Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1337
Librem 5 backers have begun receiving their Linux phones
When Ars spoke to Purism founder and CEO Todd Weaver two weeks ago, the Librem 5 had been "shipping" for a month but not to backers—only to Purism employees and inside developers. Weaver talked a little about the unexpected hardware issues the company had been experiencing late in the game, including a batch of phone boards missing a 10kOhm resistor, and he gave us an updated schedule for when the phones would resume shipping. More importantly, Weaver said backers would begin receiving their phones by the first week of December.
Thankfully, the company met this latest deadline on time. On November 27, Ars reader Azdle posted a comment to the thread—"Just because I can, hello from my freshly-received Librem 5 phone! (And, no, I don't work for Purism, I'm just an early backer." Azdle was also kind enough to share some unboxing pictures and some commentary about what, exactly, a Librem 5 phone from the Birch shipment is—and what it's not.
First of all, it's not really a "phone" yet. There's no audio when attempting to place a phone call. The cameras also don't appear to work yet. Azdle reports "installing and opening up Cheese"—Cheese is a very basic Linux video application, installed by default in many distros—"I just get a message saying 'no device found.'" There's also effectively no power management yet, so the Librem doesn't last long on battery.
[...] This isn't supposed to be a finished, working, retail-ready phone—it's a (mostly) working prototype, made available in very small numbers to extremely early backers who knew what they were getting into.
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The PinePhone is powered through an Allwinner A64 SoC, which options 4 Cortex A53 CPUs at 1.2GHz, constructed on an attractive historical 40nm procedure. This is similar chip the corporate makes use of at the PINE A64 unmarried board pc, a Raspberry Pi competitor. There are 2GB of RAM, a Mali-400 GPU, 16GB of garage, and a 2750mAh battery. The rear digicam is 5MP, the entrance digicam is 2MP, the show is a 1440×720 IPS LCD, and the battery is detachable. There is a headphone jack, a USB-C port, and strengthen for a MicroSD slot, which you'll if truth be told boot running techniques off of. The mobile modem is a big separate chip this is soldered onto the motherboard: a Quectel EG25-G.
Earlier on SN:
PinePhone Linux Smartphone Priced at $149 to Arrive This Year (2019)
Librem 5 Backers Have Begun Receiving Their Linux Phones (2019)
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Tuesday December 03 2019, @07:32PM (2 children)
Not having a camera and sound on the device is a boon, for those who want a safe terminal only.
Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
(Score: 1) by Arik on Tuesday December 03 2019, @08:10PM (1 child)
I'd be happy with physical sliders to disconnect things like microphones and specific radios, were they well designed. So happy you could skip all the computer stuff entirely as long as you got that right.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday December 03 2019, @08:38PM
I will be buying one of these, once I can actually use it as a phone.
I am not too bothered with physical switches, but the removable battery is great and of course no Google or Apple.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 03 2019, @07:44PM
The hardware kill switch appears to retain some privacy on unboxing...
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 03 2019, @08:25PM (4 children)
Did they check the audio/camera kill switches?
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 03 2019, @08:28PM (1 child)
IE they software or firmware toggle the components, not actually physically disconnect them. The pinephone has the same problem.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 03 2019, @08:48PM
BS, they are hardware kill switches that actually disconnect the power
https://puri.sm/posts/lockdown-mode-on-the-librem-5-beyond-hardware-kill-switches/ [puri.sm]
https://puri.sm/learn/hardware-kill-switches/ [puri.sm]
https://puri.sm/posts/hard-not-soft-kill-switches/ [puri.sm]
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Tuesday December 03 2019, @11:12PM (1 child)
So it's a brick. A very expensive brick.
If you just want to run Linux, but a laptop or tablet. At least you'll have audio.
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 04 2019, @10:36PM
Yeah... pulseAudio
(Score: 3, Informative) by richtopia on Tuesday December 03 2019, @09:29PM
Sorry. I understand low volume niche devices are expensive to make, but I cannot swallow the $700 price tag.
I will however be backing the PinePhone project. The Braveheart edition is for sale now, but I'm waiting for the production version. I like using Linux but I could never get it installed until Ubuntu came along and held my hand; I don't want to have those headaches again with early hardware.
Both devices look good and I really hope they succeed. Even if it is a marginal phone I will appreciate having a linux computer in my pocket: pair with bluetooth mouse, keyboard, and USB-c monitor and I can actually do something productive.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 04 2019, @01:39AM (3 children)
Librem was beginning to slide toward the scam end of the spectrum, in my mind. I had some trouble with that, since they do offer and sell other products. But, no delivery to anyone outside the company? That felt scammy.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Wednesday December 04 2019, @03:45AM
What slid was the schedule.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday December 04 2019, @10:18AM (1 child)
In other news, Satan was recently heard to be complaining about how "it's freezing down here" and the Chinese swine flu epidemic has combined with the bird flu epidemic to infect whole herds of flying pigs.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 04 2019, @08:32PM
So, swine flew?