tried it as a daily driver
#1
I tried the PP as a daily driver for a few months so far, and had fair success. Here's what I found:
As a phone, it's mostly OK.
As a camera, it's inadequate.
As a computer, it stinks without a monitor, keyboard and mouse (using Mobian Bookworm).

I use the phone as a phone, for work. Work pays for me to be accessible, and I need to be able to get calls at any time. For years I used a Blackberry Passport. It was a rock-solid phone, and had a good camera that was worth taking into the field where there was no phone service. The HMI was decent, and worked well on the touchscreen. The only app I used was a bible reader. Everything else was either done through the Blackberry Hub or the web browser. When the carrier stopped supporting the BB Passport, it was time to switch, and I tried the Pinephone.

The Pinephone works as a phone, although sometimes the audio is way too quiet. I didn't miss any calls when the phone was working. The browser works moderately well, and I can mostly do on it what I was accustomed to doing on the BB. Browser problems boil down to scaling/HMI/touchscreen issues. The bible readers available are not adequate! They are great on the desktop, but don't work well with the touchscreen interface, and aren't adapted to the small screen. The developers of Bibletime and Xiphos have told me they are not interested in adapting them to phones.

The camera does take pictures, but doesn't focus well, doesn't do closeups well.  With the BB I was accustomed to taking detailed, in-focus macro pictures of equipment nameplates, wire terminations, fine details of broken equipment and so on. This camera isn't adequate for any of that. It's not worth carrying this for the camera. The megapixils software does seem to be doing its job, but the cheap camera can't do what I need.

SMS works well, no issues there. MMS doesn't work yet, but I can live with that.

Unfortunately, this is a computer, not a phone. It's a linux computer that requires quite a bit of typing to administer, and without docking bar, keyboard, mouse and monitor, it's terribly tedious to handle necessary tasks. Because it's a computer not a phone, the touchscreen HMI is not very smooth and easy compared to the BB Passport. Because it's a computer not a phone, none of the bits that work together seamlessly on a phone play well together. For example, I was able to get my contacts imported to the contacts app, and am able to dial a contact from the phone app, but the phone app won't tell me the name of a caller when that number is a contact.

Because it's a computer not a phone, it's running Mobian Testing, software that needs updates, and the updates occasionally break stuff. That's become a huge problem for me. I need the phone to just work ALWAYS, and being down for a few hours while I try to troubleshoot issues is a huge problem.  If I'm going to keep on using this, I'll have to get a second phone so I can have one to use and one to risk an update on.

Because it's a computer not a phone, the thing is just BUSY. With the BB, I never really had to think about administration or updates, everything just worked. Linux isn't like that.

Because it's a computer not a phone, and because the software is still beta, the battery life stinks! For a while I was able to go 6 hours or so without charging, as long as the phone was suspended and in my pocket. Recently it's been emptying the battery in two or three hours in my pocket. It gets quite warm, which is nice on these cold winter days.

The plastic case back is breaking, but is still usable. The phone hardware is working fine so far.The switches to turn off stuff are OK. I don't use bluetooth, so I was able to turn it off and save a little power.

In summary, Linux is great for a computer, but isn't great for a phone. The touchscreen interface is a lousy way to administer a linux computer. The software has a long way to go, but it is already usable as a phone.

I look forward to the day when Mobian Stable is 100% functional and there is no reason to worry about the very rare updates breaking anything. That's probably a couple of years in the future.
Pinephone beta edition, convergence model, Mobian Bookworm with Phosh.
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#2
(12-14-2021, 11:49 AM)nelstomlinson Wrote: I tried the PP as a daily driver for a few months so far, and had fair success. Here's what I found:
As a phone, it's mostly OK.
As a camera, it's inadequate.
As a computer, it stinks without a monitor, keyboard and mouse (using Mobian Bookworm).

I use the phone as a phone, for work. Work pays for me to be accessible, and I need to be able to get calls at any time. For years I used a Blackberry Passport. It was a rock-solid phone, and had a good camera that was worth taking into the field where there was no phone service. The HMI was decent, and worked well on the touchscreen. The only app I used was a bible reader. Everything else was either done through the Blackberry Hub or the web browser. When the carrier stopped supporting the BB Passport, it was time to switch, and I tried the Pinephone.

