PinePhone “BraveHeart” Limited Edition Linux Smartphone is Now Available for $150

Pinephone is a Linux smartphone powered by an Allwinner A64 processor, and running one of the various Linux mobile distributions such as PostmarketOS or Ubuntu Touch among others.

Last time we wrote about Pinephone mass-production schedule, the phone was expected to start shipping in October, and there has been a slight delay, but the good news is that Pinephone “BraveHeart” Limited Edition is now up for sale for $149.99. Note this batch is for enthusiasts as the phone may have some defects, and comes without operating system with the users having to flash it themselves.

PinephonePinephone specifications:

  • SoC – Allwinner A64 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.2 GHz with Arm Mali-400MP2 GPU
  • System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
  • Storage – 16GB eMMC flash,  MicroSD Card (SDHC/SDXC) up to 2TB
  • Display – 5.95″ IPS capacitive touchscreen with 1440×720 resolution
  • Audio – Mono loudspeaker, 3.5mm stereo audio jack with mic support
  • Cameras
    • 5MP rear camera with 1/4″ sensor, LED Flash
    • 2MP front-facing camera with f/2.8, 1/5″ sensor
  • Connectivity
    • Cellular
      • Micro-SIM socket
      • Worldwide, Global LTE bands
        • LTE-FDD: B1/ B2/ B3/ B4/ B5/ B7/ B8/ B12/ B13/ B18/ B19/ B20/ B25/ B26/ B28
        • LTE-TDD: B38/ B39/ B40/ B41
        • WCDMA: B1/ B2/ B4/ B5/ B6/ B8/ B19
        • GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
    • Single-band Wi-Fi 4 802.11 b/g/n with hotspot support
    • Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DPprofile
    • GNSS – GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
  • USB – USB Type-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode support
  • Sensors – Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, ambient light, magnetometer(compass)
  • Misc – Vibrator; 4x privacy switches: LTE (includes GPS), Wifi/BT, Mic, and Camera
  • Battery – Removable 2750-3000 mAh Li-Po battery; fast charging via USB-C using USB PD
  • Dimensions – 160.5 x 76.6 x 9.2mm (plastic enclosure)
  • Weight – 185 grams

The phone will ship with a USB-A to USB-C charging cable so you can use your own charger. PinePhone is not the first Linux phone to ship, as last month Librem 5 started to ship. OMG! Ubuntu! has made a nice-looking comparison between the two models.

Librem 5 vs Pine64
Click to Enlarge

Librem 5 phone has slightly better specs, with Purism supporting the software (PureOS) themselves, while PinePhone relies entirely on the community for software support, and thanks to its much lower price tag attracted more projects.

As noted in the introduction, PinePhone BraveHeart Edition will come without OS at all, so you’ll need to download one of the OS images for their earlier development kit. Those include Postmarket OS, UBPorts Ubuntu Touch, Sailfish OS, Maemo Leste, and LuneOS. Note those are all test images (Alpha or Beta), so you should expect bugs that may take a few months to sort out.

Beside expected issues with the software, depending on your luck your sample may also suffer from dead pixels on the LCD:

  • Small numbers (1-3) of stuck or dead pixels are a characteristic of LCD screens. These are normal and should not be considered a defect.
  • When fulfilling the purchase, please bear in mind that we are offering the PinePhone at this price as a community service to PINE64, Linux and BSD communities. If you think that a minor dissatisfaction, such as a dead pixel, will prompt you to file a PayPal dispute then please do not purchase the PinePhone. Thank you.

A fair amount of people have already purchased the phone, and the total cost with shipping is $164.99.

https://twitter.com/neongwynnesis/status/1195352026420527104

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