Zinwa Technologies of China is reportedly preparing to revive some iconic BlackBerry models-the Q20 (classic) the Passport and the KEYone, with the advantage, as their internal hardware specifications will be modernized, and they will be ported over to the Android platform.
According to an initial sharing by a Zinwa official in a recent interview on YouTube, that company does sound serious about the "restart".
So, what will we be seeing with this new revived Zinwa Q25, which is said to be the new name for this product. According to a Zinwa employee, it has a serious makeover internally:
- New motherboard with MediaTek Helio G99 processor.
- Memory boost with a possible option of up to 12 GB of LPDDR4X RAM.
- Up to 256 GB of UFS 2.x storage – now that's an upgrade.
- The shooter also gets an upgrade. It comes with a 50-megapixel main camera, and an 8-megapixel front-facer – big leap from the original 8MP and 2MP setup.
But not just that. The Zinwa Q25 will also pack features such as an NFC chip, USB-C for charging and data, and a microSD card slot for expandable storage. The battery will receive an upgrade from the original 2515 mAh to a more robust 3000 mAh.
One of the biggest changes will be the OS. No more BlackBerry OS, but Greets Android 13, promising a long-term security patch support from Zinwa - Sounds promising.
If you want to get your hands on it, the Zinwa Q25 is already available for pre-order on the website at a cost of $400. For example, BlackBerry Classic owners will have a pretty interesting option: reportedly, they will be able to purchase an upgrade kit for $300 to upgrade the beloved old unit themselves. First units are set to be shipped around August of this year.
And it does not stop with the Classic: Zinwa is also planning to "revive" the BlackBerry KEYone and Passport, which will be Zinwa P25 Zinwa P26, respectively. More details on these two: still a bit murky, but sound exciting for fans of the unique form factors.
It's surely an interesting development to have the returning classic designs, this time around, equipped with modern specs and the versatility of Android. What do you think. Would you want to use a classic yet revamped BlackBerry.
