You remember BlackBerry, right? That iconic phone brand vanished too soon. It left many fans missing it deeply. For them, these phones were powerful tools for everything. It wasn’t just a phone; it shaped how people saw you. Now, amidst that fond memory, something new is happening. The BlackBerry Classic is coming back with Android, priced at $420. A new effort aims to bring this beloved design back to life.
A company called Zinwa Technologies is working to create a limited number of BlackBerry Classic Q20s. These are phones about a decade old. Zinwa plans to install Android on them. The revived phone will sell as the Zinwa Q25 Pro.
To make sure the hardware works with Android, Zinwa puts a new motherboard in the BlackBerry Classic. It runs on a newer MediaTek Helio G99 chipset. You’ll get 12 GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of internal storage. The Classic’s touchscreen also helps make Android easy to use.
Among other changes, Zinwa updated the Q20’s original battery. It’s almost 15% bigger now. They added new cameras too. There’s a 50 MP one on the back and an 8 MP one on the front. The new chip only supports 4G LTE networks. The team also swapped the old micro USB port. Now it has a newer USB Type-C for faster charging and data transfers. Demos from the team show the BlackBerry’s special capacitive trackpad. It works great on the new device.
The Zinwa Q25 Pro currently runs a basic Android 13 version. The company has no firm plans to update to newer versions. This might change if enough people show interest to push development. If you plan to buy one, don’t expect long-term support from the company.
If things go well, Zinwa might look at bringing back other BlackBerry models. This includes the Passport and the KeyOne. The Zinwa Q25 Pro costs $420. But the company also sells a kit to change your old BlackBerry Classic for $320. Both are for sale in an online store. The company also sells the camera modules and battery separately.
Zinwa plans to ship the Q25 Pro to the first 100 backers by the end of August. They hope to start mass production by mid-September. If you’re interested in this project, you can check their Discord channel. There you’ll find updates on shipping and other models they might refurbish. With Android 16 potentially offering better support for physical keyboards, who knows? This could turn into a real hit.