The Pinephone works as a phone, although sometimes the audio is way too quiet. I didn't miss any calls when the phone was working. The browser works moderately well, and I can mostly do on it what I was accustomed to doing on the BB. Browser problems boil down to scaling/HMI/touchscreen issues. The bible readers available are not adequate! They are great on the desktop, but don't work well with the touchscreen interface, and aren't adapted to the small screen. The developers of Bibletime and Xiphos have told me they are not interested in adapting them to phones.

The camera does take pictures, but doesn't focus well, doesn't do closeups well.  With the BB I was accustomed to taking detailed, in-focus macro pictures of equipment nameplates, wire terminations, fine details of broken equipment and so on. This camera isn't adequate for any of that. It's not worth carrying this for the camera. The megapixils software does seem to be doing its job, but the cheap camera can't do what I need.

SMS works well, no issues there. MMS doesn't work yet, but I can live with that.

Unfortunately, this is a computer, not a phone. It's a linux computer that requires quite a bit of typing to administer, and without docking bar, keyboard, mouse and monitor, it's terribly tedious to handle necessary tasks. Because it's a computer not a phone, the touchscreen HMI is not very smooth and easy compared to the BB Passport. Because it's a computer not a phone, none of the bits that work together seamlessly on a phone play well together. For example, I was able to get my contacts imported to the contacts app, and am able to dial a contact from the phone app, but the phone app won't tell me the name of a caller when that number is a contact.

Because it's a computer not a phone, it's running Mobian Testing, software that needs updates, and the updates occasionally break stuff. That's become a huge problem for me. I need the phone to just work ALWAYS, and being down for a few hours while I try to troubleshoot issues is a huge problem.  If I'm going to keep on using this, I'll have to get a second phone so I can have one to use and one to risk an update on.

Because it's a computer not a phone, the thing is just BUSY. With the BB, I never really had to think about administration or updates, everything just worked. Linux isn't like that.

Because it's a computer not a phone, and because the software is still beta, the battery life stinks! For a while I was able to go 6 hours or so without charging, as long as the phone was suspended and in my pocket. Recently it's been emptying the battery in two or three hours in my pocket. It gets quite warm, which is nice on these cold winter days.

The plastic case back is breaking, but is still usable. The phone hardware is working fine so far.The switches to turn off stuff are OK. I don't use bluetooth, so I was able to turn it off and save a little power.

In summary, Linux is great for a computer, but isn't great for a phone. The touchscreen interface is a lousy way to administer a linux computer. The software has a long way to go, but it is already usable as a phone.

I look forward to the day when Mobian Stable is 100% functional and there is no reason to worry about the very rare updates breaking anything. That's probably a couple of years in the future.

Thanks for writing about your experience. I agree with you when you say that the Pinephone is a computer that makes phone calls.

Did you try Ubuntu Touch on your Pinephone? Ubuntu Touch has a lot different philosophy than Phosh or Plasma Mobile. I would recommend the Development or Release Candidate channel. Then only update when you have time.

As far as the camera. Yeah, it doesn't take very clear pictures right now.

I haven't used this app, but here is a bible study app for Ubuntu Touch.

Mark
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#3
I think battery life is definitely one of the biggest problems. (Yeah, the camera is not very good but I'm not really concerned about that.) I leave the phone off most of the time so it's not as serious a problem for me, but just turning it on to make 3 short phone calls over the last couple of days the battery went from 99% charge to 75%.
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#4
(12-14-2021, 03:31 PM)mark1250 Wrote:
(12-14-2021, 11:49 AM)nelstomlinson Wrote: ...
Because it's a computer not a phone, ...

... I agree with you when you say that the Pinephone is a computer that makes phone calls.
...

+1000!

I think this is the crux of the current issue. Of course we are playing with nuances of terminology but I did a survey the other day that asked if I had a smartphone and I chose to answer NO. As per @amosbatto (blog here) I have decided that smartphone is the "app universe" of ios & Android and the thing I carry is a computer. If Linux on a phone progresses as rapidly as Linux on desktop then it is clear it is never going to join that party.

