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All Librem 5 smartphones have shipped

puri.sm

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Re: All Librem 5 smartphones have shipped

#61

Post by ukd1 »

woodrowbarlow wrote: post #57
andrewmutz wrote: post #25

Has anyone actually tried using the "convergent os" features for work? Could I hook this up to a monitor and actually enjoy using it for web/email/slack? I don't expect a good experience for using VSCode to develop locally on the device, but perhaps using VSCode via github codespaces or gitpod

the convergent UI is actually great. (i own a librem 5.) my keyboard, mouse, and speakers are connected to my monitor. i connect the phone via a single USB-C cable. suddenly i have full-blown gnome, exactly as i would on a desktop PC or laptop. applications and the launcher return to their normal, desktop layout when using the desktop mode. it's "just plain old linux with gnome" as long as it's connected to your peri…

Convergent tech has been something I've wanted to work well for ages - I remember trying a Samsung Note and Linux on DeX, but it never really worked well. I see from a quick Google it's long since dead. It's likely the only thing that would prompt me to even think about moving from iOS.

One day?

Re: All Librem 5 smartphones have shipped

#62

Post by chunk_waffle »

LoganDark wrote: post #54
Tommstein wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not cell phones. I remember when the most expensive phone you could get was like $700. Then all the stories about how prices were about to hit a ludicrous four figures. Now there's a wide variety of phones that cost four figures.

Man, I miss the days when you could get a rootable phone that could run the latest LineageOS for like $80. (That's how much it was for my Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE which was extremely rootable.)

I miss the Firefox OS phones, I think mine was like $90?

It had it's problems but phone calls and SMS worked reliably.

Re: All Librem 5 smartphones have shipped

#63

Post by nologic01 »

teawrecks wrote: post #56
selectodude wrote: post #5

Why do they keep getting more expensive? $1299??

That's the price of a device that isn't subsidized by your data, is built using sustainable means, and is not yet scaled up for mass market.

I would say that this is good start to build on.

A modern smartphone is a tremendous device. In convergent mode many people would not need a laptop or desktop. With replaceable parts and upgradeable open source software it could last a decade. Further, what exactly is a sane digital society without embedded surveillance worth in dollars?

There is no reason why such phones shouldnt have a mass market and more approachable prices. The status quo is a market failure, not a law of nature.

Re: All Librem 5 smartphones have shipped

#65

Post by TheAceOfHearts »

I also got one and was pretty disappointed, so it has been left sitting on a shelf. I didn't fully understand what I would be getting. The software is unstable, in particular sometimes the app store equivalent just doesn't work.

I really wanted to support the ecosystem outside of the existing duopoly but it just feels too unpolished and limited.

Tried figuring out how to setup a development environment but it didn't seem like it was possible on macOS or the instructions were too inaccessible for me to penetrate.

The hardware kill switches are a neat feature but I don't actually have a strong use case for them, and I'm not a big enough enthusiast.

Honestly, I'm wondering if it would be more effective to buy up some mainstream phone and sell modded versions of it with kill switches. If I had a strong desire for a phone with kill switches I'd probably hire someone to mod an existing phone, rather than build one from scratch.

Re: All Librem 5 smartphones have shipped

#66

Post by haolez »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #14

> Purism is the first to release a truly convergent operating system, beating Apple, Google, and Microsoft to this goal by years. I guess we're discounting Samsung and their Dex engine, then?

I've tried Dex as a daily driver. It's unusable. It's slow, doesn't have customization options nor sane defaults. Alt-Tab is extremely non reliable. I ditched it.

Re: All Librem 5 smartphones have shipped

#67

Post by SamuelAdams »

dsco wrote: post #58
robrtsql wrote: post #45

I have a Librem 5. It's currently collecting dust in my closet. I was enticed by the idea of having a user-replaceable battery (my last phone upgrade was 100% motivated by battery life problems). However, the Librem 5's battery is basically as bad as my Google Pixel's was after degrading for several years. The evening I opened it, I set it down after tinkering with it for a little bit and came back the next day to it…

Could this be a software issue? Did you check if there are background processes draining your battery?

There probably are, but this comment highlights the problem with OSS. Many people want a phone that just works for a full day, without needing to tinker with settings.

Maybe the default settings for Libre 5 are bad? Maybe the software can be improved to improve battery life?

Re: All Librem 5 smartphones have shipped

#69

Post by chunk_waffle »

There have been a few "dumb" phones that have looked interesting lately but they have major issues or are really short run, two that come to mind:

lite phone: https://www.thelightphone.com/shop/products/light-phone-ii-b...

The reviews of this phone that I've seen have been pretty brutal so I've avoided it.

mudita: https://store.mudita.com/store/mudita-pure-minimalist-phone-...

Out of stock, but looked interesting.

Anyone aware of any others?

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