I was gonna buy a pinephone, but i want to know if this is really the best choice. I'm a real fan of the hardware switches. Any recommendations?
It is fun to play with, but it is not suitable to use as a primary phone. It has poor battery life and is very slow.
thanks, any idea what to buy instead? I'm okay with buying an android, and just flashing myself.
The Librem phone from Purism is like Pinephone, but a bit more cohesive and with better specs. Also more expensive, but if you're considering a Linux phone, then Librem might be a better choice
A pixel phone or a fairphone 4. The pixel 3a has alot of support but is old, and the fairphone 4 has alot of support and is newer. Depends on your preference
If you can afford it, I think the Librem 5 is the best linux-first phone at the moment. Both it and the PinePhone Pro are roughly as fast as each other, but the Librem 5 has a much more premium feel, and the hardware kill switches are much more accessible, if you're into that kind of thing.
Back in the day, when the Librem 5 was $1000+, it was a no-brainer for the PinePhone Pro, but I feel it is much more reasonable to recommend the Librem 5 now.
You can make it work as a daily driver, but I wouldn't want to depend on it for life and death situations. Calling generally doesn't work very well - either one side can't hear the other, or the audio quality is too quiet, or not very good. It's probably possible to fix if you know what you're doing, but I don't know what I'm doing :)
I carry around a dumbphone and a SIM removal tool, so that I can call someone if I really need to. If you're happy to do that, I feel it gives you the best of both worlds.
Otherwise, one alternative is to be an Android-first device, that has good support in PostmarketOS, e.g. the Oneplus 6/6T. Mobile Linux has had such an impact on these devices that the price of these on eBay has gone up in some areas over time :D
Good luck!
At least in my case! I ordered this year. It took 2 months, but it did arrive :)
Sorry if i am late to that party, but i have been daily-driving a pinephone for 4+ years now. 1/ It's not for the faint of heart. it is work. serious admin work. 2/ i chose a hard line of PostMarketOS edge (equiv of debian "unstable" updated continuously) and sxmo (a lovely, experimental interface, fully hackable, lightweight etc.) 3/ most of the shortcomings described by people who tried it only or expected a lot from it are related to comparing it to android or ios. it's a mistake i think. it should be treated as its own thing, with no expectations, and most of the shortcomings can be fixed by adaptation and custom work.. for me: most tasks via CLI (mail, matrix, mastodon, etc.) and lightweight browser, combined with lightweight interface (sxmo) considerably extend battery life. in suspend i get 48h (which is more than most android phones i used before) and with moderat use it lasts way over 24h for me.
I would totally recommend it IF you value computing freedom, autonomy and taking back control of your communication infrastructure and data more than an ideal of "comfort" or standardized streamlined processes modeled after the ones that put everyone in the hands of big US corporations (aka "user-friendly" lol)
Also that feeling that whatever tiny bit you may invent, fix or hack for yourself, can be put back into a wild community of avid trailblazing hackers is invaluable. Yes it's all work, but it's work for you and other people who value freedom. not work for Google and such...
wow! thats very long battery life, my phone right now only lasts for 8 hours, with no to moderate use.
I'm betting on 2 phones on eBay right now, and if I don't get either, I'll get a pine phone.Thank you so much!
