My PinePhone BraveHeart edition arrived yesterday, and the past few hours have been spent playing around with it and trying to place a basic call. Findings so far:
For Developers and Maniacs Only
The folks at Pine64 make very clear that this phone is not a daily driver, but it bears repeating: this is not so much a phone as a fun Linux project with a SIM slot. You have to install your own operating system, and none of the choices on offer claim to be even remotely road-ready. In particular, the four I’ve installed so far have had one or more of these symptoms:
- Unusably slow
- Can’t find the SIM
- Require a light to be shined on them to display anything
- Lock you out without a password
Further, even the folks online who have managed to get past the above nuisances still generally can’t get the silly thing to successfully place calls – you know, the one thing a phone is supposed to do. So again, not a daily driver.
But All Kinds of Fun to Play With
With all those caveats out of the way, the thing’s a hoot to mess with. If something goes pear-shaped, just pull out the microSD card and re-flash it. And at $150, the price point is great for a project.
What Lies Ahead
I’ll do my best to make the silly thing work, and will report back with whatever tips and tricks I come across.
