Hi Richard (and luv-main), On Thu, Jan 22, 2026, at 16:10, Richard Keech via luv-main wrote:
> I'm interested in my next phone being neither Android nor > Apple - ideally with Linux, but not necessarily. I've been > down the rabbit hole looking at options like: ... I've been using Pine64's Pinephone and Pinephone Pro, and Purism's Librem-5 for a couple of years now, in Australia, Asia, and Europe, the Pinephone being my main everyday phone. I started writing a reply post about my experiences, but I found that there was so much to say that it grew too long to inflict on the whole list — and I haven't finished writing it yet. What I suggest, if you don't mind, is give me a few more days to finish my write-up, and I can mail it to you directly off-list. And if other people are interested, let me know and I'll mail it to them as well. In barest summary, none of those three phones are ideal, as usual, pros and cons, depending on your usage. Forced to pick one, I'd go for the original Pinephone: modest performance and a few annoyances, but it works pretty reliably. More detail in my write-up, when it comes. Russell Coker has posted about the Librem-5 and Pinephone Pro on his blog https://etbe.coker.com.au/ (thanks, Russell!) though much has changed since then. There's ongoing development for the software (and firmware) for these phones, so problems then may no longer be problems now. For example, I haven't had any real problems with charging the Pinephone Pro (nor Pinephone nor Librem-5), though they can be a bit fussy about chargers and USB-C plugs. One thing to be aware of before you get any phone that isn't a recent Australian retail phone is ACMA's Emergency Calling Services Directive, which *requires* telcos to block service to phones *they* think can't make 000 calls. There's an ongoing campaign about this, https://www.change.org/p/stop-telco-4g-5g-device-blocking-volte-restrictions-australia-s-3g-shutdown More about this in my write-up. — Smiles, Les. _______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
