In abstract
- Curiosity and hype round BlackBerry in 2025 is rising rapidly
- Viral social media movies present influencers ditching trendy smartphones for traditional fashions in a ‘digital detox’
- No new fashions are anticipated, however a Chinese language agency is relaunching the Q20 Basic with upgraded {hardware} and Android 13
A brand new BlackBerry telephone was presupposed to launch in 2021, with the model seemingly again from the lifeless…but once more. No such handset emerged, however that hasn’t stopped a contemporary swell of hype round basic BlackBerry handsets in 2025.
Many telephone manufacturers and working methods have fallen by the wayside through the years, together with the may of LG and Microsoft’s Home windows Cellphone. BlackBerry has had a storied historical past, from the telephone of selection for businessmen and ladies to the selection of name for youngsters chatting on-line, because of the rise of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger).
Quick ahead to 2025, and all of a sudden the well-known model is making waves once more, however why are BlackBerry telephones all of a sudden widespread, how are previous fashions getting relaunched and must you get on board? Let’s have a look.
Is BlackBerry making a brand new telephone in 2025?
In a phrase, no. Don’t anticipate there to be a brand new BlackBerry telephone anytime quickly or presumably ever.
As alluded to on the prime, there was presupposed to be a brand new BlackBerry mannequin in 2021, but it surely by no means occurred. Extra on that later, however one thing else is afoot with BlackBerry curiosity.
One thing you can take into account to be a brand new BlackBerry telephone in 2025 (in a approach) is through a Chinese language firm referred to as Zinwa Applied sciences, which is reviving previous fashions by upgrading the {hardware} and software program to pretty trendy requirements.
The primary is the BlackBerry Basic (Q20), which will probably be relaunched because the Zinwa Q25 Professional – because it’s 2025 – with the telephone getting a brand new processor, RAM, storage, battery, 4G LTE assist and cameras, in addition to getting loaded up with Android 13.
Zinwa says it “will permit customers to benefit from the telephone comfortably in 2025.”
The system is transport in September and prices $400.
Zinwa
Zinwa has additionally confirmed that related refreshes of the BlackBerry KEYone and Passport are on the way in which, which we assume will probably be referred to as the K25 and P26.
One other new BlackBerry-esque telephone leaked on Reddit in September 2025. The Zinwa Q27 has the basic BlackBerry-style design, boasting a 3.92-inch show and 31:27, but boasts extra premium specs comparable to a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 processor and 12GB of RAM, plus a nano SIM card slot.
Maybe the rise in hype across the previous model and telephones will trigger some curiosity in a brand new one to be made by BlackBerry itself, however don’t maintain your breath.
There was additionally a current spark of curiosity through a hearsay posted on Reddit. It was speculated that an unnamed UK startup was looking for pre-seed funding to revive the BlackBerry model to relaunch the Basic in addition to different fashions.
It was posted just a few months in the past however has now been deleted by the consumer, although this doesn’t essentially imply it was incorrect or is not on the playing cards. The put up included a screenshot of a slideshow presentation, edited as a result of the consumer’s firm had signed an NDA with the rumoured startup.
It might be that they bought lots of warmth for this and determined to take away it as a substitute of inflicting issues. Some rumoured specs for the system included an AMOLED display, qwerty keyboard, 5G connectivity and Android 15.
Why are BlackBerry telephones getting widespread in 2025?
There’s a sudden hype for BlackBerry largely as a consequence of a viral pattern on social media.
It seems that some Gen Zs, after recycling numerous different 2000s tendencies and fashions, have adopted BlackBerry as a brand new go-to cell phone possibility.
The concept being, like primary Nokias, is that it’s a method to detox from the addictive nature of a full-blown smartphone. Much less doomscrolling, in-app purchases, binging YouTube movies when you have to be asleep and such like. It’s interesting to me, and I’m not even near being Gen Z.
Viral TikTok hits embody this beneath clip from shozie_055 with the caption “POV: you obtain a blackberry in 2025 bc your iPhone is ruining your life.” and has a whopping 6.6 million views.
