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Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

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Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#271

Post by undecisive »

Sodman wrote: post #261
k_ wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like we're looking for similar things. I am currently waiting for delivery of my Astro Slide [0] [0]: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transforme... which has android / linux dual boot. Not sure if performance are what you are looking for.

This looks much more like what I'm looking for alright! Doing some background research it looks like they had some issues with their chipset supplier and had to downgrade the chip a little, but performance benchmarks put it ~around the same place as my Pixel 5's current CPU, which I'd say is much more acceptable (if not totally cutting edge flagship-tier) for a phone in 2021! At $576 (Edit: now $621, looks like the e…

Yeah, there was some weirdness on that - they tried to change it and things went wrong.

If you have a look at the updates, specifically the Week 42 Update, they have a revised timeline:

Final Astro - PCB March 2021

Production Master - March 2021

Final Testing and Debugging - May 2021

Device Certifications - May 2021

Mass Production Start – June 2021

First shipping - June 2021

They're more or less on track, it seems...

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#272

Post by filmor »

aidenn0 wrote: post #253
thesuitonym wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kind of crazy to me that people are concerned about the thickness of phones, yet nobody bats an eye when they keep getting bigger and bigger in the other dimensions. I guess screen size trumps all other concerns.

Right. My Palm Pre fit in my pocket better than any modern smartphone where almost all models are starting to push a 6" diagonal. The corner invariably digs into my hip when I sit down. For women it matters less since pockets in women's clothing are a joke

Same here. It's near impossible to get a <5" phone nowadays, and everything else is too big for me. I really really liked my Pre3, maybe I'll just start using it again when my Samsung A3 finally dies :)

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#274

Post by swiley »

Ashanmaril wrote: post #102

It's a sad fact of life that if you want a good phone that will age okay, and be supported for at least a few years with OS/security updates, and will have decent customer support if you run into issues, you're just gonna have to get a phone from one of the big guys. Making a phone is hard. Every time I see one of these niche phones that tries to appeal to a crowd with offers of "privacy" or "user control" I think it…

>* Some kind of Linux distro for phones that will probably have an even worse app ecosystem than the previous option

I have a pinephone and it's the first phone I've had with what I would consider a decent app ecosystem. All the apps I use on my laptop run on it just fine.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#275

Post by aidenn0 »

29083011397778 wrote: post #266
aidenn0 wrote: post #251

I've had phones with landscape and portrait mode keyboards, and the latter were invariably better. Maybe it's just that Palm and RIM were better at making keyboards, but I'm not interested in a landscape keyboard at this point

I would put an offensively large bet on BlackBerry putting absurd amounts of effort into their keyboards, instead of landscape being inherently worse. Based on everything I've ever seen, heard, and read, they cared deeply about hardware design. "Losing the Signal", regarding the rise and fall on BlackBerry, made it clear they tested for things like drops extensively, and (IIRC) went as far as literally throwing at le…

On further reflection, I think that it's just not that much worse to two-thumb type on a narrow keyboard, and a landscape isn't big enough to five finger type, but to big to single-thumb type.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#276

Post by stevecat »

Sodman wrote: post #170

I still consider my old Nokia E70[0] my favorite phone of all time, so I am definitely in the target demographic for this, as I'm 100% sold on the usefulness of a physical keyboard on a phone... However the CPU just doesn't match the "pro" branding, or the price range. I'd personally rather throw an extra $200-300 on top to get a flagship CPU and then it would be close to a perfect phone for me! As it currently is, t…

The Nokia E72 was my favourite phone form-factor. I really wanted to try Android but was so resistive to keyboardless-phones that I bought a HTC ChaCha, regretted it immediately, and finally relented. I still miss a keyboard.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#278

Post by kroltan »

PH01 wrote: post #37
tifadg1 wrote: post #23

For english language, swipe typing coupled with autocorrect works astonishingly well. So much so that I use it regularly because of lazyness. What segment does the physical keyboard appeal to? Youngins were born and raised touching the screen, so it's archaic to them. Old timers are jaded at this point to either wait for their dream phone or buy any cheap crap. So who's the target for this 900 usd device?

What is your baseline for how good swipe typing is? Pre-smartphone plenty of people touch typed text messages. No need to be staring at the screen. Stealth messages could be sent without taking the phone out of your pocket. Physical keyboards probably appear to a significant section of people who would like to use their phone as a productivity device. Surely if swipe typing is so good it would be an option in Windows…

> Stealth messages could be sent without taking the phone out of your pocket

Remember when phones were predictable enough that you could remember where everything was and navigate anywhere through memory alone?

Nowadays you need to be very skillful to even open the app you meant to, let alone press the right keys on a keyboard.

Heck, sometimes between all of notifications, video overlays, recommendations, ads, frequent redesigns, non-deterministic search results and whatnot, you might congratulate yourself for being able to do the thing you meant to at all!

(And no, I don't have any physical, vision or mental impairment, and I have grown up with technology)

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#279

Post by commandnotfound »

simplyaccont wrote: post #277

It's all nice and stuff, but does it support VoLTE ? With impending shutdown of 3G networks in USA next year, without VoLTE, you can't really use phone part of the smartphone

Disabling the 3G network doesn't mean they are going to disable the older 2G networks that are widely used to make calls even if connected through LTE. Here (Czech Republic) the 3G network was disabled today and the phone part of my phone works even though VoLTE is not being used.

Re: Pro1 X: A Linux smartphone with slideout keyboard

#280

Post by takeda »

I placed an order for their previous model, they assured me that I should get it 4 - 8 weeks. After I didn't get anything for 6 months I messaged them that I want to withdraw my order (the phone had already old hardware during release, and it was a year old when I ordered it, but at the same time it cost as much as a high end phone). I got no response from them. I then contacted my credit card company and they charged back.

It sucks, because, I would really love phone with a hardware keyboard. I would place an order, but am afraid of the same thing happening again.

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