Looking at the Fairphone, I asked myself “Why are the components so cheap whilst the main purpose of one of the triple R is Reduce ? Why do they keep changing the chassis ?”
Maybe they can’t keep the same chassis for x reasons, but why build so cheap ?
Imagine having a framework smartphone that you can repair and upgrade yourself, that runs proper components, it would be mindblowing.
I would like to discuss with people of the forum on this topic about the hows and the different technical (or not) aspect of such a device.
Could it run Android without a Framework ROM?
Would it be possible to make such a device and switch components?
I believe they already dived into why the fairphone was not a good replacement for them in the post over here
Without a Framework Read-only-memory? Could you clarify?
Yes- as amoun mentioned Fairphone already does something similar to this.
Making a modular phone last is quite hard.
Hard to say- depends on the materials used.
I would say this is not on Framework’s to-do list, but I of course don’t know. The reason I say this is because there are already alternatives for modular phones.
By that I mean, without a ROM of their own in order to ease up the process of creating the device but a custom ROM like /e/os or Lineage or ROMs with google services
I just checked the FP4 and yes, it seems pretty easy to replace parts, but not all parts like buttons
And the source I guess. Fairphone say the high price is a part explained by the quality and respect of the provisioning source.
If they become really stable (if they are not already) and want to diverse, as a company would do, I would love it and I cross my fingers haha
I own a fairphone 4 and it s doing the job. But keep in mind that s tiny in there…the problems are suite different. FW as a lot of room in comparison.
A big topic is update of android and closed cpu provider that stop updates zfter few years.
Maybe this will be solved in some years with open Risc V cpus…like in next pinephones from pine64
In 2013 there was the concept for Phonebloks
I didn’t know until now but Motorola had worked with Phonebloks to develop Project Ara which ended up being cancelled
Following, ZTE conceptualized the Eco-Morbius in 2014
Google had apparently took the Project Ara and started development on the Spiral 2 (Where was the Spiral 1?) in 2015 which ended up getting delayed and rebranded as the Developer Edition which ended up being cancelled in 2016.
Something that may satisfy your desires, and is in crowdfunding right now, is the Liberux NEXX. This has replaceable storage, RAM, modem, as well as physical kill switches for the camera, mic, wireless.
That claims a number of features which would each be challenging enough by themselves, but put all the features together, it becomes so much harder, even a group with some history of prior success. And they want $1000 to $1500 for “crowdfunding”, which is littered with projects which never provide anything for your money. Does this group even have any history? Any reason to trust them? Looks nice on paper, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
I mean, the promise of their own OS “LiberuxOS” based on Debian, would be enough for me to stay far away until it’s been reviewed thoroughly by at least a few trustworthy places. A mobile OS that works well is no small feat. There is a reason that most lean on the established options made by others and already working well. And that’s just one of many warning signs I see, just with a quick look.
I don’t think your scepticism has much merit; others can of course read the status on the crowd funder and draw their own conclusion. As an aside from the conversation I would pay £675 at entry level: it would appear that dollar has tanked against the British pound and Euro even worse than I thought. So your weak currency seems to make the prospect steeper than it would normally be, and I hope you considered this.
I disagree that it the offering is especially radical - there is a long heritage of linux smartphones, perhaps the Pinephone is best known. It is certainly not for everyone since the popular “app stores” will not support it, but linux phones are hardly an unknown quantity, and have their adherents. For those in the market for a GNU/linux phone, this seems a very strong option.
The hardware strikes me as having similarities to the MNT Reform family of laptops, particularly the choice of 3588 processor which does very well in that application. So much for everything being a leap into the unknown. This makes me hopeful that we see Genode Sculpt ported to it sometime, as I find that more interesting than linux. Sculpt is available already for the Pinephone and the Reform, making the NEXX an obvious target.
Liberum may not be the next big thing but would be a welcome addition to a growing scene of niche European hardware manufacturers like the aforementioned MNT.
It’s not that much about the money, but £675 is still way too much to throw at a group that provides no reason to trust them, imo. I take a dim view of risk reward balance of crowdfunding in general, plus indiegogo has looser requirements than kickstarter. Maybe just a difference in risk tolerance. But maybe also a different view on gambling. Which is what they all are at the end of the day. I don’t gamble money. I wouldn’t bet even a $100 on a kickstarter.
And separately, this campaign raises several red flags for me. But campaigns like that are endless, so I don’t have the time or interest to debate on that.
Have you used a PinePhone or Mobian/pmOS/PureOS? Because, I have, and they suck. Have you looked at the Librem 5? The cost is insane and they are an established player. PinePhone is cheaper but development is kinda dead. So any skepticism is well warranted imo.
The choice of the RK3588 is interesting to me. I recall that Fairphone used a Qualcomm chip intended for long support with their Fairphone 5, but that was still a mobile phone style. The RK3588 is popular and works well in applications like the MNT Reform, but battery life and cooling might be rather marginal. @2disbetter might have an opinion on that, being a Reform user. He might also be able to advocate on how this device might fit in with the enthusiast, since in previous threads (and somewhat to my surprise, given his advocacy) he admits that the Reform is not his main laptop.
