I've become increasingly sceptical of these small-manufacturer phones that seem to fit niche markets amazingly. They often seem to be built as essentially sham products that seem to excellently...
It's basically my dream phone
I've become increasingly sceptical of these small-manufacturer phones that seem to fit niche markets amazingly. They often seem to be built as essentially sham products that seem to excellently fit the needs of the niche market, but only do so superficially, and have defects, shortcomings, and cost-cutting that violate basic assumptions one would have about products fitting those markets. They hide this by heavily pushing preorders, and making it seem like the product may not even be easily available outside of preorders, or will be much more expensive otherwise.
Thus I have the Cosmo Communicator here, the phone built around a seemingly fully-usable touch-typeable keyboard that, bafflingly, was implemented with two-key rollover with seemingly no software or firmware jamming to work around it (good luck touch typing on it, unless you're a very slow typist), and will fully support running Linux on it, by which the manufacturer means that some hobbyists will eventually get Linux somewhat running on it by the time the manufacturer moves on to the next preorder phone. It comes with official support for Dvorak (except that you can't type essentially any word beginning with "th" at any reasonable speed because of rollover) and Greek (except it appears the manufacturer just copied a photo of a keyboard they found somewhere, without realizing that the acute accent needs to be a dead key).
I suspect this involves similar risks, as you suggest. Specs and design that seem perfect, and are likely actually legitimate, but can't be trusted because "quirks" and design flaws will likely exist that just completely violate basic assumptions one should be able to make about functionality, and, of course, horrible communication and support.
I appreciate them trying something new here but yikes. $900 for a phone with a Snapdragon 835, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage... That's a massive price tag for a phone basically running 4 year...
I appreciate them trying something new here but yikes. $900 for a phone with a Snapdragon 835, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage...
That's a massive price tag for a phone basically running 4 year old internals. I get that it's a unique form factor but that is a pretty big premium to pay.
Having specs that low also makes me wonder how long it will be usable.
On top of that, F(x)tec's previous phones have gotten mediocre reviews at best.
Those specs are sufficient for a phone. The real question is software support: are you going to need to buy the XDA Phone 2 in 3 years because Lineage dropped support, or are they going to support...
Those specs are sufficient for a phone. The real question is software support: are you going to need to buy the XDA Phone 2 in 3 years because Lineage dropped support, or are they going to support this thing for 6-8 years so it's effectively half-price?
But they're asking flagship prices and providing 4 year old specs. That's the issue. They're sufficient for a phone now, yes. Using a 4 year old chipset just means that support will be dropped by...
But they're asking flagship prices and providing 4 year old specs. That's the issue.
They're sufficient for a phone now, yes. Using a 4 year old chipset just means that support will be dropped by Qualcomm even sooner.
Not to mention that Qualcomm has almost certainly not released a new BSP for that SoC, so it's going to be running a kernel that's at least 5 years old. This is certainly not a phone worth buying,...
Not to mention that Qualcomm has almost certainly not released a new BSP for that SoC, so it's going to be running a kernel that's at least 5 years old.
This is certainly not a phone worth buying, even if you are the kind of person who is into 'hacking' their android experience.
I got mildly excited at first reading the article...but now reading comments here, am deflated. I'll admit that i'm not in the financial position to buy a phone that pricey just yet...but am...
I got mildly excited at first reading the article...but now reading comments here, am deflated. I'll admit that i'm not in the financial position to buy a phone that pricey just yet...but am really looking forward to the day when i can purchase a non-ios or non-android phone that at least runs decently and gives me a little more freedom and privacy. I know there are things that exist like Pusirm Librem and PinePhone, but I've not heard good things about them; at least not consistently. So....the search and the wait continues.
You're right...i guess i meant something along the lines of non-proprietary android...? I don't know what the better term for this would be...but some open source phone that is not controlled by a...
You're right...i guess i meant something along the lines of non-proprietary android...? I don't know what the better term for this would be...but some open source phone that is not controlled by a large entity who would have such vast control over my privacy and other factors.
If I would buy in to this - I would probably go with the Pinephone's UT or PostmarketOS versions especially since they are planning to add physical keyboards as an add-on
I heard both from online reports and a friend of mine that the pinePhone is not yet ready to be used as a daily driver. (I will admit that when i mention my friend, that data set of who runs a...
I heard both from online reports and a friend of mine that the pinePhone is not yet ready to be used as a daily driver. (I will admit that when i mention my friend, that data set of who runs a pinephone is only 1 person...so i know that is not nearly enough data.) But, do you know: is the pinephone or phones with postmarketos at a place where they can be used as daily driver? (I should add that have a family that i'm responsible for, so can't have a phone not receive an emergency call, etc.) Thanks!
Well this is one of those YMMV I suppose. I don't use it because... well my phone from 2012 still works so I don't buy a new one. Calls seem to work fine though, and UT when I've tried worked...
Well this is one of those YMMV I suppose. I don't use it because... well my phone from 2012 still works so I don't buy a new one.
