6 ms·

Comparing the Librem 5 USA and PinePhone Beta

60 points by underscore_ku 5y ago

zmix 5y ago
I want a phone I can use with a single hand, that has a really good camera (within physical smartphone limits, of course), still has upper class hardware specs and doesn't place me on Apple's property.
- sofixa 5y ago
  If those are your only requirements, there are a ton of Android-based smartphones out there, based on your hand size. Google's Pixel, Samsung's galaxy, Sony's weirdly named series to name a few.
  - knubie 5y ago
    Maybe if you're Andre the giant. The last truly one-handable smart phone was the iPhone 5/SE.
    - sofixa 5y ago
      As i said, depends on your hand size. For me, the Pixel 6 is uncomfortably small. If I'm not mistaken Sony's weirdly named series (1-1 and stuff like this) have small-sized models ( even if on the longer side).
      - Arelius 5y ago
        Really? I found the Pixel 5 to be on the small side, but the Pixel 6 is pretty large and unwieldy (imo) by comparison. Also, the Xperia 5 series is their "smaller size" flagship. It's larger than the Pixel 5, but a fait bit smaller than the Pixel 6. Still a bit large for my tastes.
    - mattl 5y ago
      iPhone mini is pretty good too
    - piethesailorman 5y ago
      Also a long time iPhone 5/SE advocate. It was the last 0hone with flat edges(maybe not anymore). I am convinced they dedigned the following generations off a bar of soap, requiring another $30+ case, or an expensive screen replacement.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
throwawayboise 5y ago
A long and detailed comparison, but if you are looking for a summary "which one is better" conclusion or even opinion, there isn't one (at least I didn't find it).
- branon 5y ago
  Very long and very detailed, and a lot of fun to read. Closest thing to a conclusion I found was the notion that the devices are quite different from one another. They seek to accomplish the same basic goal, but cater to different groups. This seems reasonable and I'm glad there's some freedom of choice. Both projects are rather far along at this point, at least relative to other, past attempts. Personally I've had a lot of fun with the PinePhone which I opted for mainly because the Librem 5's price tag is out of my reach. I'm excited for the PinePhone Pro to launch which I'll be purchasing as well. One thought that the author expressed, about buying into these projects not necessarily to receive an immediately functional product, but to participate and invest in improving the state of affairs as a whole, really resonated with me. I think the Pro will really help tip the scales from "technically functional curiosity" to "viable daily driver" -- the current state of the device, while excellent in a relative sense, isn't _quite_ enough to replace Android for me. It's hard to tell if it's just not ready, or if my expectations keep changing even as the device's capabilities improve. It feels like the "Year of the Linux desktop" problem, just with a phone this time. It's always technically ready, yet somehow also simultaneously not ready in a more practical sense. Maybe I just need to be more involved? Perhaps it's even more sinister than that. Maybe the current duopoly (Apple/Google) continues to develop their ecosystems partly out of self-defense. The faster they "innovate" and add useless features (like the author's list of anti-features), the further "behind" independent projects like Pine64/Purism appear to be. Thankfully the trained eye can discern that these devices are in a class by themselves. Hopefully they don't get compared to Android/iOS too often, like I just did. Only with the best of intentions, I promise!
  - pmontra 5y ago
    It's not the features Apple and Google add to their systems. It's that I need something to run the banking apps I need to log into my bank accounts with 2FA. It's closer to needing a Windows PC because that program (filing taxes?) runs only there or only with IE6. The solution used to be a VM, maybe I'll be able to reliably virtualize any Android app on a Linux phone. Then I'll buy one.
mattl 5y ago
I can’t see a compelling reason to spend $2000 on a phone that ships with broken audio. $200 for a Pinephone is okay if you’re okay with the idea it will be hard to use.
- asddubs 5y ago
  you can get the non-USA librem 5 for $1200. To me the reason is pretty clear, and mentioned in the article. They employ 11 people to actively improve and upstream the software, so that money goes towards paying them to make this viable in the future. PinePhones rely entirely on the community. That being said, $1200 is also outside of my toy budget, so I'll probably end up getting a pinephone next year.
  - mattl 5y ago
    I would expect them to send me a non-broken phone for 2 grand, if they’re serious
    - asddubs 5y ago
      i guess you're a glass half empty kind of person
      - mattl 5y ago
        I’m just not sure how they’re shipping broken phones. They can’t be making many but there’s no QA?
        asddubs 5y ago
        It was just a joke. I mean if this person didn't just get really unlucky and something broke between QA and them getting the phone, they should obviously improve their QA. I was more trying to justify the high price tag in general
yosito 5y ago
This is incredibly detailed, which is impressive. But in the first two minutes of reading it, the conclusion is basically, neither phone is ready to use as a daily driver.

