I would probably try to tune the phone myself, from a pine or some unix like phone.
I would not buy anything privacy focused as a mobile phone or service, because of the risk of a backdoor. There have been so many cases like that (phantom secure, sky global, encrochat, anom)
I used a pine phone for a few months when it first came out. It was a struggle in the state it was in at the time -- it could do light browsing and IM, but ironically the patchy bits were phone calls and the camera. Plus, if the Linux app you wanted to use didn't have a UI optimized for mobile it was very hit and miss.
Since then, the Pinephone Pro has launched. Haven't tried it but will give it a go, if only just to support the best stab so far at a phone on mainline Linux
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I want a "linux blackberry" semi-dumb phone. That is....a device that does the following:
  • SMS / IM
  • Phone calls
  • Basic camera
  • Very long battery life (my original blackberry could go 3 days easy on a charge)
I don't want anything else....I feel this market was a missed opportunity by the likes of Ubuntu / etc. They naively have been trying to complete feature for feature against newest iOS / Android, when in fact they should have instead focused on "minimally viable product".
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Totally! That phone is much needed, one that may not have it all but that could go fast and stable for the basic functionality. One that could get all its libraries installed by the user. Then the user will compile all the apps himself. Like in a raspberry pi. With an open source vpn as an opt in for all types of communications (calls, sms, internet) then there would be no one put pressure on to reveal or implement a backdoor.
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I really like the idea of a unix phone.. paired with a separate wifi / 5g vpn dongle
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