27 votes

The PinePhone ($150 Linux smartphone) is now available for pre-order

Some more info about the PinePhone

Pre-order page on the Pine Store

The early adopter edition of the PinePhone is now available for pre-order. This batch is 3000 units, from what I know ~1000 are already sold. These units are currently being produced, and are planned to ship in December/January. Mass production of the consumer edition of the phone is planned to begin in March 2020.

I just pre-ordered mine, is anyone else getting one? Any thoughts on the state of Linux smartphones, whether it's the PinePhone, Librem 5, or something else?

10 comments

  1. [4]
    what
    Link
    My order came to $226 CAD (including shipping and handling, and PayPal's USD -> CAD exchange). I've been closely following the PinePhone and Librem 5, the two main Linux phone projects right now....

    My order came to $226 CAD (including shipping and handling, and PayPal's USD -> CAD exchange).

    I've been closely following the PinePhone and Librem 5, the two main Linux phone projects right now. I'm extremely excited to finally get one of these phones in my hands!

    This is an early adopter/developer edition of the phone. This will be the first mass production batch, so it's essentially a "beta test" of sorts. I'm a Linux nerd and I'm planning on developing apps for it, and with the relatively cheap price tag, I'm fine with the risk of running into some issues. If you're looking for a phone that will be ready to use out of the box, with a refined software experience, I think you'll have to wait a few more months/years.

    I think what will make or break the Linux smartphone experience is app availability. I really hope the FOSS community comes together to build a good set of apps for it (as well as porting existing apps, if they don't already work). I'm very excited to get my hands on the PinePhone and start developing for it!

    13 votes
    1. [3]
      bloup
      Link Parent
      Can't we just use Anbox to get pretty much all Android apps working?

      Can't we just use Anbox to get pretty much all Android apps working?

      5 votes
      1. what
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        I think so, but I'm not sure on how well it'll work, or if anyone has been working on it. This forum thread may be worth watching for more info. Edit: After looking at the Pine64 IRC chat a bit,...

        I think so, but I'm not sure on how well it'll work, or if anyone has been working on it. This forum thread may be worth watching for more info.

        Edit: After looking at the Pine64 IRC chat a bit, it looks like Anbox can run on it, mostly depending on it your distro supports it or not. The other limitation could be performance, given that the PinePhone has 2GB of RAM (although I think that’s plenty for a phone, and it seems like people have gotten Anbox running on much worse hardware).

        5 votes
      2. tlalexander
        Link Parent
        I’m wondering this too. I guess Play Store might still be an issue?

        I’m wondering this too. I guess Play Store might still be an issue?

        1 vote
  2. rmgr
    Link
    I've ordered mine. I'm pretty psyched to get it and give the Mobile Linux world a play! I'm hopeful that it ends up good enough to use as my daily driver but realistically I know there'll be a lot...

    I've ordered mine. I'm pretty psyched to get it and give the Mobile Linux world a play! I'm hopeful that it ends up good enough to use as my daily driver but realistically I know there'll be a lot of work between getting it and then

    7 votes
  3. [5]
    KapteinB
    Link
    I like the idea of buying a phone with no OS pre-installed. Hopefully it will sell well enough that other hardware companies realise there's a market for it. (Hopefully there is a market for it.)...

    I like the idea of buying a phone with no OS pre-installed. Hopefully it will sell well enough that other hardware companies realise there's a market for it. (Hopefully there is a market for it.)

    My current daily driver runs Sailfish, which I'm very happy with.

    7 votes
    1. [3]
      Akir
      Link Parent
      Is Sailfish going to be an option for this phone? I may actually buy it if that's the case. But then again, that's also assuming the LTE radio works in the US. I've been dying to get ahold of a...

      Is Sailfish going to be an option for this phone? I may actually buy it if that's the case.

      But then again, that's also assuming the LTE radio works in the US.

      I've been dying to get ahold of a working Sailfish phone, but Jolla doesn't seem to have any interest in the US market for whatever reason.

      1 vote
      1. what
        Link Parent
        From the store page: Worldwide, Global LTE bands LTE-FDD: B1/ B2/ B3/ B4/ B5/ B7/ B8/ B12/ B13/ B18/ B19/ B20/ B25/ B26/ B28 LTE-TDD: B38/ B39/ B40/ B41 WCDMA: B1/ B2/ B4/ B5/ B6/ B8/ B19 GSM:...

        From the store page:

        Worldwide, Global LTE bands
        LTE-FDD: B1/ B2/ B3/ B4/ B5/ B7/ B8/ B12/ B13/ B18/ B19/ B20/ B25/ B26/ B28
        LTE-TDD: B38/ B39/ B40/ B41
        WCDMA: B1/ B2/ B4/ B5/ B6/ B8/ B19
        GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
        

        You can use frequencycheck.com to check the bands that your mobile carrier uses and see if the PinePhone supports them.

        AFAIK it should generally have good support for American and Canadian carriers.

        2 votes
      2. KapteinB
        Link Parent
        They use the Sailfish logo in marketing, so I assume so. I think it's just that they've had extremely limited resources ever since the Jolla phone flopped. A shame though. Let's hope they get...

        Is Sailfish going to be an option for this phone?

        They use the Sailfish logo in marketing, so I assume so.

        Jolla doesn't seem to have any interest in the US market for whatever reason.

        I think it's just that they've had extremely limited resources ever since the Jolla phone flopped. A shame though. Let's hope they get around to supporting the US at some point.

        1 vote
    2. rmgr
      Link Parent
      I think Sailfish might end up as my OS of choice but I intend to try everything I can!

      I think Sailfish might end up as my OS of choice but I intend to try everything I can!