Is the Pinephone any good?

Sicklick

Sicklick

kiwifarms.net
Joined
Jun 25, 2020
I just ordered one off Pine64's official website. As of currently, Linux phone technology is still in it's infancy. The only other alternative to Big Tech are dumb phones. I plan on installing Manjaro once I receive the phone. But then again I have no prior Linux experience and just want to get the feel of it so I can get started. It's better than buying an Android or iPhone imo. iPhones have decent security but zero privacy and Androids have neither. Unless you're jailbroken and running a custom ROM, you're compromised by default through Google Voice. And I've heard some people talk about stuff like GrapheneOS or LineageOS, but that's only if you've got a compatible phone, assuming that the manufacturers will even allow root access to begin with. And even then, there's no point in "ungoogling" an already Googled phone. You're still supporting Google and Big Tech by buying an Android. But that's just me.
 
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Baguette Child said:
Have you looked at any of Purism's stuff? I've heard their Linux phone is coming along pretty nicely, and it has zero Google involved in the hardware or software.
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You mean the Librem 5? That costs $750. Not only that, but I think the Pine64 already has plenty of features the Librephone boasts about. The Pinephone has killswitches behind the cover and the Librem has killswitches that are more easily accessible on the outside. The pinephone also has some other security features that the Librephone has. Both phones are for developers, hackers and Linux nerds, but I just want the Pinephone because it's not ridiculously expensive and it pretty much has most of the features the Librem has.
 
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Exigent Circumcisions said:
I've never heard of it until just now but I'd be interested in hearing your impressions once you've got your hands on one.
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Liber Pater said:
Thank you for alerting me to this. It looks like something I would be interested in purchasing. Please update us on how things go once you get it.
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I'll keep you guys posted. But so far it's been two or three days since I made the purchase (it was $175 total for both the phone and the taxes + shipping fees). Not too bad. I do plan on connecting it to my laptop through the USB cord and installing Manjaro, since when you first get it it'll be running PostMarketOS by default. Just to post the pictures here of both phones.

Pinephone
PinePhone_concepture_drawing.jpg


Librephone
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both phones are pretty damn big. The pine64 is super long while the Librem 5 is super thick. They're pretty bulky.
 
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Just swap out the snoops, who are spying after you and use one of the new Huawei phones - you'll be spied on by the Chinese commies, as opposed to Google commies. I hear these two sects do not get along, so this should work for anyone not living in the Chinese sphere of influence.
 
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Richard Harrow said:
Thanks for posting this. I'm honestly ignorant to the effort of moving away from google/apple and I can definitely see the appeal. I'll be watching for any feedback.
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For the more normie type that still wants to avoid Google it's possible to get ROMs on certain Android phones that don't have Google services installed. Sadly it's getting rarer that this is possible, but there's always at least one phone of every generation that allows for this.
 
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DanteAlighieri said:
For the more normie type that still wants to avoid Google it's possible to get ROMs on certain Android phones that don't have Google services installed. Sadly it's getting rarer that this is possible, but there's always at least one phone of every generation that allows for this.
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These phones are theoretically useable, but you might discover that some of the apps, you rely on, require Google services - your local ride hailing service, an app used for accessing services at some event etc. Might as well use a dumb phone.
 
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Pargon said:
An alternative smartphone that respects privacy and isn't a shitzillion dollars is an idea I've been waiting for. Even if it's slower than my Google leash I'll be pleased. Ordered one today; thanks @Sicklick .
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Just to give you further details, when you get the phone, you'll have to take off the back cover, take out the battery and there'll be a strip of tape or plastic underneath for you to peel off and put the battery back in as well as the case. Otherwise it won't charge. Btw, there's a little notch at the top for you to insert your fingernail and pop it and gently remove the case. Also, you can run the default OS (PostMarketOS), but there's also a million other OSes you can run, like Ubuntu touch and Manjaro, which are great with security and privacy. I'd prefer Manjaro because it's more user-friendly and quicker to install. And another thing is that the battery itself is removable, you don 't have to disassemble the phone to get it out, it's within plain view once you take apart the cover.

 
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Sicklick said:
Just to give you further details, when you get the phone, you'll have to take off the back cover, take out the battery and there'll be a strip of tape or plastic underneath for you to peel off and put the battery back in as well as the case. Otherwise it won't charge. Btw, there's a little notch at the top for you to insert your fingernail and pop it and gently remove the case. Also, you can run the default OS (PostMarketOS), but there's also a million other OSes you can run, like Ubuntu touch and Manjaro, which are great with security and privacy. I'd prefer Manjaro because it's more user-friendly and quicker to install. And another thing is that the battery itself is removable, you don 't have to disassemble the phone to get it out, it's within plain view once you take apart the cover.

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Have you had any issues charging it?
 
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I just wanna know good the cell signal performance is on this phone. Like is it any better than ReplicantOS? I ask because those phones are open source as well, but they can't do anything bigger than "3.5G", which is not as great as 4G.

This is coming from personal experience, when I had a Replicant Phone, I got like 2 bars the most in my room and had to sometimes switch to 2G signal just to hear the calls more clearly and even then sometimes they would drop. With the Moto z4 I have now, that's never an issue (full bars plus always 4G). Definitely NOT something that could be used for anything work/business related.
 
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I would love to hear how the phone performs with 2gb of ram. My phone has that amount and it sucks. Its fine for taking calls, or listening to music, or surfing the web. As in doing those things on their own. Once I multitask, I sometimes have issues. Not major ones, but my music will glitch up for 10-15 sec sometimes while running android auto in my car if my phone get a text or it checks my email. I've gotten Android Auto to crash or temp stop working while surfing the net, listening to music, and using android auto in my car at the same time. Never had an issue with this on my old phone that had 4gb of ram.
 
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