6 ms·

Looks promising. I'd like to be able to switch, but I'm not sure it's practical. Is there anyone here who has used or is using the Librem 5 smartphone? I have

by cs702 3y ago

Looks promising. I'd like to be able to switch, but I'm not sure it's practical. Is there anyone here who has used or is using the Librem 5 smartphone? I have a few questions about it: * How is the the mobile version of PureOS? Do you like it? * How responsive are apps on the phone? Do they feel snappy? * Are you able to sync your email and calendar on either Google Apps or Outlook for offline access?

The_Colonel 3y ago
> Looks promising. Purism has a long history of making grand promises and not delivering them. They make sketchy things like promising a possibility to refund and then gaslighting customers that such promise did not happen.
- _cenw 3y ago
  Purism attempts to join the fediverse, refuses to moderate their instance, attracts some of the worst people they could, gets defederated by mostly everyone and eventually gives up all in a span of a few weeks to turn into spambot paradise is a very nice miniature version of the company's operating scheme. (For clarity: It still runs, but Mastodon from 2019.)
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - seba_dos1 3y ago
    Librem Social is moderated and has a CoC: https://librem.one/conduct/ https://librem.one/conduct/ It wasn't initially as the idea was to disable things like direct messages and rely on blocking (IIRC some blocking features were even improved upstream as part of the Librem One project), but that was quickly scrapped as it's not something that works with federation very well.
    - _cenw 3y ago
      If you care, why haven't you patched in 4 years? https://social.librem.one/nodeinfo/2.0 https://social.librem.one/nodeinfo/2.0
- pengaru 3y ago
  At least they've shipped devices resembling phones to some people. I've even held and used one, they exist and kind of function. If they hadn't managed that, they would be indistinguishable from a LARP preying on FOSS enthusiasts' hopium and dollars in the phone context.
monarchistmaybe 3y ago
I never did get my hands on a Librem despite preordering it and waiting, but I have a PinePhone from Pine64. It can use the same Phosh launcher UI used in Librem's PureOS (depends on which OS you have installed). Phosh is nice enough, though some of the UI decisions do feel a bit weird. The Pinephone (not pro) I got was slow and the software was very alpha, but I've heard it's better now. Again, not sure about the Librem as I got stuck in the queue and gave up eventually. I heard there were Librem5 overheating issues and I'm not sure if that's been adequately addressed. Phosh on the Pinephone definitely wasn't snappy. Maybe it will be snappier with Pro and a new update since I haven't tried it out again in years. I never got around to syncing things too much, but there are definitely email clients on Linux that'll work though how "mobile" their UI is, I'm not sure. Purism created libhandy[0] that's now managed my GNOME to mobilify these things and again I'm not sure about the status, but I'm sure Email was a high priority. [0]: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libhandy https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libhandy
- seba_dos1 3y ago
  > I heard there were Librem5 overheating issues and I'm not sure if that's been adequately addressed. I have no troubles with overheating on my phone, I can even compile things on it. Some people living in warmer climates report that it may be challenging to charge the phone when it's on as it has a thermal threshold where it stops charging. Should get better with system suspend, which was very experimental until now (still not enabled by default, but it got reliable enough to actually use it on a daily driver). When it comes to perceived performance, Librem 5 is definitely closer to PinePhone Pro than the original PinePhone, which was very slow.
  - monarchistmaybe 3y ago
    > people living in warmer climates report that it may be challenging to charge the phone This phone is being sold for $1300 and whether you can charge it consistently depends on your latitude and experimental software. > Librem 5 is definitely closer to PinePhone Pro The PinePhone Pro is $399 and I can have it next week. I could buy three PinePhone Pros and wear them out a year before one Librem 5 with difficulty charging ships.
michelledepeil 3y ago
yes, daily driving for 2 years now. * it's good. works well, apps reflow nicely, can run a lot of stuff simultaneously without memory issues. There is a nasty kernel bug relating to suspend and the wwan modem, but that's not pureos specific. * depending on the app, ranging from snappy to so-so. Especially flatpaks tend to stutter... * I don't use those services but it should be possible via gnome-accounts. I do sync a caldav and carddav and that works flawlessly. written from librewolf on my librem5
- mike-cardwell 3y ago
  Battery life?
  - michelledepeil 3y ago
    Not great. With suspend enabled and if I don't use it much, about 8 hours to 0%. If I leave it on (i.e. disable suspend), about 3 hours. I'm honestly almost always near a charger, which I also realize is just a cope.
    - fsflover 3y ago
      This is not normal for this phone. I think you should ask for help on the forums or by email. Examples: https://forums.puri.sm/t/modem-draining-the-battery-very-fast/19682 https://forums.puri.sm/t/modem-draining-the-battery-very-fas... https://forums.puri.sm/t/current-l5-idle-battery-life/14772 https://forums.puri.sm/t/current-l5-idle-battery-life/14772
      - michelledepeil 3y ago
        You're probably right, and battery life varies a bit day-to-day. I haven't done a formal test to double check my statements above, more just a feeling. I've had the phone for a while and the battery has gone through many cycles. It has definitely lost some capacity.
    - mattl 3y ago
blendergeek 3y ago
> How is the the mobile version of PureOS? Do you like it? Personally I like it. Phosh is pretty and snappy. > How responsive are apps on the phone? Do they feel snappy? Reasonable by Linux phone standards. Sometimes an app can take 2 or 3 secondds to load, but it shows a splash screen instantly so it still feels like its working. A mobile CSS firefox tweak (preinstalled) makes it work and it is very responsive and snappy. > Are you able to sync your email and calendar on either Google Apps or Outlook for offline access? Yes. Well Imap email works and CalDav calendars. I think Google calendars work. I use a generic Imap email provider and Nextcloud for contacts / email. But the battery life is abysmal. I got between 4 and 8 hours battery life. Apparently suspend is now working so that should be fixed. The camera app wwas awful (but that is now fixed). But the biggest problem was that the modem constantly dropped out meaning I would miss calls and messages makimg the phone useless. I now use a OnePlus 6 with postmarketOS and I haven't looked back.
- mattl 3y ago
  Is the OnePlus 6 a phone someone could buy today or is it an older phone you’d have to buy used?
  - blendergeek 3y ago
    The OnePlus 6 is no longer maunfactured. However there are a great many in existence that can be purchased.
    - mattl 3y ago
      Probably from eBay and the like though? I can’t go somewhere and buy a dozen of these, new in box?
      - blendergeek 3y ago
        Personally I recommend buying pre-owned eleectronics on Swappa, a marketplace for lightly-used, non-junk electronics.
- 3y ago
myself248 3y ago
The OS feels just like desktop Ubuntu or something, but has a few tweaks to work better with a touchscreen. It's quite usable. I haven't dug much into customization because I don't feel like I need to, and that's awesome. Apps are fine, performance feels more than adequate. It's not Android so most of the apps I'm used to aren't available, but the ones that do exist are snappy enough. That's kinda the point, though, so that's not a complaint, just an observation. I haven't poked at either of those emails, sorry. Regular POP/IMAP email works just like you'd expect. My main complaint is battery life. It gets warm just sitting there, and it charges really slowly even using my best PD-compliant charger. If I forget to plug it in tonight, it'll be dead by morning, and I can't put enough charge back into it briefly during breakfast for it to be useful tomorrow daytime. As long as I'm fanatical about making sure it's plugged in every night, it's fine.