Calls seem to work fine though, and UT when I've tried worked perfectly BUT - again that can change quickly depending on nonsense like carrier etc and Pinephone is, and will be for the foreseeable future only marketed to tinkerers and hackers for now (which I kinda like tbh compared to the other project which promised amazing things and then didn't deliver at all)
Agreed, my usage is basic, but i would like a little more than just phone calls and text messaging. Thanks! Oh, and yes, acknowledged my misspelling of the phone's proper brand name; mostly...
it is a development device....Otherwise, you are likely to have a bad experience.
Agreed, my usage is basic, but i would like a little more than just phone calls and text messaging. Thanks!
Oh, and yes, acknowledged my misspelling of the phone's proper brand name; mostly rushed, poor typing on my part. ;-)
I've become increasingly sceptical of these small-manufacturer phones that seem to fit niche markets amazingly. They often seem to be built as essentially sham products that seem to excellently fit the needs of the niche market, but only do so superficially, and have defects, shortcomings, and cost-cutting that violate basic assumptions one would have about products fitting those markets. They hide this by heavily pushing preorders, and making it seem like the product may not even be easily available outside of preorders, or will be much more expensive otherwise.
Thus I have the Cosmo Communicator here, the phone built around a seemingly fully-usable touch-typeable keyboard that, bafflingly, was implemented with two-key rollover with seemingly no software or firmware jamming to work around it (good luck touch typing on it, unless you're a very slow typist), and will fully support running Linux on it, by which the manufacturer means that some hobbyists will eventually get Linux somewhat running on it by the time the manufacturer moves on to the next preorder phone. It comes with official support for Dvorak (except that you can't type essentially any word beginning with "th" at any reasonable speed because of rollover) and Greek (except it appears the manufacturer just copied a photo of a keyboard they found somewhere, without realizing that the acute accent needs to be a dead key).
I suspect this involves similar risks, as you suggest. Specs and design that seem perfect, and are likely actually legitimate, but can't be trusted because "quirks" and design flaws will likely exist that just completely violate basic assumptions one should be able to make about functionality, and, of course, horrible communication and support.
Yeah, I was very interested and Mr. Mobile's review had me pretty concerned with the overall quality (both hardware and software).
I appreciate them trying something new here but yikes. $900 for a phone with a Snapdragon 835, 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage...
That's a massive price tag for a phone basically running 4 year old internals. I get that it's a unique form factor but that is a pretty big premium to pay.
Having specs that low also makes me wonder how long it will be usable.
On top of that, F(x)tec's previous phones have gotten mediocre reviews at best.
Those specs are sufficient for a phone. The real question is software support: are you going to need to buy the XDA Phone 2 in 3 years because Lineage dropped support, or are they going to support this thing for 6-8 years so it's effectively half-price?
But they're asking flagship prices and providing 4 year old specs. That's the issue.
They're sufficient for a phone now, yes. Using a 4 year old chipset just means that support will be dropped by Qualcomm even sooner.
Not to mention that Qualcomm has almost certainly not released a new BSP for that SoC, so it's going to be running a kernel that's at least 5 years old.
This is certainly not a phone worth buying, even if you are the kind of person who is into 'hacking' their android experience.
I got mildly excited at first reading the article...but now reading comments here, am deflated. I'll admit that i'm not in the financial position to buy a phone that pricey just yet...but am really looking forward to the day when i can purchase a non-ios or non-android phone that at least runs decently and gives me a little more freedom and privacy. I know there are things that exist like Pusirm Librem and PinePhone, but I've not heard good things about them; at least not consistently. So....the search and the wait continues.
It can be configured with Lineage, vanilla Android or Ubuntu.
You're right...i guess i meant something along the lines of non-proprietary android...? I don't know what the better term for this would be...but some open source phone that is not controlled by a large entity who would have such vast control over my privacy and other factors.
If I would buy in to this - I would probably go with the Pinephone's UT or PostmarketOS versions especially since they are planning to add physical keyboards as an add-on
I heard both from online reports and a friend of mine that the pinePhone is not yet ready to be used as a daily driver. (I will admit that when i mention my friend, that data set of who runs a pinephone is only 1 person...so i know that is not nearly enough data.) But, do you know: is the pinephone or phones with postmarketos at a place where they can be used as daily driver? (I should add that have a family that i'm responsible for, so can't have a phone not receive an emergency call, etc.) Thanks!
Well this is one of those YMMV I suppose. I don't use it because... well my phone from 2012 still works so I don't buy a new one.
Calls seem to work fine though, and UT when I've tried worked perfectly BUT - again that can change quickly depending on nonsense like carrier etc and Pinephone is, and will be for the foreseeable future only marketed to tinkerers and hackers for now (which I kinda like tbh compared to the other project which promised amazing things and then didn't deliver at all)
Agreed; ok, sounds like I'll not be buying any time soon. Thanks!
Agreed, my usage is basic, but i would like a little more than just phone calls and text messaging. Thanks!
Oh, and yes, acknowledged my misspelling of the phone's proper brand name; mostly rushed, poor typing on my part. ;-)