New BlackBerry Phone 2026: Why Classic Models Are Trending & Relaunching

As soon as the peak of the cellular market, the standard BlackBerry was a must have cellphone, partly for the way BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) fully modified the sport for messaging on the go, paving the way in which for the likes of WhatsApp and iMessage. Though the model is now largely defunct, that hasn’t stopped BlackBerry from having a vinyl-like revival, which has spiralled right into a viral development.

As extra individuals proceed to embrace the concept of transferring away from conventional smartphones within the hope of getting a more healthy, much less dependent relationship with their tech, the BlackBerry has swooped in as a promise of what might have been if candybar-style telephones hadn’t taken off and fully dominated the market.

With all BlackBerry telephones now being fully second-hand, nevertheless, attempting to get your fingers on one will be fairly an endeavour, however there are many corporations trying to fill the hole with their very own bodily keyboard clone units. To know extra in regards to the BlackBerry revival and higher perceive the choices accessible to you (if you happen to’re tempted to make the leap your self), carry on studying.

Is BlackBerry making a brand new cellphone in 2026?

In a phrase, no. Don’t anticipate there to be a brand new BlackBerry cellphone anytime quickly or presumably ever. There was presupposed to be a brand new BlackBerry mannequin in 2021, nevertheless it by no means occurred.

Whilst you can carry on scrolling to search out out precisely what occurred to that cellphone, you’ll be glad to know that there are alternatives on the market for anybody out there for a BlackBerry-esque expertise.

Close to the tip of final yr, the long-awaited Zinwa Q25 Professional got here to market, offering an up to date reskin of the BlackBerry Traditional, successfully giving followers a method of having fun with the normal BlackBerry design however with extra trendy elements that make it a viable handset in 2026.

The cellphone additionally runs Android as customary, so you’ve entry to essential software program resembling WhatsApp and Instagram.

Zinwa

Different upgrades embrace 12GB RAM alongside the MediaTek Helio G99 chipset, and 4G compatibility so you’ll be able to hook up with close by community alerts with out situation. Sadly, the Q25 Professional shouldn’t be accessible in India on account of the nation’s laws relating to imported tech, which compelled the corporate to cancel and refund all India-based pre-orders.

The corporate can be planning an identical refurbishing course of for the BlackBerry Passport, this time labelled the Zinwa P26, however we’ll be certain that to replace this part as soon as extra data seems.

For a wholly new machine, there’s the Zinwa Q27, described as a ‘trendy BlackBerry clone’, nevertheless it gained’t arrive earlier than Could 2026, in keeping with the positioning.

It’s going to have a 3.92-inch AMOLED display, MediaTek Dimensity 7300 processor and run Android 16. Two different choices come within the type of the Unihertz Titan 2 Elite and the Clicks Communicator (under).

Regardless of being related in look, these two units have totally different approaches to usability.

With a promised 5 years of software program updates, the Titan 2 Elite is being positioned as a real different throughout the Android cellphone market, while the Cicks Communicator is pitched as a companion machine to your predominant cellphone, being a distraction-free machine that permits you to lock in with typing and messaging.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

There’s additionally the Clicks Energy Keyboard, which is now accessible to pre-order for £81/$109 and is right for anybody who needs so as to add a little bit of BlackBerry performance to their cellphone with out swapping to a wholly new machine.

As a result of it connects to your cellphone by way of a MagSafe connection, it’s greatest designed for customers of the iPhone 12 onwards, though it will also be utilized in tandem with the Pixel 10 vary of telephones.

Why are BlackBerry telephones getting well-liked in 2025/26?

There’s latest hype for BlackBerry largely as a result of a viral development on social media.

It seems that some Gen Zs, after recycling numerous different 2000s developments 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 approach to detox from the addictive nature of a full-blown smartphone. Much less doomscrolling, in-app purchases, binging YouTube movies when you ought to be asleep and such like. It’s interesting to me, and I’m not even near being Gen Z.

Viral TikTok hits embrace this clip from shozie_055 with the caption “POV: you purchased a blackberry in 2025 bc your iPhone is ruining your life.” and has thousands and thousands of views.

There are additionally loads of YouTubers reviewing telephones just like the BlackBerry Traditional in a ‘nonetheless price shopping for?’ method.

It appears to be a follow-on development from the ‘flip cellphone problem’, the place you ditch your trendy smartphone for an old-style primary flip cellphone like the long-lasting Motorola V3 for a time period, or so long as you’ll be able to. It’s one thing our Cellular Editor tried for per week, albeit not a flip mannequin.

Sarcastically, many of the movies going viral about ditching an iPhone or Android cellphone for a BlackBerry have been posted on TikTok, one of many apps we must always arguably all be lowering our display time on. It doesn’t even run on a BlackBerry.

Do BlackBerry telephones nonetheless work?

There’s definitely nothing stopping you from utilizing an outdated BlackBerry cellphone in 2026, assuming that the machine is in working order and you’ve got a appropriate charger.

You possibly can even put your SIM card in and fake the millennium simply occurred a couple of years in the past. The latest fashions are the 2017 KeyOne and 2018’s Key2 (each made by TCL beneath license and operating Android).

There was additionally the favored BlackBerry Passport in 2014 – sure, we’ve reviewed many BlackBerry telephones over time.