by cs702 3y ago

The_Colonel 3y ago

> Looks promising. Purism has a long history of making grand promises and not delivering them. They make sketchy things like promising a possibility to refund and then gaslighting customers that such promise did not happen.

_cenw 3y ago
Purism attempts to join the fediverse, refuses to moderate their instance, attracts some of the worst people they could, gets defederated by mostly everyone and eventually gives up all in a span of a few weeks to turn into spambot paradise is a very nice miniature version of the company's operating scheme. (For clarity: It still runs, but Mastodon from 2019.)
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- seba_dos1 3y ago
  Librem Social is moderated and has a CoC: https://librem.one/conduct/ https://librem.one/conduct/ It wasn't initially as the idea was to disable things like direct messages and rely on blocking (IIRC some blocking features were even improved upstream as part of the Librem One project), but that was quickly scrapped as it's not something that works with federation very well.
  - _cenw 3y ago
    If you care, why haven't you patched in 4 years? https://social.librem.one/nodeinfo/2.0 https://social.librem.one/nodeinfo/2.0
pengaru 3y ago
At least they've shipped devices resembling phones to some people. I've even held and used one, they exist and kind of function. If they hadn't managed that, they would be indistinguishable from a LARP preying on FOSS enthusiasts' hopium and dollars in the phone context.

monarchistmaybe 3y ago

I never did get my hands on a Librem despite preordering it and waiting, but I have a PinePhone from Pine64. It can use the same Phosh launcher UI used in Librem's PureOS (depends on which OS you have installed). Phosh is nice enough, though some of the UI decisions do feel a bit weird. The Pinephone (not pro) I got was slow and the software was very alpha, but I've heard it's better now. Again, not sure about the Librem as I got stuck in the queue and gave up eventually. I heard there were Librem5 overheating issues and I'm not sure if that's been adequately addressed. Phosh on the Pinephone definitely wasn't snappy. Maybe it will be snappier with Pro and a new update since I haven't tried it out again in years. I never got around to syncing things too much, but there are definitely email clients on Linux that'll work though how "mobile" their UI is, I'm not sure. Purism created libhandy[0] that's now managed my GNOME to mobilify these things and again I'm not sure about the status, but I'm sure Email was a high priority. [0]: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libhandy https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/libhandy

