PinePhone Linux smartphone to sell for $149, dev kits coming soon | Hacker News Reader

PinePhone Linux smartphone to sell for $149, dev kits coming soon

liliputing.com

33 pointsdTal10 comments

Ugh, same problem as all the other "open phone" designs, absolute garbage tier hardware.

At least they're pricing it somewhat reasonably, but come on, give us some actual performance.

2.4GHz-only WiFi shouldn't even be a thing anymore. The 2.4G spectrum is a wasteland for anyone living in a densely populated area and if it weren't for a few old IoT devices I'd have it entirely turned off on my home network.

Hi, do you mind elaborating why the 2.4ghz is crap and how the 5ghz is better ? (newbie here)

The available range of frequencies is smaller in 2.4 GHz, so fewer networks can run in parallel without interfering with each other. Even in early standards with 20 MHz channels, you can only fit 3 networks in 2.4, vs in 5 it's more than 10 (exact number depends on region and other special cases). 2.4 Ghz is also somewhat better at getting through walls, which one the hand is useful, but on the other means in a dense city networks from further away can interfere.

You're right about 2.4GHz limitations, although the network card can be easily swapped with a cheap 802.11+BT5.0 module that cost 20 euros. On performance, I don't know about that CPU, but consider how much is gained by running binary code natively rather than Java apps in a virtual machine; even the oldest smartphones out there would fly, had their manufacturers published enough information to have a Linux distro running on them with enough hardware support.

I think what I really want is a Linux tablet.

The latest MS Surface Go is just about right for hardware but we have no such thing for Linux. If I had that, then I could use any Linux phone with hotspot. I use an iPod Touch dedicated for Spotify, maps and messaging. No other social.

I thought I read that the Surface Go is usable under Linux, might be worth investigating?

Funny you should mention that - they also announced the "PineTab" in the same announcement, amongst a bunch of other nifty looking goodies. They say it'll cost only $79 ($99 with a clip-on keyboard). I can see these being super useful in a lot of situations.

https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=7093&pid=43850

I am running linux on the Surface Pro. Works perfectly.

I would be interested in this. I currently use a $12 throw away T9 style phone. I've never owned a smart phone. I would consider something like this, especially if it has physical switches for disable devices.

GPS hardware is cheap, and its absence is a drastic hit on functionality.

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