The Clicks Communicator just made a move I wish more phones would

Why launching on Android 17 actually matters

This is the part that separates Clicks from the pack. Plenty of smaller manufacturers ship a brand-new phone running last year's Android, then take months to update it, if they ever bother at all.

We covered the device's shipping timeline earlier, where the appeal was never raw power but a thoughtful, no-compromise companion phone experience. Launching behind on software would have undercut that entire pitch.

It should be noted that Clicks committing to Android 20 down the line already signaled longer support than most niche phones promise. Starting on current software is the logical extension of that.

My time with a keyboard phone has me curious

I've been using the Unihertz Titan 2 Elite, and I genuinely love it, so much so that I keep it in rotation as my own little communicator. Software is usually where these niche devices stumble, so getting current Android out of the box removes one of the biggest reasons people get burned buying outside the big three.

What I'm most curious about is the keyboard itself. The Titan 2 Elite gives me physical Blackberry-style clicky keys, while the Communicator has a more spread-out circular key-style keyboard, and I really want to know how different that typing feels day to day.

I'm rooting for both the Clicks Communicator and the Titan 2 Elite, because the keyboard niche only grows if the phones are pleasant to actually live with. Clicks listening and adjusting before launch is the kind of thing that earns trust, and trust is what this whole category has been missing.