seba_dos1 3y ago
> I heard there were Librem5 overheating issues and I'm not sure if that's been adequately addressed. I have no troubles with overheating on my phone, I can even compile things on it. Some people living in warmer climates report that it may be challenging to charge the phone when it's on as it has a thermal threshold where it stops charging. Should get better with system suspend, which was very experimental until now (still not enabled by default, but it got reliable enough to actually use it on a daily driver). When it comes to perceived performance, Librem 5 is definitely closer to PinePhone Pro than the original PinePhone, which was very slow.
- monarchistmaybe 3y ago
  > people living in warmer climates report that it may be challenging to charge the phone This phone is being sold for $1300 and whether you can charge it consistently depends on your latitude and experimental software. > Librem 5 is definitely closer to PinePhone Pro The PinePhone Pro is $399 and I can have it next week. I could buy three PinePhone Pros and wear them out a year before one Librem 5 with difficulty charging ships.

michelledepeil 3y ago

yes, daily driving for 2 years now. * it's good. works well, apps reflow nicely, can run a lot of stuff simultaneously without memory issues. There is a nasty kernel bug relating to suspend and the wwan modem, but that's not pureos specific. * depending on the app, ranging from snappy to so-so. Especially flatpaks tend to stutter... * I don't use those services but it should be possible via gnome-accounts. I do sync a caldav and carddav and that works flawlessly. written from librewolf on my librem5

mike-cardwell 3y ago
Battery life?
- michelledepeil 3y ago
  Not great. With suspend enabled and if I don't use it much, about 8 hours to 0%. If I leave it on (i.e. disable suspend), about 3 hours. I'm honestly almost always near a charger, which I also realize is just a cope.
  - fsflover 3y ago
    This is not normal for this phone. I think you should ask for help on the forums or by email. Examples: https://forums.puri.sm/t/modem-draining-the-battery-very-fast/19682 https://forums.puri.sm/t/modem-draining-the-battery-very-fas... https://forums.puri.sm/t/current-l5-idle-battery-life/14772 https://forums.puri.sm/t/current-l5-idle-battery-life/14772
    - michelledepeil 3y ago
      You're probably right, and battery life varies a bit day-to-day. I haven't done a formal test to double check my statements above, more just a feeling. I've had the phone for a while and the battery has gone through many cycles. It has definitely lost some capacity.
  - mattl 3y ago

blendergeek 3y ago

> How is the the mobile version of PureOS? Do you like it? Personally I like it. Phosh is pretty and snappy. > How responsive are apps on the phone? Do they feel snappy? Reasonable by Linux phone standards. Sometimes an app can take 2 or 3 secondds to load, but it shows a splash screen instantly so it still feels like its working. A mobile CSS firefox tweak (preinstalled) makes it work and it is very responsive and snappy. > Are you able to sync your email and calendar on either Google Apps or Outlook for offline access? Yes. Well Imap email works and CalDav calendars. I think Google calendars work. I use a generic Imap email provider and Nextcloud for contacts / email. But the battery life is abysmal. I got between 4 and 8 hours battery life. Apparently suspend is now working so that should be fixed. The camera app wwas awful (but that is now fixed). But the biggest problem was that the modem constantly dropped out meaning I would miss calls and messages makimg the phone useless. I now use a OnePlus 6 with postmarketOS and I haven't looked back.

mattl 3y ago
Is the OnePlus 6 a phone someone could buy today or is it an older phone you’d have to buy used?
- blendergeek 3y ago
  The OnePlus 6 is no longer maunfactured. However there are a great many in existence that can be purchased.
  - mattl 3y ago
    Probably from eBay and the like though? I can’t go somewhere and buy a dozen of these, new in box?
    - blendergeek 3y ago
      Personally I recommend buying pre-owned eleectronics on Swappa, a marketplace for lightly-used, non-junk electronics.
3y ago

myself248 3y ago

The OS feels just like desktop Ubuntu or something, but has a few tweaks to work better with a touchscreen. It's quite usable. I haven't dug much into customization because I don't feel like I need to, and that's awesome. Apps are fine, performance feels more than adequate. It's not Android so most of the apps I'm used to aren't available, but the ones that do exist are snappy enough. That's kinda the point, though, so that's not a complaint, just an observation. I haven't poked at either of those emails, sorry. Regular POP/IMAP email works just like you'd expect. My main complaint is battery life. It gets warm just sitting there, and it charges really slowly even using my best PD-compliant charger. If I forget to plug it in tonight, it'll be dead by morning, and I can't put enough charge back into it briefly during breakfast for it to be useful tomorrow daytime. As long as I'm fanatical about making sure it's plugged in every night, it's fine.