Fortunately.
  • ROCKPro64 v2.1 2GB, 16Gb eMMC for rootfs, SX8200Pro 512GB NVMe for /home, HDMI video & sound, Bluetooth keyboard & mouse. Arch (6.2 kernel, Openbox desktop) for general purpose daily PC.
  • PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition, daily driver, rk2aw & U-boot on SPI, Arch/SXMO & Arch/phosh on eMMC
  • PinePhone BraveHeart now v1.2b 3/32Gb, Tow-boot with Arch/SXMO on eMMC
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#5
What makes a current IOS or Android device less computer than a PP? Apart from the user accessibility/freedom of course.
  Reply
#6
(12-15-2021, 05:12 AM)guenther Wrote: What makes a current IOS or Android device less computer than a PP? Apart from the user accessibility/freedom of course.

Lack of customization, lack of a usable command line (or at least, lack of access to one unless you're root/jailbreak), half-assed SSH access post-root or post-jailbreak, even though iOS is based off macOS which is a FreeBSD derivitive and Android is using a Linux kernel (though lacks the entire GNU portion), no decentralized package manager (F-Droid is technically one, but it doesn't come by default unless you're using a custom ROM), and so on.

So technically, a degoogled Android comes closest to a full blown PC out of iOS vs Google Android vs Android AOSP.

And for those of you who say "wouldn't that mean that you don't consider Windows and macOS to be full blown PCs?", my answer to that is "yup".
If there's 1 person or company that can remotely or automatically update your computer, take away apps or features or keep those hostage until you update (like Google apps from old Android versions or Windows 10 deleting random apps and even personal files during update), then you don't own that device, you just have permission to use it, and therefore it shouldn't be considered a full blown >>PERSONAL<< computer.
母語は日本語ですが、英語も喋れます(ry
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#7
(12-19-2021, 06:09 AM)ryo Wrote: If there's 1 person or company that can remotely or automatically update your computer, take away apps or features or keep those hostage until you update (like Google apps from old Android versions or Windows 10 deleting random apps and even personal files during update), then you don't own that device, you just have permission to use it, and therefore it shouldn't be considered a full blown >>PERSONAL<< computer.

Well said!   Smile
Using encrypted Mobian (bookworm) on pmOS CE Convergence PinePhone (3GB/32GB) as Daily Driver, and Beta Edition Convergence PinePhone (3GB/32GB) with encrypted Mobian (bookworm) as Backup device.
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#8
A brief update: tried to flash the 12 December build, and everything got all screwed up. I wound up going a flip phone for a while. The flip phone is much better as a phone: easier to use, better ergonomics, better speaker, amazing battery life. It truly stinks for SMS, but it does work.

I was able to get things sort of working again, so I'm back on the Pinephone. Overall, it's a bit better for me than the flip phone.
Pinephone beta edition, convergence model, Mobian Bookworm with Phosh.
  Reply
#9
I don't have a PinePhone (yet). But I can't imagine using one in a situation where you can't afford it to not work at times. And then, I wouldn't dare do updates when it's working. (I don't even do updates on Android or iOS except as a last resort).

As long as I've had "smartphones", which is only since 2012 (not including the real first smartphone, the Treo), I've used them as "real computers". At least on Android, I have an external keyboard, command line with and without root (though it's much more useful rooted), and a VNC viewer. To be able to have a camera and file transfer device that can operate a computer remotely has been amazing. My only real gripe has been that the C64 and Amiga emulators for Android (don't even know about iOS) are totally useless.
:wq



[ SRA accepts you ]
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#10
(12-21-2021, 05:13 PM)nelstomlinson Wrote: A brief update: tried to flash the 12 December build, and everything got all screwed up. I wound up going a flip phone for a while. The flip phone is much better as a phone: easier to use, better ergonomics, better speaker, amazing battery life. It truly stinks for SMS, but it does work.

I was able to get things sort of working again, so I'm back on the Pinephone. Overall, it's a bit better for me than the flip phone.

I actually loved sending mobile emails and short messages (aka, SMS) on flip phones 2 decades ago.
Well, it sucks for western languages, but for Japanese it works really well.

Speaking of which, just tried Plasma Mobile again after months of not using it at all, and it seems like it became even more buggy than it was a few months ago, while I was hoping for the other way around.
They made 10-key layout unusable again; you type the first character, then the second, and the keyboard immediately dies, so only the QWERTY keyboard currently works.
母語は日本語ですが、英語も喋れます(ry
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