60 points by underscore_ku 5y ago

zmix 5y ago

I want a phone I can use with a single hand, that has a really good camera (within physical smartphone limits, of course), still has upper class hardware specs and doesn't place me on Apple's property.

sofixa 5y ago
If those are your only requirements, there are a ton of Android-based smartphones out there, based on your hand size. Google's Pixel, Samsung's galaxy, Sony's weirdly named series to name a few.
- knubie 5y ago
  Maybe if you're Andre the giant. The last truly one-handable smart phone was the iPhone 5/SE.
  - sofixa 5y ago
    As i said, depends on your hand size. For me, the Pixel 6 is uncomfortably small. If I'm not mistaken Sony's weirdly named series (1-1 and stuff like this) have small-sized models ( even if on the longer side).
    - Arelius 5y ago
      Really? I found the Pixel 5 to be on the small side, but the Pixel 6 is pretty large and unwieldy (imo) by comparison. Also, the Xperia 5 series is their "smaller size" flagship. It's larger than the Pixel 5, but a fait bit smaller than the Pixel 6. Still a bit large for my tastes.
  - mattl 5y ago
    iPhone mini is pretty good too
  - piethesailorman 5y ago
    Also a long time iPhone 5/SE advocate. It was the last 0hone with flat edges(maybe not anymore). I am convinced they dedigned the following generations off a bar of soap, requiring another $30+ case, or an expensive screen replacement.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

throwawayboise 5y ago

A long and detailed comparison, but if you are looking for a summary "which one is better" conclusion or even opinion, there isn't one (at least I didn't find it).

branon 5y ago
Very long and very detailed, and a lot of fun to read. Closest thing to a conclusion I found was the notion that the devices are quite different from one another. They seek to accomplish the same basic goal, but cater to different groups. This seems reasonable and I'm glad there's some freedom of choice. Both projects are rather far along at this point, at least relative to other, past attempts. Personally I've had a lot of fun with the PinePhone which I opted for mainly because the Librem 5's price tag is out of my reach. I'm excited for the PinePhone Pro to launch which I'll be purchasing as well. One thought that the author expressed, about buying into these projects not necessarily to receive an immediately functional product, but to participate and invest in improving the state of affairs as a whole, really resonated with me. I think the Pro will really help tip the scales from "technically functional curiosity" to "viable daily driver" -- the current state of the device, while excellent in a relative sense, isn't _quite_ enough to replace Android for me. It's hard to tell if it's just not ready, or if my expectations keep changing even as the device's capabilities improve. It feels like the "Year of the Linux desktop" problem, just with a phone this time. It's always technically ready, yet somehow also simultaneously not ready in a more practical sense. Maybe I just need to be more involved? Perhaps it's even more sinister than that. Maybe the current duopoly (Apple/Google) continues to develop their ecosystems partly out of self-defense. The faster they "innovate" and add useless features (like the author's list of anti-features), the further "behind" independent projects like Pine64/Purism appear to be. Thankfully the trained eye can discern that these devices are in a class by themselves. Hopefully they don't get compared to Android/iOS too often, like I just did. Only with the best of intentions, I promise!
- pmontra 5y ago
  It's not the features Apple and Google add to their systems. It's that I need something to run the banking apps I need to log into my bank accounts with 2FA. It's closer to needing a Windows PC because that program (filing taxes?) runs only there or only with IE6. The solution used to be a VM, maybe I'll be able to reliably virtualize any Android app on a Linux phone. Then I'll buy one.

mattl 5y ago

I can’t see a compelling reason to spend $2000 on a phone that ships with broken audio. $200 for a Pinephone is okay if you’re okay with the idea it will be hard to use.

asddubs 5y ago
you can get the non-USA librem 5 for $1200. To me the reason is pretty clear, and mentioned in the article. They employ 11 people to actively improve and upstream the software, so that money goes towards paying them to make this viable in the future. PinePhones rely entirely on the community. That being said, $1200 is also outside of my toy budget, so I'll probably end up getting a pinephone next year.
- mattl 5y ago
  I would expect them to send me a non-broken phone for 2 grand, if they’re serious
  - asddubs 5y ago
    i guess you're a glass half empty kind of person
    - mattl 5y ago
      I’m just not sure how they’re shipping broken phones. They can’t be making many but there’s no QA?
      - asddubs 5y ago
        It was just a joke. I mean if this person didn't just get really unlucky and something broke between QA and them getting the phone, they should obviously improve their QA. I was more trying to justify the high price tag in general

yosito 5y ago

This is incredibly detailed, which is impressive. But in the first two minutes of reading it, the conclusion is basically, neither phone is ready to use as a daily driver.