Remember when BlackBerry phones ruled the business world with their physical keyboards and sleek designs? Well, it looks like those iconic devices might be making a comeback, thanks to passionate fans and some creative companies.
According to PhoneArena, several developments are pointing toward a potential BlackBerry revival. The biggest sign? People are actually asking for phones with real keyboards again, not just the touchscreen ones we're all used to.
A company called Zinwa Technologies is leading the charge by taking old BlackBerry phones and giving them serious upgrades. Their first project transforms the BlackBerry Q20 (also called the Classic) into something called the Zinwa Q25 Pro, which costs $420.
The updated phone keeps the original look and physical keyboard but swaps out the old guts for modern parts. That means switching from 2GB of RAM to 12GB, bumping storage from 16GB to 256GB, and replacing the old processor with a MediaTek G99 chip. The phone will run Android 13 instead of the original BlackBerry operating system.
For people who already own a BlackBerry Q20, Zinwa offers a $300 upgrade kit so you can modernize your existing phone yourself. The company plans to do similar upgrades to other popular BlackBerry models like the Passport.
Meanwhile, Kevin Michaluk, who founded the CrackBerry website and co-created the Clicks keyboard case, has started a petition at BringBackBlackBerry.com. He wants to see if enough people are interested in new BlackBerry phones to make it worth pursuing licensing deals.
The renewed interest partly comes from accessories like the Clicks keyboard case, which adds a physical keyboard to iPhones and some Android phones. There's also the Unihertz Titan 2, which mimics the old BlackBerry Passport design with its square screen and wide keyboard.
While BlackBerry the company now focuses on cybersecurity rather than phones, these grassroots efforts show there's still a market for devices with physical keyboards. Whether these projects will lead to mainstream BlackBerry phone sales remains to be seen, but for fans of the brand, it's an encouraging start.
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Source: PhoneArena
