The Purism Librem 5 is one of only a handful of smartphones designed to run free and open source GNU/Linux distributions like Purism’s custom PureOS software. It’s also one of the most expensive, currently selling for $899.

But it’s going to get even more expensive soon. In a move foreshadowed earlier this year, Purism recently announced that prices will go up this fall due at least in part to rising supply chain costs due to the global chip shortage. Customers who place an order after November 1, 2021 will have to pay $1199. And in March, 2022 the price will go up to $1299.

By comparison, the cheapest Linux phone on the market is Pine64’s PinePhone, which sells for $150 to $200 depending on the configuration.

Today you can buy 6 PinePhones for the price of one Librem 5. Soon a Librem 5 will cost as much as about 9 PinePhones.

To be fair, the Librem 5 does have a slightly more powerful processor and better graphics than the PinePhone. The cameras are also better. But with a 1.5 GHz ARM-Cortex-A53 quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of eMMC storage, it’s not exactly competitive with other phones in its price range.

Purism has been a leading innovator in the Linux phone space though. The company, which has been making Linux laptops since 2015 or so, and first announced plans to develop a Linux phone just a few years after that. It wasn’t until late 2020 that the phone finally started shipping though, and some early customers still haven’t received their Librem 5 phones yet.

From a software standpoint, Purism developed the mobile-friendly Phosh user interface that’s now used by a number of mobile Linux distributions including Arch, Manjaro, Fedora, Mobian, openSUSE, and the company’s own PureOS.

So you could certainly make the case that buying a Librem 5 isn’t just an investment in a smartphone with mediocre specs and work-in-progress software, but also an investment in the development of Linux for phones overall. But with prices going as high as $1299 in the coming months, it’s a major investment.

That said, if you’ve got even more money burning a hole in your pocket you can currently order a Librem 5 USA edition smartphone for $1,999 and receive a phone within two months. That model has the same specs as the normal Librem 5, but it’s manufactured in the United States and Purism promises tighter security thanks to a “secure supply chain.”

via TuxPhones

Librem 5
Display5.7 inch
1440 x 720 pixel
IPS LCD
ProcessorNXP i.MX8M Quad
4 x ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores @ 1.5 GHz
Vivante GC7000Lite GPU
RAM3GB
Storage32GB eMMC
microSD
WirelessWiFi 4 (dual-band)
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS (Teseo LIV3F GNSS)
4G LTE (Broadmobi BM818 or Gemalto PLS8)
PortsUSB-C 3.0
3.5mm audio
Smartcard
Cameras13MP rear
8MP front
Battery4,500 mAh (removable)
Sensors Accelerometer
Gyroscope
Proximity
Compass/Magnetometer
Ambient Light
ButtonsPower
Volume
Hardware kill switchesWiFi/Bluetooth
Cellular Baseband
Cameras/Mic
(Turn off all three to also disable IMU+compass, GNSS, ambient light, and proximity sensors)
Dimensions153 x 75 x 15.5mm
Weight263 grams
Price$899 (until Nov 1, 2021)
$1199 (after Nov 1, 2021)

Latest Librem 5 news

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3 replies on “Purism Librem 5 Linux smartphone is getting another (big) price hike”

  1. If you Google “Librem 5 scam” you’ll find that there are multitudes of people that ordered these back in 2017-2018 that have never received hardware and/or are being refused refunds… I am one of those. I do not recommend anyone order a Librem 5 from Purism until their current issues are resolved. And while not delivering to paying customers, they distribute phones to “influencers” on youtube, making it seem like people are getting devices in hand… It’s not true.

  2. There must be a lot of suckers (and/or people with way too much money) out there actually buying this over-priced Purism garbage. How else can we explain Purism still being in business? Wow, $1199-$1299 for a phone with those lousy specs…

    1. It’s a rehash of their bait-and-switch laptops from their first scam. They promised fully open UEFI firmware with no Intel AMT/ME, and once they had thousands of preorders they backpedaled and said “oops, yeah when we said that there would be no AMT/ME, we actually meant one day we’d figure out how to remove it”. Anyone who bought into Purism in the early days paid roughly $600 more for the exact same laptop they could order from another vendor, with Windows removed and Linux installed.

      They are a garbage company selling hope and feelgood vibes, and anyone who buys from them is a sucker. I’ll take the slightly slower Pinephone any day, at least Pine64 is honest about what they are selling.

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