The revival of Blackberry nostalgia and the keyboard inspires the launch of the smartphone

When Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, portable keyboards quickly lost touch screens and faded into mainstream smartphones.

Now, a new wave of startups, including UK-based Clicks Technology and Chinese firm Unihertz, are making a comeback and carving out a space for phones with touch buttons.

Getting away from the buttons once seemed like a no-brainer. Blackberry, long known for its keyboard phones, stopped producing hardware in 2016 and closed its software services in 2022.

But fans of its squarish phones with the signature keyboard remain loyal to the brand. The ir/Blackberry subreddit has 25,000 members who share tips and nostalgia for the devices.

The renewed interest reflects a broader pattern, said Jung Younbo, a communications professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“We often use our smartphones as a way to express ourselves,” Younbo said. As phones become more central to everyday life, the trends surrounding them are becoming more and more like cyclical fashion trends, he added.

For some users, the appeal is less about nostalgia and more about control. Clicks Technology founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Jeff Gadway, said that about 45% of their customers have never used a phone with a physical keyboard.

“They’re not looking at this as a nostalgia game, but as a new way to use their phone with purpose,” he told CNBC.

That sense of purpose is part of the draw for 23-year-old content creator Chonnie Alfonso, who often features retro gadgets on his YouTube channel.

He said switching to a keyboard device brought friction, which made him rethink how often he used his phone.

Having “an extra barrier of distraction that adds extra steps to the thought process” as opposed to “a slab of glass within reach of your hand” has become his way of reducing the time he spends on his phone, Alfonso told CNBC.

Doomscrolling is less suitable for square-shaped, BlackBerry-style smartphones. Alfonso said switching to a keyboard helped him spend less time on social media and better control his schedule.

Clicks Technology’s Gadway said the company’s device emphasizes messaging and core functions, aimed at keeping users focused on their original tasks instead of drifting off to other apps.

The phone, with messaging apps on the home launcher, is designed to ensure users do what they originally intended to do, rather than end up “looking for a side,” he said.

“It’s about making the time you spend on your phone more important to you.”

Apart from the behavior, the devices also revive features that have largely disappeared from conventional smartphones.

Gadway said Clicks offers keyboards in different languages, interchangeable covers, an expandable memory card and a 3.5 mm headphone jack, instead of wireless connectivity, features that modern cell phones have largely abandoned.

For Wei Lun Ng, a 23-year-old audio enthusiast, having a phone that supports wired headphones has come in handy.

“I think it doesn’t cut off that much because if your battery is low, it’s like a wireless headphone or a wireless earphone, it’s going to start cutting … [they’re] it’s more useful,” he said.

Wired headphones are also less likely to get lost than wireless earbuds, he says.

And they are cheap. The cheapest model of Apple’s AirPods, which connect using Bluetooth, is currently priced at $129, while its wired earbuds retail for $19.

Unexpectedly, keyboards also attract users with accessibility needs.

Gadway said some people who are visually impaired or have trouble controlling a vehicle find it easier to type with physical keys than touch screens, and gain confidence in everyday use.

People who make frequent typing mistakes can find portable keyboards useful, says Younbo of Nanyang Technological University.

Despite many smartphones offering automatic spelling correction, “people don’t really use that [feature] a lot because it changes the word into completely different words that you don’t intend to use,” he said.

The niche is growing saturated. 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 can improve product quality.

Interest in portable keyboard phones remains strong. Unihertz’ Kickstarter campaign for the second iteration of its Titan phone has attracted more than 8,200 backers and raised more than $4.8 million as of May 8, ahead of the campaign’s May 13 deadline.

Clicks also exceeded its six-month goal of pre-orders within 30 days, the company told CNBC.

Still, the sector faces challenges. The increased demand for intelligence infrastructure has hampered memory availability, driving up component costs.

Unihertz recently increased the price of its Titan 2, citing higher memory costs. Clicks said they plan to make their price firm and bear the pressure.

Currently, keyboard smartphones remain in a small corner of the market. But their return suggests that even in a world of similar glass screens, some users still want something they can hear.