixel, Samsung’s Galaxy S, or Apple’s iPhone models, because the know-how is at present restricted to Chinese language manufacturers. The three.5mm headphone jack and the microSD card are the types of options most smartphone distributors have faraway from their gadgets, together with Google. The help for a bodily SIM card additionally glided by the wayside with the Pixel 10, however the Communicator nonetheless provides the performance.

Along with the bodily QWERTY keyboard, the Clicks Communicator options bodily buttons that you just will not discover on most Android telephones, together with Google’s Pixels. The Immediate Key on the facet can be utilized to start out voice messages or voice recordings. It could sound just like the Pixel’s facet button that prompts Gemini, however the Immediate Key additionally contains a Sign LED that lights up in customizable colours relying on who contacts you.

On the opposite facet, there is a kill swap that may mute the cellphone. On the keyboard, a Clicks key shortcut button just like the iPhone’s Motion button will allow you to set off particular actions. Pixel telephones don’t function bodily mute switches or Motion buttons. Lastly, the user-replaceable again panel is one thing not often seen on different gadgets, particularly flagship telephones from the likes of Google and Apple.

Reserving the Clicks Communicator by paying the complete worth proper now will get you $100 in financial savings ($399 as a substitute of $499), and you will get two free again covers (a $100 worth). A $199 reservation choice can also be on supply to lock within the $399 early chicken worth. You may cancel any time earlier than February 27 when the preorder interval ends. The cellphone will begin delivery later this 12 months.