The Blackberry Idea Is Back

What made Blackberry addictive in the early 2000s was never only the keyboard, though the thumb-driven precision of those keys remains a pleasant memory. It was the ecosystem of exclusivity: Blackberry Messenger, that quasi member-only universe of fast, trusted exchange with its iconic delivery and read cues, long before modern messaging platforms became ubiquitous. Later came a feature that, even today, feels like a lost art: the clean separation between the professional and private worlds: a secure business environment on one side, personal life on the other, switchable with a gesture. From Market Leader to Collapse The irony is that the company that defined mobile productivity failed to survive the smartphone revolution it helped ignite. As touchscreens, app stores, and developer ecosystems reshaped consumer expectations, Blackberry’s proprietary approach steadily lost momentum. Its once-dominant market share among white-collar executives eroded years before the company finally exited the handset business. In 2016, the Canadian group effectively withdrew from in-house smartphone manufacturing and pivoted toward software and security. By January 4, 2022, Blackberry’s legacy services infrastructure, including support tied to older operating systems, reached end-of-life, closing the chapter on the classic Blackberry era. The Keyboard Returns In early 2026, two companies are simultaneously launching new products that consciously revive the tradition of Blackberry’s physical QWERTY keyboard. The new Clicks Communicator leans into that cultural residue with authentic lineage. Clicks enlisted Joseph Hofer, a former lead designer behind iconic Blackberry keyboards, to help shape its tactile experience and ergonomics. The new Clicks Communicator. (Image: Courtesy) Clicks positions the device as a deliberate counter-program to the doomscrolling era: built for communication and short, purposeful interactions rather than endless feeds. Commercially, the launch is also sharply time-boxed: Clicks is taking reservations ahead of general availability, noting that customers who register before February 27, 2026, can secure early-bird pricing and priority access. It’s Now an Android Thing Then there is Unihertz, the anti-mainstream smartphone company that has made a business out of form factors big brands refuse to touch. Its newest headline device, the Unihertz Titan 2, arrived in January 2026 as a fresh flagship: a square-screen, QWERTY-first smartphone positioned as a productivity tool and a Blackberry-inspired «communicator» concept. Crowd-funding financed development: Unihertz Titan 2. (Image: Courtesy) Both novelties are being pushed as new-generation models as 2026 gets underway. Unlike legacy Blackberry devices, they live where modern software lives: on Android. That is the unromantic truth behind every keyboard revival today. After more than a decade of explosive software development, any niche phone that wants to remain usable must stand on the shoulders of an established ecosystem. Think of banking apps and maps to messengers, authentication, and enterprise tools. Tired of Screens? This is precisely why the keyboard becomes the real differentiator once again. The operating system has become a commodity; hardware is identity. For users tired of full-screen sameness — of typing on glass, accidental swipes, and the visual noise built into modern interfaces — a tactile QWERTY keyboard offers a deliberate alternative. Whether Clicks and Unihertz are building a mass market is beside the point. They are betting on a growing minority for whom the physical keyboard could once again become a distinctive productivity statement.