Foundry

If you need a ‘real’ traditional BlackBerry, then look to fashions just like the Q10 from 2013 operating 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 collection.

Probably the most well-liked fashions getting used and revisited in 2026 is the BlackBerry Traditional (under), a 2014 mannequin which was the final to supply the really iconic rounded kind issue with trendy specs and options.

Foundry

Nonetheless, it’s price noting that you simply gained’t have help for numerous trendy apps for the reason that working system is now successfully defunct. That features WhatsApp, so whilst you may be capable to detox from addictive video games and apps, you gained’t have these DMs and group chats that you simply probably depend on.

There’s additionally a possible safety threat. Similar to older variations of Android and iOS, the shortage of safety updates means you is likely to be exposing your self to cybercrime.

You may argue that attackers will probably be concentrating on working programs with a bigger consumer base, but when BlackBerry utilization begins to extend as a result of these viral movies, that may probably catch the curiosity of hackers.

In case you do determine to make use of a BlackBerry (with or with out a SIM card), keep away from utilizing any banking apps or different high-risk companies, whether or not yow will discover an app to obtain or entry it by way of a browser. It’s merely not definitely worth the threat.

Persist with primary, low-risk apps as a rule of thumb.

The place to purchase a BlackBerry cellphone in 2026

Whilst you can’t simply stroll into your cellphone community’s retailer and purchase a BlackBerry, there are many methods of getting maintain of 1.

You may even have an outdated one mendacity in a drawer or cabinet, but when not, you’ll be able to simply supply one from the likes of eBay, Fb Market, Vinted or CeX.

Most will be purchased for £/$10-50, so now is an efficient time to record them and make some cash if you happen to don’t need to be part of this development.

Is there another?

If issues just like the safety dangers or lack of supported apps put you off utilizing an outdated BlackBerry, you do produce other choices.

As talked about earlier, you’ll be able to order the Zinwa Q25 Professional (an upgraded Traditional with Android 13 and new {hardware}), however it’s going to set you again a cool $400, whereas the upcoming Unihertz Titan 2 Elite will probably be trying to appeal to the identical viewers.

The Clicks vary of merchandise is an efficient shout, particularly because it’s simply expanded with the reveal of the Clicks Communicator and the Clicks Energy Keyboard (under). In case you’re attempting to scale back your display time, then you should use apps like Opal and Forest.

An alternative choice is to purchase a contemporary ‘dumb cellphone‘, often known as a primary cellphone, which is an efficient stability of nostalgic, easy and safe.

Chris Corridor / Foundry

What occurred to the brand new BlackBerry in 2021?

In brief, it by no means acquired launched; at the very least not beneath OnwardMobility’s steam, not anymore. However what occurred?

A brand new BlackBerry Android cellphone was initially slated to reach in “the primary half of 2021”, in keeping with OnwardMobility’s preliminary 2020 press launch on the topic. Nonetheless, 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 cellphone was prepared for its debut.

Whereas this system’s sign-up web page didn’t reveal any further details about when the cellphone would really be prepared for launch, it did present some perception into OnwardMobility’s progress, with the event of their machine already underway on the time, however a last engineering design or specs and options had not but been locked in.

In mild of legacy BlackBerry units formally shedding software program help 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 midnight in regards to the progress of its debut machine and when to anticipate it.

Following mounting consideration from media and BlackBerry fans alike, a weblog publish (since eliminated) appeared on OnwardMobility’s weblog, entitled “Opposite to well-liked perception, we’re not useless.”

Within the publish, OnwardMobility acknowledged the absence of any public-facing communication and vowed to ship “extra common updates beginning this month that may make clear and reply a lot of your questions,” in regards to the growth of its debut machine.

With reference to the silence up till this level, the publish’s opening paragraph acknowledged, “2021 was really a difficult yr to launch a brand new cellphone, a lot much less one with the excessive expectations we set and the truth that we need to get it proper,” citing unspecified delays that prevented the corporate from delivery its debut smartphone in 2021, as had initially been promised.

Even with OnwardMobility’s seemingly renewed dedication to bringing its debut machine to market, nevertheless, it turned out that BlackBerry (the corporate) had different plans, not lengthy after.

On 10 February 2022, CrackBerry’s Kevin Michaluk described the undertaking as “useless 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 tough and protracted timeline with which OnwardMobility was having to take care of have been all ap[apparently contributing components in its determination to desert the undertaking. Lower than per week later, the corporate introduced that it was shutting down totally, with its web site being changed by a single assertion (pictured under), thanking followers for his or her help and lamenting the choice to close up store.

The one a part of the unique announcement that hinted on the specs of the cellphone acknowledged that “there’s an absolute want for a safe, feature-rich 5G-ready cellphone that enhances productiveness.”

That’s nonetheless fairly imprecise however means that BlackBerry – the corporate (after ceasing to supply its personal telephones, BlackBerry centered on changing into a viable cybersecurity model) – was probably concerned on the software program degree, because it was with TCL’s licensed telephones.

OnwardMobility’s meant machine apparently took numerous cues from 2015’s BlackBerry Priv; the final cellphone BlackBerry itself made, and likewise the primary BlackBerry to run Android.