There are additionally loads of YouTubers reviewing telephones just like the BlackBerry Basic in a ‘nonetheless price shopping for?’ approach.
It appears to be a follow-on pattern from the ‘flip telephone problem’, the place you ditch your trendy smartphone for an old-style primary flip telephone like the long-lasting Motorola V3 for a time period, or so long as you possibly can. It’s one thing our Cellular Editor tried for every week, albeit not a flip mannequin.
Paradoxically, many of the movies going viral about ditching an iPhone or Android telephone for a BlackBerry have been posted on TikTok, one of many apps we must always arguably all be decreasing our display time on. It doesn’t even run on a BlackBerry.
Can you continue to use a BlackBerry telephone in 2025?
There’s definitely nothing stopping you from utilizing an previous BlackBerry telephone in 2025, assuming that the system is in working order and you’ve got a suitable charger.
You’ll be able to even put your SIM card in it and faux the millennium simply occurred just a few years in the past. The newest fashions are the 2017 KeyOne and 2018’s Key2 (each made by TCL below license and working Android).
There was additionally the favored BlackBerry Passport in 2014 – sure, we’ve reviewed many BlackBerry telephones through the years.
Foundry
If you would like a ‘real’ basic BlackBerry, then look to fashions just like the Q10 from 2013 working BlackBerry OS 10. Or, in order for you a extra old-school possibility, the Curve 8520 from 2009. Each have the long-lasting bodily keyboard, as does the Daring sequence.
One of the vital widespread fashions getting used and re-reviewed once more in 2025 is the BlackBerry Basic (beneath), a 2014 mannequin which was the final to supply the actually iconic rounded kind issue with trendy specs and options.
Foundry
Nevertheless, it’s price noting that you simply gained’t have assist for numerous trendy apps for the reason that working system is now successfully defunct. That features WhatsApp, so when you may be capable to detox from addictive video games and apps, you gained’t have these DMs and group chats that you simply seemingly depend on.
There’s additionally a possible safety danger. Similar to older variations of Android and iOS, the shortage of safety updates means you could be exposing your self to cybercrime.
You may argue that attackers will probably be concentrating on working methods with a bigger consumer base, but when BlackBerry utilization begins to extend as a consequence of these viral movies, that can seemingly catch the curiosity of hackers.
Should you do determine to make use of a BlackBerry (with or with no SIM card), keep away from utilizing any banking apps or different high-risk providers, whether or not you’ll find an app to obtain or entry it through a browser. It’s merely not definitely worth the danger.
Keep on with primary, low-risk apps as a rule of thumb.
The place to purchase a BlackBerry telephone in 2025
When you can’t simply stroll into your telephone community’s retailer and purchase a BlackBerry, there are many methods of getting maintain of 1.
You may even have an previous one mendacity in a drawer or cabinet, but when not, you possibly can simply supply one from the likes of eBay, Fb Market, Vinted or CeX.
Most may be purchased for £/$10-50, so now is an efficient time to record it and make some cash when you don’t wish to be part of this pattern.
Is there another?
If issues just like the safety dangers or lack of supported apps put you off utilizing an previous BlackBerry, you do produce other choices.
As talked about earlier, you possibly can order the Zinwa Q25 Professional (an upgraded Basic with Android 13 and new {hardware}) however it can set you again a cool $400.
If you would like a bodily keyboard, Clicks instances are widespread. And when you’re attempting to cut back your display time, then you should utilize apps like Opal and Forest.
An alternative choice is to purchase a contemporary ‘dumb telephone‘, that are an excellent stability of nostalgic, easy and safe.
Clicks
What occurred to the brand new BlackBerry in 2021?
Briefly, it by no means bought launched; at the very least not below OnwardMobility’s steam, not anymore. However what occurred?
A brand new BlackBerry Android telephone was initially slated to reach in “the primary half of 2021”, in response to OnwardMobility’s preliminary 2020 press launch on the topic. Nevertheless, a yr on from that preliminary window, no such ‘Berry had materialised.
