My most hyped 2026 Android cellphone

For all of the individuals who say smartphones are boring and that innovation is lifeless, CES 2026 is rapidly proving them incorrect. Between the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, Motorola Razr Fold, and Punkt MC03, we’ve seen quite a few Android telephones that each one carry one thing recent and new to the desk.

However as spectacular as these telephones are, there’s one other Android handset I noticed at this 12 months’s CES that has me much more hyped. It’s referred to as the Clicks Communicator, and after only a 30-minute briefing/hands-on session, I can confidently say it’s essentially the most excited I’ve been a couple of new Android cellphone in years.

When you have’t heard of the Clicks Communicator earlier than, the final concept is that this: It’s an Android cellphone designed with the singular aim of being the very best communications gadget doable. It’s not meant to be a cellular gaming powerhouse, the very best cellphone for Netflix binge periods, or a digital camera champion. As an alternative, it’s meant to be the very best Android cellphone you should purchase for managing emails and triaging infinite textual content messages.

It’s an enchanting mission, and one I’ll focus on extra later, however what’s additionally so intriguing in regards to the Communicator is how radically totally different its {hardware} is from nearly each different Android cellphone accessible right now.

As you’ve probably observed, the Clicks Communicator doesn’t seem like most fashionable Android telephones — largely as a result of it has a keyboard!

Beneath the 4.03-inch AMOLED show is a full QWERTY keyboard, which feels excellent. The keys are about 30% bigger than these on different Clicks keyboards (together with the brand new Clicks Energy Keyboard) and are formed like an oval relatively than round. I actually want extra hands-on time to find out simply how briskly and correct my typing can be, however even after only a few minutes taking part in with the keyboard, it felt noticeably extra snug than Clicks’ different merchandise.

What’s additionally distinctive in regards to the Communicator’s {hardware} is its again design. Utilizing magnetic backplates, you’ll be able to simply change the cellphone’s coloration everytime you need. I noticed pink, blue, inexperienced, pink, yellow, and black plastic backplates, plus a very beautiful leather-based choice that felt unimaginable. {Hardware} customization to this extent is all however nonexistent with present Android telephones, and I couldn’t be happier to see it return on the Clicks Communicator.

That’s additionally true of one other {hardware} characteristic: the cellphone’s LED notification mild. It’s wrapped across the Communicator’s customizable facet button, and you may assign totally different colours for particular contacts and purposes. The sunshine could be very vibrant and simple to see, whether or not the cellphone is mendacity on its again or entrance. And if that’s not sufficient {hardware} button goodness for you, there’s additionally a bodily slider on the opposite facet of the cellphone you’ll be able to map to toggle on Do Not Disturb, airplane mode, your flashlight, and so on.

So many of those {hardware} selections really feel tailored for a cellphone nerd like me, which is smart, provided that notable tech YouTuber Michael Fisher is a co-founder of Clicks. These are the issues I’d need to see in an Android cellphone, and lo and behold, they’re all right here on the Communicator. That’s true of most of the Communicator’s different specs, too. There’s 256GB of base storage with the choice to increase it as much as 2TB through a microSD card. Qi2 magnets are constructed into the swappable again covers, and there’s even a 3.5mm headphone jack.

At this level within the article, I ought to observe that the model of the Clicks Communicator I used wasn’t absolutely useful. I acquired to carry the cellphone, play with its keyboard, and take a look at its LED notification mild, however the Communicator didn’t truly energy on; the model I used was simply an early {hardware} pattern. Which means we nonetheless don’t know what the show high quality appears like, how responsive/performant the cellphone’s chipset is, how good the cameras are, and so on. In different phrases, there are nonetheless loads of unanswered questions.

However even with these unanswered questions, what I’ve seen of the Clicks Communicator is greater than sufficient to solidify it as one of many Android telephones I’m most trying ahead to in 2026.

You should use the Clicks Communicator as your main smartphone, however Clicks can also be advertising it extra closely as a secondary cellphone meant to enrich your Pixel 10 or Galaxy S25. That’s precisely how I need to use the Communicator. A compact cellphone with a full-on keyboard, a useful notification mild, and a number of customizable {hardware} buttons checks the entire proper packing containers for me, and I might simply see myself utilizing the Communicator in quite a lot of conditions — whether or not that’s as a piece machine whereas operating round CES or having one thing easier and extra targeted to make use of in the course of the weekend.

I’ll be the primary to confess that the idea of a secondary, single-purpose cellphone is extraordinarily area of interest, however I believe that’s the entire level of the Clicks Communicator. If the concept of utilizing two telephones sounds ridiculous, the Communicator most likely isn’t for you — identical to should you don’t place a lot worth in a bodily keyboard and notification LED. And that’s OK! The Communicator isn’t attempting to be for everybody.

However for the folks the Communicator is focused at — folks like me — it’s spectacular how well-suited for us it seems to be. I’m desirous to see how the Clicks Communicator comes collectively within the closing retail model, however even this early, it’s fairly rattling promising.