Right now, the most popular phone in the world is the iPhone, but the operating system that takes the cake is Android, taking more than 80% of the market share. I think it will be difficult for this to change, but those of us who have tried a mobile version of Linux know that there are more options. And from today there is one more, or one with a new suit, since KDE (here) and PINE64 (here) have just presented the KDE PinePhone CE.
"CE" stands for Community Edition, which is an early version of what will be. Any Linux user will already know what KDE is, a community that develops software such as Plasma that this PinePhone will use as a graphical environment and the KDE Applications, some of which we can also find in the newly introduced phone.
KDE PinePhone CE Technical Specifications
- Allwinner A64 Quad Core SoC with Mali 400 MP2 GPU.
- 2GB / 3GB of LPDDR3 RAM.
- 5,95 ″ 1440 × 720 LCD screen, 18: 9 aspect ratio (toughened glass).
- Micro SD boot. For those who do not know it, this is one of the most important functions of the PINE64 hardware, since it allows us to start any compatible operating system.
- 16GB / 32GB EMMC.
- HD digital video output.
- USB-C (power, data and video output).
- Quectel EG-25G with world bands.
- WiFi: 802.11 b / g / n, single band, compatible with access point.
- Bluetooth: 4.0, A2DP.
- GNSS: GPS, GPS-A, GLONASS.
- Vibrator.
- RGB status LED.
- Main camera: OV6540 simple, 5MP, 1/4 ″, LED flash.
- Selfie Camera: Single GC2035, 2MP, f / 2.8, 1/5 ″.
- Sensors: throttle, gyroscope, proximity, compass, barometer, ambient light.
- 3 external switches: up, down and on.
- HW switches: LTE / GNSS, WiFi, microphone, speaker, cameras.
- 3000mAh battery with Samsung J7 form factor.
- The housing is made of plastic with a matte black finish.
- Headphone jack.
Interested users can reserve this edition of PinePhone at the beginning of december.
Is it worth it TODAY? Opinion
But I would not like to end this article without this section in which I present my opinion based on what I have tried and read in the community. For users who want to test things or are developers, yes it is worth it. But for those who want a 100% functional phone, I'm sorry to say no, it's not even close. There are many times that I have read that basic applications such as those of the telephone or messages stop working, so, if you cannot use a telephone as a telephone, what is it for? For that: test, check and develop.
Personally, I think everything looks good and the future will be very differentas long as developers and companies like PINE64 keep working on the PinePhone. If they do not give up, in the future everything will work better and we will have terminals with many possibilities that, in addition, will allow us to run Android apps, for those who miss WhatsApp. And the best, all free and for a price hard to believe.
In any case, the presentation of the PinePhone KDE Community Edition it's official, and it seems that, after the launch of the postmarketOS edition, everything continues with a firm step.