I own a OnePlus 6 with postmarketOS. My daily driver is a Pixel 7 with CalyxOS and microg turned off.
Despite having effectively only FOSS apps on my Android daily driver, I can’t daily drive postmarketOS. It’s making great progress, but isn’t nearly stable enough as a modern smartphone, and several other issues hold it back;
Sleep states. Currently you get to choose between your phone going to sleep (~ a day battery life) but without notifications, incoming calls, alarms, etc. Or your phone “staying awake”, where you’ll have those features but only ~4 hours battery.
Hardware video decoding, which “can work” but only in select apps, and they’re not great for mobile.
Audio issues, such as no audio from the earpiece, microphone not working, or no audio at all.
If you rely on non-foss Android apps, there is Waydroid, but it’s not a perfect solution and might have issues.
It’s not a “waste of money” if you want a device to experiment or tinker with, or if you want to follow progress of Linux mobile, but it is extremely unlikely to replace your daily driver.
I have done no research, but my guess is it will be a waste of money right now. Any existing linux phones are too new for everything to be figured out. Pricing is likely very high for what you get right now too, since they don’t have the scale yet (and probs other things).
I believe they are mostly an enthusiast type deal at the minute.
With some more time I believe they will become very appealing.
PureOS on Librem5 already does a “desktop mode”… snore.
Do you have one? How well does it work? I’m interested in getting a Linux phone, but am worried it will be a waste of money.
I own a OnePlus 6 with postmarketOS. My daily driver is a Pixel 7 with CalyxOS and microg turned off.
Despite having effectively only FOSS apps on my Android daily driver, I can’t daily drive postmarketOS. It’s making great progress, but isn’t nearly stable enough as a modern smartphone, and several other issues hold it back;
If you rely on non-foss Android apps, there is Waydroid, but it’s not a perfect solution and might have issues.
It’s not a “waste of money” if you want a device to experiment or tinker with, or if you want to follow progress of Linux mobile, but it is extremely unlikely to replace your daily driver.
I have done no research, but my guess is it will be a waste of money right now. Any existing linux phones are too new for everything to be figured out. Pricing is likely very high for what you get right now too, since they don’t have the scale yet (and probs other things).
I believe they are mostly an enthusiast type deal at the minute.
With some more time I believe they will become very appealing.
Getting a flagship android is already a waste of money. They lose support in a few years and expect you to buy another