02-09-2020, 12:54 PM
Got mine a couple of days ago and have tried PMos w/xfce4 , Ubuntu Touch, Sailfish, and Plasma Mobile. All from SD.
I wasn't able to get PMos to work with any other interface (errors during copying to microSD card), but xfce4 was surprisingly smooth (though I couldn't test much without a keyboard).
Ubuntu Touch does seem to be the most polished of the bunch, but I am having some issues with it. I can't adjust date/time settings at all (no errors or anything, it just doesn't have any affect after changing the hour and pushing "set") and some apps just don't open (notes, clock, weather, camera). Others do work (internet browser, calendar, calculator, file manager, openstore,terminal). Checking the UBPorts gitlab page, they are aware of these things and are releasing new builds quite frequently so I imagine a lot of this will get cleaned up relatively quickly.
Sailfish was okay, but was a bit slower feeling than Ubuntu Touch and I was unable to use the internet browser (I could enter website addresses and it indicated they loaded, but it just returned a blank screen.)
Plasma Mobile was painfully slow and basically unusable because of it.
At this point, my preference is toward a pocket computer with the ability to send texts and make calls so PMos w/xfce4 is almost perfect if it had an on-screen keyboard pop-up when in typing fields and an included "act like a phone" app for making calls (and perhaps some other functions like texting, camera, or mapping, but in reality those could be handled via normal xfce like programs/interfaces).
As far as the hardware goes, it's actually a lot nicer than I expected for a $150 phone. The screen isn't great, but gets the job done and the phone is thinner than expected for having the ability to remove the back cover and battery. I don't know for sure, but it does seem like once the software side gets cleaned up, the hardware should be robust enough for this to be a daily driver.
As a side note on OS installation, I found it much easier/comfortable to install Ubuntu Touch and Plasma Mobile (basically dd from an image to SD Card). But that's just my personal preference.
I wasn't able to get PMos to work with any other interface (errors during copying to microSD card), but xfce4 was surprisingly smooth (though I couldn't test much without a keyboard).
Ubuntu Touch does seem to be the most polished of the bunch, but I am having some issues with it. I can't adjust date/time settings at all (no errors or anything, it just doesn't have any affect after changing the hour and pushing "set") and some apps just don't open (notes, clock, weather, camera). Others do work (internet browser, calendar, calculator, file manager, openstore,terminal). Checking the UBPorts gitlab page, they are aware of these things and are releasing new builds quite frequently so I imagine a lot of this will get cleaned up relatively quickly.
Sailfish was okay, but was a bit slower feeling than Ubuntu Touch and I was unable to use the internet browser (I could enter website addresses and it indicated they loaded, but it just returned a blank screen.)
Plasma Mobile was painfully slow and basically unusable because of it.
At this point, my preference is toward a pocket computer with the ability to send texts and make calls so PMos w/xfce4 is almost perfect if it had an on-screen keyboard pop-up when in typing fields and an included "act like a phone" app for making calls (and perhaps some other functions like texting, camera, or mapping, but in reality those could be handled via normal xfce like programs/interfaces).
As far as the hardware goes, it's actually a lot nicer than I expected for a $150 phone. The screen isn't great, but gets the job done and the phone is thinner than expected for having the ability to remove the back cover and battery. I don't know for sure, but it does seem like once the software side gets cleaned up, the hardware should be robust enough for this to be a daily driver.
As a side note on OS installation, I found it much easier/comfortable to install Ubuntu Touch and Plasma Mobile (basically dd from an image to SD Card). But that's just my personal preference.
