BlackBerry Traditional is being revived with Android, and it may be yours for $400

BlackBerry was greater than a telephone model. It was a long-running phenomenon that might immediately form your impression of the individual utilizing it as somebody vital. And so, it isn’t stunning to see so many individuals eager for its revival. Whereas I by no means owned a high-end BlackBerry (although I all the time needed the Torch with a slide-out QWERTY), there’s a tiny likelihood I would be capable to try this quickly.

That’s as a result of a Chinese language firm is on a mission to revive previous BlackBerry gadgets, with a twist. A model named Zinwa Applied sciences is engaged on resurrecting a restricted variety of decade-old BlackBerry Traditional Q20 gadgets and putting in Android on them. The reborn telephone shall be bought as Zinwa Q25 Professional.

To ensure the {hardware} is suitable with Android, Zinwa is retrofitting the BlackBerry Traditional with a brand new predominant board, geared up with a more moderen MediaTek Helio G99 chipset, 12GB of RAM, and as much as 256GB of onboard storage. The Traditional’s touchscreen additionally helps keep away from any friction with the Android interface.

Amongst different modifications, Zinwa has upgraded the Q20’s authentic battery by virtually 15% and added new cameras, together with a 50MP on the again and an 8MP for the entrance. In the meantime, the newer chipset brings help for 4G LTE, though the present mannequin doesn’t function 5G help. The group has additionally changed the micro USB port with a more moderen USB Kind-C for quicker charging and knowledge switch speeds.

Primarily based on demos shared by the group, BlackBerry’s signature capacitive trackpad runs seamlessly on the revived gadget. The Zinwa Q25 Professional presently runs on a bare-bones model of Android 13, and there aren’t any concrete plans from the corporate to replace to newer variations, except there’s sufficient curiosity to foster growth. So, should you’re inclined to purchase it, make sure you buy this with out anticipating long-term help from the corporate.

Nevertheless, if all goes nicely, Zinwa would possibly discover retrofitting different BlackBerry fashions, together with the Passport and KeyOne, the latter of which was among the many restricted BlackBerry telephones that got here pre-installed with Android.

The Zinwa Q25 Professional is priced at $400, however the firm can be promoting a DIY package to rework your previous BlackBerry Traditional for $320. Each of those can be found on an on-line retailer, whereas the corporate additionally sells the digicam modules and battery individually.

Zinwa plans to start out delivery the Q25 Professional by the tip of August to the primary 100 backers and goals to enter mass manufacturing by mid-September. For those who’re within the undertaking, you’ll be able to be part of its Discord channel for extra updates on delivery and different fashions into consideration for refurbishment. Who is aware of, with Android 16’s improved help for bodily keyboards, it is likely to be successful.