In late July 2021, the corporate introduced its “Pre-Dedication Program“, providing followers and companies a method of offering enter on the event technique of the primary 5G BlackBerry, in addition to the chance to achieve early pre-order entry as soon as the telephone was prepared for its debut.
Whereas this system’s sign-up web page didn’t reveal any further details about when the telephone would really be prepared for launch, it did present some perception into OnwardMobility’s progress, with the event of their system already underway on the time, however a remaining engineering design or specs and options had not but been locked in.
In mild of legacy BlackBerry units formally shedding software program assist on 4 January 2022, consideration rapidly turned again to OnwardMobility and the obvious radio silence the startup had slipped into after mid-2021, leaving followers fully at the hours of darkness concerning the progress of its debut system and when to anticipate it.
Checking in on 5 January 2022, the corporate’s web site was stagnant; nonetheless solely making point out of a 2021 launch, with no new posts or exercise in months, masking each the location and its social channels; making a “when” more and more appear to be an “if” within the eyes of hopeful BlackBerry followers.
Following mounting consideration from media and BlackBerry fans alike, nevertheless, a brand new weblog put up (since eliminated) appeared on OnwardMobility’s weblog only a day later (6 January), entitled “Opposite to widespread perception, we aren’t lifeless.”
Within the put up, OnwardMobility acknowledged the absence of any public-facing communication and vowed to ship “extra common updates beginning this month that can make clear and reply lots of your questions,” regarding the improvement of its debut system.
As regards to the silence up till this level, the put up’s opening paragraph acknowledged, “2021 was actually a difficult yr to launch a brand new telephone, a lot much less one with the excessive expectations we set and the truth that we wish to get it proper,” citing unspecified delays that prevented the corporate from transport its debut smartphone in 2021, as had initially been promised.
Even with OnwardMobility’s seemingly renewed dedication to bringing its debut system to market, nevertheless, it turned out that BlackBerry (the corporate) had different plans, not lengthy after.
On 10 February, CrackBerry’s Kevin Michaluk described the challenge as “lifeless as of yesterday,” stating that quite a few sources had verified that OnwardMobility’s efforts had sunk.
BlackBerry (the corporate) had chosen to cancel OnwardMobility’s license (stopping it from utilizing the BlackBerry identify), a transfer that itself had adopted on from the Canadian firm promoting off the final of its cellular patent portfolio, reportedly to the tune of US$600 million.
This lack of the BlackBerry branding, paired with the troublesome and protracted timeline with which OnwardMobility was having to take care of have been all ap[apparently contributing components in its choice to desert the challenge. Lower than every week later, the corporate introduced that it was shutting down completely, with its web site being changed by a single assertion (pictured beneath), thanking followers for his or her assist and lamenting the choice to close up store.
The one a part of the unique announcement that hinted on the specs of the telephone acknowledged that “there may be an absolute want for a safe, feature-rich 5G-ready telephone that enhances productiveness.”
That’s nonetheless fairly obscure however means that BlackBerry – the corporate (after ceasing to supply its personal telephones, BlackBerry centered on changing into a viable cybersecurity model) – was seemingly concerned on the software program degree, because it was with TCL’s licensed telephones.
Whereas the cancellation of the OnwardMobility license was one thing of a shock within the saga, the previous pattern of BlackBerry promoting off its catalogue of patents was nothing new.
Through the years, the corporate had been busy shedding its cellular patent portfolio, with 90 bought to Huawei as of mid-2021, although admittedly that’s a drop within the ocean in comparison with the purported whole haul of 38,000 patents it was at one level in possession of.
“Function-rich” maybe implies that the brand new BlackBerry was meant to be an all-singing, all-dancing high-end system, not like the KeyOne or Key2. 5G telephones don’t must tout the newest, strongest Snapdragon chipsets, but it surely might’ve helped the brand new BlackBerry garner extra endurance with patrons. The KeyOne, particularly, runs fairly sluggish right this moment and was not effectively future-proofed.
OnwardMobility’s meant system apparently took lots of cues from 2015’s BlackBerry Priv; the final telephone BlackBerry itself made, and likewise the primary BlackBerry to run Android.
