- An unofficial BlackBerry revival project is preparing to sell Passport running Android.
- The retrofit comes with a new chipset, USB-C port, and 12GB of RAM packed inside the same body.
- The device will be available for pre-orders starting this week and will start shipping by the end of October.
Since last year, we’ve seen several good attempts to resurrect the charm of old BlackBerry devices without the burden of an operating system that’s no longer maintained or supported. The momentum continues in 2026, with at least three brands launching their phones with a physical QWERTY keyboard. However, all of these options, including the Clicks Communicator, the UNIHERTZ Titan 2 Elite, and the newest Minimal Phone 2, share an identity only inspired by BlackBerry. However, if you want a phone that’s actually a BlackBerry — albeit without the OS, a bunch of small brands and enthusiasts already have retrofits on offer. One of them is close to making their second BlackBerry model available soon.
Zinwa Technologies, a Chinese brand, has been selling DIY kits along with a BlackBerry Classic refurb running on Android for over a year now. The company has also been working on restoring the BlackBerry Passport for almost a year now, using various permutations and combinations of hardware that would work. Finally, the momentum is coming closer to fruition, with the brand now announcing pre-orders for the device.