PinePhone Pro Announced from Pine64

[xenose]

Summary

The Pine64 Organization has announced there new Linux phone called the "PinePhone Pro" not to be confused with there previous phone the "PinePhone", The new Phone features a Hexa-Core CPU running at 1.5GHz and 4GB of RAM compared with there previous phone that has a Quad-Core running at 1.152 GHz and with 3GB of RAM. 

 

Edit : The PinePhone and PinePhone Pro will exist at same time, until demand for the PinePhone dies off(meaning maybe years).

 

The new PinePhone Pro

The PinePhone Video form LTT

 

"Who is it for?"

"Contemporary mobile Linux operating systems have a way to go before they can be considered true alternatives to Android or iOS. While mobile Linux isn’t in a state that could satisfy most mainstream electronics consumers, we recognize that a sizable portion of our community is ready to make the jump to a Linux-only smartphone today. The PinePhone Pro has the raw horsepower to be your daily driver, granted you’re ready to accept the current software limitations. 

In a nutshell: if you are an existing PinePhone owner and your only wish is for the device to be more powerful and refined, then the PinePhone Pro is for you."

"Who isn’t it for?"

"We’re not in the business of selling empty promises – a much faster mainline Linux smartphone won’t make the existing operating systems more refined, nor will it magically spawn software replacements for your iOS or Android applications. There is a long road ahead of us, all of us, and it will require time and effort for the software to reach a degree of maturity that would satisfy mainstream users.

If you depend on proprietary mainstream mobile messenger applications, banking applications, use loyalty or travel apps, consume DRM media, or play mobile video games on your fruit or Android smartphone, then the PinePhone Pro is likely not for you."

"How’s the performance?"

"Tasks such as opening applications, browsing the internet, interacting with the user interface or watching videos are on par with recent mid-range Android smartphones. Many of you will also be happy to hear that native Linux games as well as popular retro game emulators work great on the PinePhone Pro – be it SuperTuxKart, PSP, or Dreamcast emulation, you’ll be in for a treat. 

When docked and connected to an external monitor and keyboard and mouse, the PinePhone Pro performs well when surfing the web, using the terminal or an office suite, watching 1080p videos, and even in light photo editing. The perfect pocketable Linux computer on the go."

 

My thoughts

I am exited for this new phone and would like to buy one when I can afford it.

 

Sources

https://www.pine64.org/pinephonepro/

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by xenose

[poochyena]

I don't get it. Why would anyone buy this rather than an android? The "who is it for" section just lists reasons why you shouldn't buy it unless you already have their previous model. Its not a very good deal in terms of specs to price ratio.

[Zodiark1593]

The big cores are Cortex A72s with a 1.5 GHz clock speed, and quad Cortex A53s. Definitely pretty long in the tooth there. At $400, I would want something a little more robust. 

[xenose]

12 minutes ago, poochyena said:

I don't get it. Why would anyone buy this rather than an android? The "who is it for" section just lists reasons why you shouldn't buy it unless you already have their previous model. Its not a very good deal in terms of specs to price ratio.

For me personally its a phone I can do whatever I want to do with, no stupid limits I can install Linux or Android on it or even swap-out parts like the battery.   

[poochyena]

19 minutes ago, xenose said:

For me personally its a phone I can do whatever I want to do with, no stupid limits I can install Linux or Android on it or even swap-out parts like the battery.   

can't you install a different OS with any unlocked android phone? I didn't notice any water resistance rating, so swap-able battery won't mean much if you phone dies in the rain.

[Salv8 (sam)]

52 minutes ago, poochyena said:

can't you install a different OS with any unlocked android phone? I didn't notice any water resistance rating, so swap-able battery won't mean much if you phone dies in the rain.

the problem is that arm is so customizable that developing a OS on multiple arm devices is like trying to trying to balance multiple bowls of different sizes.

the arm arch can vary from device to device, one device may support hardware acceleration but another may not.

it's a nightmare and is one of the biggest reasons you don't see anything else other then android on these devices.

yea sure you might be able to port ubuntu to it, but can you keep it up to date and in a working state when you have to compile and test it for multiple devices with their own pros and cons?

the pinephone still has this issue but it's opening up how the hardware works and how the architecture is designed with easily accessible SOC datasheets so development is easier and devs don't have to play 'WILL. THIS. COMPILE!??!?!?!' every Friday afternoon. (the pinephone pro doesn't have the datasheets available right now as i'm typing this but pine64 will probs add it later)

it's not great, it would be LEAGUES better if arm HAS standardization so this can be avoided but this is better then nothing.

[AlTech]

1 hour ago, poochyena said:

I don't get it. Why would anyone buy this rather than an android?

It's more privacy oriented and meant for people who want greater control of their phone.

1 hour ago, poochyena said:

The "who is it for" section just lists reasons why you shouldn't buy it unless you already have their previous model. Its not a very good deal in terms of specs to price ratio.

No, nor is it meant to be. The specs they can use to make Linux phoned is limited because most SOC makers don't provide open source drivers which is a key part of choosing an SOC for a Linux phone.

