You might remember that a company called Zinwa Technologies announced during the summer of 2025 that it would modernize real BlackBerry phones. Taking the body of a real model, Zinwa replaced the chipset with a more modern one, increased the storage, and replaced BlackBerry's OS with Android 14.
Zinwa has already released the Q25, a "reboot" of the BlackBerry Q20 "Classic"
Zinwa's first retrofitted model was the Zinwa Q25, aka the Zinwa Q25 Pro. It used the chassis, keyboard, capacitive trackpad, and 3.5-inch 720 x 720 display from the original BlackBerry Classic Q20.
In case you were wondering, replacing the 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus (MSM8960), the original application processor that powered the BlackBerry Classic Q20, is the MediaTek Helio G99.
The revamped Zinwa Q25 includes 12GB of RAM, up from the original's 2GB of memory, and 256GB of storage, up from the 16GB of internal storage and support for a 128GB microSD card on the BlackBerry Q20.
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The price of the Zinwa Q25 was $400, and its sales were limited due to a lack of support for 5G and regulatory issues that led Zinwa to cancel sales in India.
This month, Zinwa will release a DIY kit and a pre-installed kit based on the BlackBerry Passport
There could be much more excitement over Zinwa's next BlackBerry reboot as the BlackBerry Passport is being dug up from the dead.. The phone became a fan-favorite due to its wide 1440 x 1440 resolution LCD screen.
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In addition, the Passport used a hybrid QWERTY keyboard that combined a virtual keyboard with a physical one. But it was the wide display that BlackBerry promoted, going as far as running an ad that showed a doctor reading an X-ray on the phone.
BlackBerry released a clever ad for the Passport in 2014
In the ad, the doctor with the BlackBerry Passport was able to diagnose a patient because of the extra room on the screen that his colleague, using an iPhone, didn't have. "Work Wide," said the tagline.
Zinwa will ship both the DIY and pre-installed versions of the Passport later this month
The BlackBerry Passport has a cult following and appears to always be in demand on eBay and other places that sell older phones.
Zinwa's Passport DIY kit, known as the P26, is designed as a DIY (do-it-yourself) mainboard upgrade swap. The P26 DIY kit replaces the original BlackBerry Passport's Snapdragon 801 chipset with the mid-range MediaTek Helio G99, along with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
If you own a Passport, you can order the DIY kit and receive these components to place inside your old handset. | Image by Zinwa
Instead of running on BlackBerry 10 OS like the Passport did when originally released in 2014, the Zinwa P26 will be powered by Android 14. The battery, at 3,900 mAh, tops the 3,450 mAh cell found on the original 2014 phone.
The rear camera features a 50MP sensor, while the front-facing camera weighs in at 8MP. With the DIY kit, you replace the original BlackBerry camera modules from the donor Passport frame and plug in the new Zinwa camera ribbons.
During the pre-order period, the DIY version costs $350. If you want a Passport running Android 14 and don't want to handle the complicated task of installing a new mainboard on your own Passport, you can purchase a pre-assembled Zinwa P26 for $420.
Zinwa is selling a pre-assembled version of the P26 Passport. | Image by Zinwa
The pre-assembled P26 comes with a BlackBerry Passport chassis in good condition along with:
MediaTek G99 SoC
12GB RAM (LPDDR4x), 256GB Flash (UFS 2.x)
New Cameras
New 3900 mAh battery
Pre-orders are now available from Zinwa's website for both the DIY kit and the pre-assembled model. Shipments of both will begin in late October.
Interestingly, there had been rumors when the original model was released more than a decade ago that an Android-powered Passport was under consideration. While it never happened, you now have a chance to upgrade your old Passport or buy a pre-assembled one with Android 14 pre-installed.
Personally, I'm hoping that BlackBerry decides to produce the Passport once again, using Android and flagship components. Until that happens, the Zinwa P26 kit or pre-assembled model is the closest we will get to such a thing.
Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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