PinePhone Community Edition program comes to an end

1. The pinephone is an interesting device. I would really like to have one, but I don’t have room in my time or money budget for a device that doesn’t work well for something. I currently have a laptop (used for work, gets heavy web browsing and video calling use as well as use as a terminal) and a phone (used for personal organization, light web browsing, and phone/GPS), a kindle (used for reading, obviously!), and a tablet (also used for reading, occasional gaming).

   I like the idea of a linux-based phone, but it really needs to be usable as a phone/GPS for me. I also depend on apps (such as uber, google maps) that may not work as well–or at all–via a browser. I also like the idea of a convergence device that can work as a phone and a “desktop/laptop”, but I think the device needs better specs for that, for which I’d gladly pay more. I think once this device matures a bit (and offers several price points for specs, stability, support/alternatives for common apps) it will be a good option for me.

2. The important thing is PinePhone’s future version will still be able to “host” different OSs (see also https://linuxsmartphones.com/video-megis-multi-boot-image-for-the-pinephone-with-17-linux-distros/) in order to confirm its “developers-friendly” attitude.

3. The Pinebook Pro is quite usable. I’m still using the original OS from end of 2019 but I have kept it updated, and with various browser tweaks it has even been decent for YouTube up to 1080p30. The only 2 negatives I can point to are the brittle screen bezel and buzzy speakers.

4. Hi Brad,

   Im reading your articles with great interests since there’s nothing like it in French.

   Do you know if the end of the community edition means the end of the 3gb ram and USB c dock version ?

   Also, how usable is manjaro when its in desktop mode ? Compared to pinebook pro for example.

   Thanks

   1. There hasn’t been any announcement about future hardware yet, but we should know more in a few weeks time.

      As for desktop usability, I do not have a PineBook Pro, so I cannot tell you from my own experience, but I do know that the laptop has a much more powerful processor than the phone and it runs a version of Manjaro that’s designed for laptops and desktops rather than for phones. But Manjaro ARM for the PinePhone is one of the most versatile operating systems I’ve used on the phone so far, and development seems to be happening at a rapid pace, so I expect it to continue getting better over time.

      1. Hi,

         thanks for your answer.
         I thought that Manjaro on the Pinephone was the same Manjaro ARM on the pinebook or others arm laptops with a additional interface for touchscreen (phosh or lomiri).

         But I’m wrong 🙂

         I don’t really understand why by the way if you have an answer to that too (and time to explain lol) !

   2. I think the comments on the announcement clarify that they’ll continue making pinephones, they’re just deciding on which OS to install by default to all future pinephones.

      I’ve got a Manjaro convergence edition running Manjaro + phosh. In desktop mode it’s surprisingly usable but it is definitely slower than a pinebook pro and you feel that. Web pages take longer to render, youtube videos don’t play back smoothly in Chromium even at 360p. I can complete a day’s work on it (light programming, a lot of web browsing) but it cannot handle video calls. The biggest problem currently is the entire UI locking up every now and then, but audio keeps playing and SSH still responds so there must be a way to recover.

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