I built this table to try to find a phone. I’m located in the US, so the phone
has to work in the US. I’d prefer it run a Linux distribution, but if I have to
I’ll consider de-Googled phones.
Consequently, this list may or may not be useful to you. It’s roughly ranked
in my at-the-moment order of preference. The Mecha Comet looks delicious, but
I’ve read one thing that said it’d be available in 2025Q3 (which we’re past),
and it hasn’t started the Kickstarter which makes me think we’re looking at
sometime 2026, if ever. I need a new phone sooner rather than later,
so availability may be the deciding factor for me. My phone is shedding glass
shards from the back screen, and the back case is badly damaged; I may try to
buy some time with a repair, but this particular screen is notoriously difficult
to replace, and it’s a Samsung, and I’m really, really sick of Samsung’s
version of Android.
| Phone |
Display “/nits |
Size mm/g |
Cameras |
CPU GHz |
Mem GB |
Battery |
USBC |
Lnx |
US |
Avail |
Price |
| Mecha Comet |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
✅ |
🚫 |
🚫 |
£649 |
| FairPhone 5 |
6.46 OLED 1224x2700 |
161x76x9.6 212 |
50/50 |
QCM 6490 1.9 |
8/256 SD |
4500r |
3.0 |
✅ |
🚫 |
✅ |
€499 |
| Furi FLX1s |
6.7 LCD 720 x1600 |
170x76x8 201 |
20/13 |
Cortex 2.4 |
8/128 |
5000 |
2.0 |
✅ |
✅ |
🚫 |
$550 |
| FairPhone 6 (Murena) |
6.31 OLED 1116x2484 |
156x73x9.6 191 |
50/32 |
Snap 7sG3 1.8 |
8/256 |
4415 |
2.0 |
🚫 |
✅ |
✅ |
€599 |
| Murena HIROH |
6.67 AMOLED 1220x2712 |
|
108/32 |
Cortex 3.35 |
16/512 |
5000 |
?? |
? |
✅ |
🚫 |
$900 |
| PinePhone64 |
5.95 720 x1440 |
?? |
5/2 |
ARM 1.152 |
2/3 |
3000 |
?? |
✅ |
✅ |
?? |
?? |
| Purism Librem 5 |
5.7 IPS 720 x1440 |
153x75x15.5 263 |
13/8 |
ARM 1.5 |
3/32 SD |
4500 |
3.0 |
✅ |
✅ |
✅ |
$799 |
| Purism Liberty Phone |
5.7 IPS 720 ×1440 |
5.7 |
13/8 |
ARM 1.5GHz |
4/128 |
4500 r |
3.0 (v) |
✅ |
✅ |
🚫 |
$1,999 |
| Jolla |
4.5 IPS 540 x960 |
131x68x9.9 141 |
8/2 |
Qualcomm 1.4 |
1/16 SD |
2100 r |
2.0 |
⭕ |
🚫 |
🚫 |
N/A |
| Volla |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
✅ |
🚫 |
✅ |
Varies |
| Liberux NEXX |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
✅ |
🚫 |
🚫 |
~€1000 |
| F(x)tec PRO¹ X |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
? |
🚫 |
🚫 |
£649 |
| Murena CMF Phone 1 |
6.67 SAMOLED 1080x2400 |
194x77x8 197 |
50/16 |
Cortex 2.5 |
8/128 |
5000 |
? |
? |
✅ |
✅ |
$419 |
| Murena Teracube 2s |
6.1 IPS 720x1560 |
155x73x10 190 |
20/8 |
MediaTek 2.35 |
4/64 SD |
4000r |
2 (¬PD) |
🚫 |
✅ |
✅ |
$340 |
| Xiaomi Poco X3 |
6.67 1080x2400 |
|
13/64 |
Qualcomm 2.3 |
6/64 |
5160 |
|
✅ |
✅ |
🚫 |
$320 |
I will strive to keep it updated, and to fill in the blanks.
-
There are many more potential specs for Display, but not all vendors include
all specs: nits, refresh rate, touch sample rates, colors, contrast, and
protective glass. This can all be useful information, but not all vendors
provide all specs, and it would blow up the table. Therefore, I include the
most common information: diagonal size, technology (if provided), and
dimensions.