[AlTech]

1 hour ago, poochyena said:

can't you install a different OS with any unlocked android phone?

In terms of a different Android ROM then yes but besides that no.

 

A lot of android phones that are able to run Ubuntu Touch do it through a VM or emulation.

1 hour ago, poochyena said:

I didn't notice any water resistance rating, so swap-able battery won't mean much if you phone dies in the rain.

The reason for swappable battery in Linux phones besides being able to replace it more easily, and besides being better for privacy, is just better from a repair perspective and device ownership perspective. This company doesnt make water resistant phones or St least hasn't so far. To company designs devices around whsy the community wants and the Linux phone community doesn't care that much about water reistance. Even if they did it would severely inflate the device cost to get certifications in case it was water resistant.

[AlTech]

2 hours ago, xenose said:

Snip

So I noticed in the OP you seem you suggest that the Pinephone is the previous generation phone product. You may want to clarify in the OP that this device, the Pinephone Pro, is meant to fit alongside the existing Pinephone in their phone lineup.

[Salv8 (sam)]

7 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

In terms of a different Android ROM then yes but besides that no.

if you want something more phone like then no but postmarketos does exist for many devices pinephone included!

[AlTech]

2 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

The big cores are Cortex A72s with a 1.5 GHz clock speed, and quad Cortex A53s. Definitely pretty long in the tooth there. At $400, I would want something a little more robust. 

Agreed, after having gone back and forth in my head I think they screwed up by not making this a Pinephone v2 cos the performance is much better (I'm expecting 40 to 50% on the low end) but I don't know that besides that this is worth $200 extra. Yes the 4GB RAM is nice (Pinephone regular has options for 2GB and 3GB) but I feel like at most if they wanted to make this device is should have been $299 and not $399. The biggest cost of this device besides custom SOC is likely the new screen snd the 128GB eMMC module they upgraded to.

 

Another way it could have been handled is selling Pinephone 1st gen at existing price points and selling Pinephone Pro as a Pinephone 2nd gen but at s slightly higher cost in multiple SKUs e.g. Pinephone 2 4GB RAM 32GB Storage for $249, Pinephone 2 4GB RAM 128GB Storage for $349.

 

Or they could replace the Pinephone 1 at Pinephone 1 prices with less of an upgrade but sell it as Pinephone 2 at existing prices e.g. Pinephone 2 3GB RAM 16GB Storage for $149, Pinephone 2 4GB RAM 32GB Storage for $199, Pinephone 2 4GB RAM 128GB Storage for $299. I think that would have been a better idea but I don't know how much Rockship asked for in price for developing the custom SOC.

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, Salv8 (sam) said:

if you want something more phone like then no but postmarketos does exist for many devices pinephone included!

I was just saying that Android devices running Linux mobile OSes are doing it through a VM, it's not native. And also you still have proprietary drivers in most Android devices so it would somewhst defeat the purpose of running Linux on a phone.

[xenose]

1 hour ago, AluminiumTech said:

So I noticed in the OP you seem you suggest that the Pinephone is the previous generation phone product. You may want to clarify in the OP that this device, the Pinephone Pro, is meant to fit alongside the existing Pinephone in their phone lineup.

Was it really that confusing? Well I will update just in case

[That Franc]

5 hours ago, poochyena said:

I don't get it. Why would anyone buy this rather than an android? The "who is it for" section just lists reasons why you shouldn't buy it unless you already have their previous model. Its not a very good deal in terms of specs to price ratio.

Android is not really an operating system at this point, it's just a platform for Google to profit off of apps and spying on users. It's restricted, dumbed down, and overall not a great alternative to what it came to replace even after a decade of improvements. We're lacking a portable device that genuinely gives you full control, and lets you manage the hardware the way you want it. PinePhone is aimed to bring that to the market, albeit they're lacking in the hardware quality department.

[Commodus]

I have to admit: I appreciate Pine64's realism about the Pinephone line and Linux phones in general.

 

Many of these Linux device projects have that FOSS community mix of naivety with rigid ideology: we're gonna change the world and fight these eeeeevil corporations focused on things like "ease of use" and "helping everyday people!"

 

Pine64's attitude? Well, there's a bit of that usual FOSS snark about DRM and such, but they're also realistic... this isn't for most people, and there'll be a lot of work if this is ever going to be a viable alternative to iOS and Android. Somewhere, Richard Stallman is apoplectic that someone suggested Linux wouldn't immediately fix everything... and that I referred to it as Linux like a normal person instead of calling it "GNU/Linux."

[Fasterthannothing]

I feel like a lot of people in this comment section are completely missing the point of the product. This phone isn't meant to be the fastest device available. It doesn't need to be this device is running full on arm Linux OS. At this stage it's tinker and hacker phone. It's also extremely competitively priced compared to say the Libre 5. People buying these fall into 1 of 3 groups. 1. Someone who likes to play and tinker with new technology 2. Developers 3. Extremely security conscious users. Basically no one is daily driving this phone and the people who have these don't expect to for a long time.