The next version of the PinePhone to ship will be the PinePhone Mobian Community Edition. It goes up for pre-order from the Pine64 Store January 18.
Update: Its available for preorder now from the Pine64 Store.
It’ll sell for $150 and up and the phone will ship with the Debian-based Mobian operating system pre-installed.
The PinePhone is designed to be an inexpensive, hackable smartphone with support for a range of different operating systems, and previous Community Edition models have shipped with Ubuntu Touch, postmarketOS, and Manjaro operating systems pre-installed… although users are free to change the operating system.
Mobian is a GNU/Linux distribution that was founded last year to port the Debian operating system to run on mobile devices like the PinePhone.
The Mobian build that will ship with the PinePhone Mobian Community Edition uses a mainline Linux kernel with some patches to ensure support for the phone’s hardware and the Phosh user interface.
Like most mobile Linux projects, Mobian is still very much a work in progress. But it already supports all of the PinePhone’s key hardware including 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, cameras, and USB. You can use it to make phone calls, surf the web, install and run applications, and it supports deep sleep.
As with the past few Community Edition PinePhone models, the Mobian version will be available in two configurations:
- 2GB RAM/16GB eMMC storage for $149
- 3GB RAM/32GB eMMC storage + USB-C dock for $199
The USB-C dock gives you HDMI, Ethernet, and two USB-A ports, making it possible to connect the phone to an external display, mouse, keyboard or other accessories to run mobile or desktop apps on a larger screen and use your phone like a desktop computer.
| PinePhone | PinePhone Convergence Package | |
| Display | 5.95 inch 1440 x 720 pixel IPS LCD | 5.95 inch 1440 x 720 pixel IPS LCD |
| Processor | Allwinner A64 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 Cores @ 1.2 GHz Mali-400 MP2 graphics | Allwinner A64 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 Mali-400 MP2 graphics |
| RAM | 2GB LPDDR3 | 3GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage | 16GB eMMC microSD (up to 2TB) | 32GB eMMC microSD (up to 2TB) |
| Wireless | WiFi 4 Bluetooth 4.0 GPS 4G LTE (Quectel E-25G) | WiFi 4 Bluetooth 4.0 GPS 4G LTE (Quectel E-25G) |
| Ports | USB-C 3.5mm audio | USB-C 3.5mm audio |
| Cameras | 5MP rear 2MP front | 5MP rear 2MP front |
| Battery | 3,000 mAh (removable) | 3,000 mAh (removable) |
| Charging | 5V/3A | 5V/3A |
| Sensors | Accelerator Gyroscope Proximity Compass Ambient Light Barometer | Accelerator Gyroscope Proximity Compass Ambient Light Barometer |
| Buttons | Power Volume | Power Volume |
| Hardware kill switches | Modem WiFi/Bluetooth Microphone Rear camera Front camera Headphone | Modem WiFi/Bluetooth Microphone Rear camera Front camera Headphone |
| Dimensions | 160.5 x 76.6 x 9.2mm | 160.5 x 76.6 x 9.2mm |
| Weight | 180 – 200 grams | 180 – 200 grams |
| Included accessories | N/A | USB-C dock |
| Price | $149 | $199 |
I keep thinking about buying one of these, but honestly my old OnePlus3 is still a better phone than any of the open source offerings I’ve seen.
Maybe in a couple years someone will bring out a Linux phone with slightly better hardware?
I’m looking forward to this! I’d love to get away from some of the overreaching tech companies and enjoy working with Linux systems.
Brad…Thanks for the heads up on the Pinephone pre-order. I was going to order the KDE community version, but I’d rather have this one. Plus the KDE version is now sold out…smile.
I have to tell you…I didn’t realize this site existed until today. I’ve made sure to put it in my bookmarks…
My two interests in tech(at the moment) are linux smartphones and fanless mini pc’s. So…this site is right up my alley.
While I do have some background in linux(I’ve been around just as long as Linus). I’ve never owned one of these Pinephones and I can’t afford the Librem phone, so this is my first adventure into purchasing a linux phone.
I’m actually looking forward to going down this path…
Best Regards,
Steven B.
Yep, after covering Linux phones from time to time for Liliputing, I noticed that the pace of development seemed to be picking up, and I wanted to take a closer look, so last fall I purchased a postmarketOS Community Edition and I’ve been flashing different distros on an SD card ever since. I’m not ready to move from Android full time just yet, but it’s been fun watching Linux phones get more and more usable with every software release.