-
CPU specifics are restricted to the basics. Most specs list # of
performance vs efficiency cores, multiple speed specs, and just a ton of
information that wouldn’t fit easily into a table; and not all vendors provide
the same amount of data in anything like a standard format. So, I include the
family and the fastest clock speed, because I’m not sure that even with all
the other variables you could calculate an expected standby run time by
knowing the slower clock speeds.
Cameras are in megapixels, and are back/front resolutions. I do not care
about video capture frame rates, modes or anything else about the camera. I
have a real camera for photography.
-
Mem is RAM/storage, and whether the phone takes SD cards
-
Battery is in mAh, and an r suffix means replacable
-
USBC is the supported version of USB-C on the device; (v) means I
confirmed it supports 3.0’s video-over-USB; 2.0 never does, but sometimes 3.0
doesn’t, either.
-
Lnx in this context doesn’t mean “you can boot it,” but “you can make calls”
– IE, what most people would consider daily driving. A smart phone is
considered functional if
-
Calls can be placed and received
-
The screen works
-
The WiFi works
-
The speakers work
-
The USB connection works (you can charge the phone)
In particular, VoLTE is becoming mandatory on many networks in the US, and
several EU phones apparently don’t support it on US networks (if at all?).
Wireless charging appears to require chip support which nobody has implemented
Linux drivers for. None of these phones have wireless charging, and if they
did, the impression I got was that it wouldn’t work under Linux anyway.
Regardless, while some people might have that as a minimum requirement, I do not
consider it in the “daily driver” category.
Murena phones come with /e/OS; some are available with Ubuntu Touch.
-
US is whether or not it works on US networks, AFAICT
-
Avail is whether you can get your hands on one right now. Several of these
are pre-order.
-
I did not convert Price to dollars, despite this being a US-centric table,
because exchange rates are highly variable.
A couple of phones I may not flesh out; the Pine64 has embarassing hardware,
and I’m fairly certain by now the the Jolla doesn’t work in the US; since my
goal is to get a phone for me, I’m not spending time filling in data for a
phone which can’t work.
Therefore, while I’m not including all de- Googled phones, I’m including some
– especially if Linux support seems to be coming along. I’m also considering
only contemporary technology, because even if the battery is replaceable, I’d
really not buy myself into having to upgrade soon. Murena, in particular, sells
several Pixels (5, 7, 8) with /e/OS.
This is to the best of my knowledge, gleaned from the product web sites and
other information i can find online. Information about US and Linux compatablity
are mostly hearsay, and change over time. Included in this list are phones that
ship without Linux, but which are known to work well with Ubuntu Touch
(nominally via UBPorts), PostmarketOS, or some other Linux. It also includes
some de-Googled phones – mainly /e/OS – because the field is so spartan, and
sometimes perfect is the enemy of good.
Notes
- FairPhone 5
-
The one phone Murena skipped importing into the US was the FairPhone 5,
despite a promising post in 2023 claiming it was coming. It’s the one most
interesting, and would probably be at the top of my list. The 6 doesn’t bring a
lot to the table and is both larger and more expensive.
- The Jolla Phone
-
Jolla no longer makes this phone, and the specs are quite old.
Jolla phones ran Sailfish, which is neither Android nor Linux, but which
apparently was pretty nice. I have no knowledge of whether it was what privacy
wonks would consider “secure”, but it isn’t open source and you can not trust
anything that isn’t open source.
- Volla phones
-
None of the Volla phones have ever been imported into the US, and I’ve
seen commentary that they both work on US networks, and don’t. Volla phones are
quite nice, specs-wise, and it’s a shame we can’t get them in the states.
The Ubuntu Touch website lists the Quintus and 22 as fully functional.
- F(x)tec PRO¹ X
-
Another phone with a physical keyboard which looks both fantastic and also
perpetually in development with no clear indication of when, or if, it’ll ever
be released. The name is absurd and makes me skeptical of the entire project.
- Murena Teracube 2s
-
The bootloader on the Teracube is locked, which precludes installing Linux.
- Xiaomi Poco X3
-
Something of a dark horse, and a phone dating back to 2020, the Xiaomi shows as
having every feature functioning under Ubuntu Touch. Unfortunately, the phone
does not support VoLTE under Ubuntu Touch, which hinders its use in the US. The
phone hardware itself does.
Nobody has this phone in stock, though, so “Availability” is negative, although
I suppose it could be found on eBay or something. The non-replacable battery
makes buying it used a sketchy proposition.