Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs • Hacker News Board

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#11

Post by ThreeFx » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:02 PM UTC

prolepunk wrote: post #5

Hmmm, almost exactly half the specs of OnePlus 3, way more expensive than OnePlus 3 when it came out 3 years ago. How this is better than installing lineage Os on oneplus 3? -- https://download.lineageos.org/oneplus3 I understand anyone who wants privacy need to pay extra, but is it really justifiable to pay this much for that?

As someone "upgrading" from the OnePlus 3:

It isn't about the hardware, and it also isn't about PureOS itself. It's about people caring enough to build an entirely new mobile operating system which actually respects your privacy and gives you tools to ensure it.

I'm really amazed at what they got running in the few years this project existed. Of course the phone won't be some spectacular mobile gaming machine, but that's not what I paid for. I paid for a privacy-respecting, secure phone. I paid for getting Linux to run on mobile OSes. That's what is important to me and many others.

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#12

Post by JoshTriplett » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:05 PM UTC

> 5.7″ IPS TFT screen @ 720×1440

Sad that this didn't end up using a low-power OLED screen. I can live with 720p resolution, but I'm surprised that for the cost an OLED screen wasn't possible.

I was hoping that such a screen on an open device would help drive the adoption of dark themes in applications for power-saving reasons.

Still looking forward to trying the device, though.

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#13

Post by zeveb » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:07 PM UTC

Ever since I saw the project come out, I've been thinking about what would be required for me to switch from Android. Right now I think that my hard requirements are:

  - Firefox (pretty sure they have it)

  - Signal (I use it all the time)

I don't know if some kind of TOTP store (think Google Authenticator or andOTP) is a hard requirement or a soft one, but it would surely be useful. I can live without my banking app (there's always the website); I can live without Uber or the Google apps; I can live without Kindle and all my streaming (could always keep a SIMless phone around to use as a media device).

As long as it has a browser and Signal, I really think it could be competitive.

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#14

Post by AWildC182 » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:09 PM UTC

kapnobatairza wrote: post #9

I've been looking for a "FOSS" phone that is based purely on AOSP. I don't want a custom ROM, Play Store, cloud, or to have to create any accounts or sign into anything. I just want a simple Android phone with decent specs that I can install APKs on. Does this exist at all? Or do I have to buy/pay for a "full" Android phone and reflash it?

Buy an unlocked bootloader phone (ie oneplus) and put lineage os on it. Lineage doesn't come with any of the google apps or the play store, just a few basic apps and the ability to put whatever else you want on it.

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#15

Post by jethro_tell » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

zeveb wrote: post #13

Ever since I saw the project come out, I've been thinking about what would be required for me to switch from Android. Right now I think that my hard requirements are: - Firefox (pretty sure they have it) - Signal (I use it all the time) I don't know if some kind of TOTP store (think Google Authenticator or andOTP) is a hard requirement or a soft one, but it would surely be useful. I can live without my banking app (t…

Signals going to be a no go right? From what I remember it needs google services for push notifications.

As far as the non mobile version, I think that is an election app that uses a pretty good chunk of ram

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#16

Post by redwards510 » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

RandomBacon wrote: post #4

Tepix wrote: post #2

Low budget alternative: The Pinephone by Pine64, also with 4 ARM Cortex-A53 cores. https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/

Cool, I want to get one of those also, but they're not selling it and I don't see any links about when we can buy it, for how much, and when it will ship.

I can't find the info for the price, but I remember seeing it before and it was very low, like $200, which would make this a very exciting entry into the notAndroidOrIOS market. The Librem 5 was cool at first, until they started delaying it indefinitely and the price is too high for mass adoption. By having a very low price on the Pinephone they are courting a lot more tinkerers to get one and help develop the OS versus the Librem which people would kind of (rightly) expect to be fully-formed at launch.

    As things stand today, we expect a fully functional prototype in August

https://www.pine64.org/2019/06/06/june-2019-news-pinephone-p...

https://wiki.pine64.org/index.php/Project_Don't_be_evil

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#17

Post by floren » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #2

Low budget alternative: The Pinephone by Pine64, also with 4 ARM Cortex-A53 cores. https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/

I'm extremely excited for the Pinephone and intend to order one as soon as it becomes available. I may resurrect Hellaphone on it (edit: oops fix link https://bitbucket.org/floren/inferno/wiki/Home) or at the very least start building my own library of no-bullshit phone tools, free from modern phone crap.

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#18

Post by mrob » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

JoshTriplett wrote: post #12

> 5.7″ IPS TFT screen @ 720×1440 Sad that this didn't end up using a low-power OLED screen. I can live with 720p resolution, but I'm surprised that for the cost an OLED screen wasn't possible. I was hoping that such a screen on an open device would help drive the adoption of dark themes in applications for power-saving reasons. Still looking forward to trying the device, though.

I prefer LCD. AFAIK, all OLED screens on the market use PWM brightness control in the 100s of Hz range, which for many people causes phantom array effect during eye movement. LCDs can have DC backlights, avoiding this annoyance.

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#19

Post by Avamander » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:15 PM UTC

mrob wrote: post #18

JoshTriplett wrote: post #12

> 5.7″ IPS TFT screen @ 720×1440 Sad that this didn't end up using a low-power OLED screen. I can live with 720p resolution, but I'm surprised that for the cost an OLED screen wasn't possible. I was hoping that such a screen on an open device would help drive the adoption of dark themes in applications for power-saving reasons. Still looking forward to trying the device, though.

I prefer LCD. AFAIK, all OLED screens on the market use PWM brightness control in the 100s of Hz range, which for many people causes phantom array effect during eye movement. LCDs can have DC backlights, avoiding this annoyance.

Also most OLEDs have purple ghosting and burn-in which is annoying for many.

Re: Librem 5 Smartphone Final Specs

#20

Post by rehemiau » Mon, Jul 29, 2019, 5:17 PM UTC

AWildC182 wrote: post #14

kapnobatairza wrote: post #9

I've been looking for a "FOSS" phone that is based purely on AOSP. I don't want a custom ROM, Play Store, cloud, or to have to create any accounts or sign into anything. I just want a simple Android phone with decent specs that I can install APKs on. Does this exist at all? Or do I have to buy/pay for a "full" Android phone and reflash it?

Buy an unlocked bootloader phone (ie oneplus) and put lineage os on it. Lineage doesn't come with any of the google apps or the play store, just a few basic apps and the ability to put whatever else you want on it.

This is what I've been doing for a few years now. Some apps require Google Play Services (Revolut?), some show a warning that can be ignored and run fine afterwards (Authy, Signal), some have limited functionality like no notifications (Slack), but many work just fine (Firefox, Spotify, and even Messenger Lite)