At some point, I think the Librem 5 could be that alternative. Some say it's too expensive. They're not wrong, but Purism (makers of the Librem 5) can't make a

At some point, I think the Librem 5 could be that alternative. Some say it's too expensive. They're not wrong, but Purism (makers of the Librem 5) can't make any money on the software or App sales - they have to sell hardware to pay for R&D, software engineers, and the actual cost of hardware. Beyond this, it's not actually too far off from the high-end phones people (in North America) buy anyways. This leads to "The phones people buy are subsidized by the carrier, making them seem less expensive". This is a real hurdle I can't think of any way around, unless Purism offers financing. They currently have a 6 month lead time though, which might match up with this concept really well. Making all your payments within 6 months means Purism gets paid by the time the phone ships, and it's not a lump sum for anyone who uses this option. Now we're down to software. On my Pinephone, it's still beta quality. But calls, SMS, Matrix, Firefox, and more all work - just slowly. With the Librem 5's more powerful hardware, I think we're at a state where tech nerds can use it as a daily phone. Fortunately, Purism and Pine64 aren't working alone. Improvements to Firefox, Phosh, Calls, and more, are shared between them and anyone else that contributes. Even better, there's a goal to shoot for. The basic UI of a smartphone is out there, and has been for a decade. Free software's biggest handicap (commonly cited as design and UX) is less hobbling, as there's other OS's to take inspiration from. And the software is improving measurably every week (on my Pinephone running Arch). The hardware is lacking, too. But phone speed is reaching, or has reached, a point of diminishing returns (depending on whom you ask). Will the Librem 5 ever be great hardware? No, I don't think anyone will say it'll ever stand toe-to-toe with the latest (or maybe even a current) iPhone. But with software improvements, it can be good enough. And that's really all we need.