Linux-based phone still ‘runs 99% of Android apps’ so you can do more with it, if you wish.
  • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
    25·
    7 hours ago

    They lost me at $499. A phone that is just a phone should be about a hundred bucks max. I didn’t read the article though. Maybe it’s still very computery.

    • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
      6·
      5 hours ago

      Small production run + half-decent internals probably accounts for a lot of the price.

      Having experimented with $100 underpowered flip phone on KaiOS, lack of apps was a real problem. What (some) people want is the slight inconvenience of a T9 keyboard and an annoyingly small screen to help them limit their screen time, but they still want full functionality of all their apps.

      • coltn@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        4 hours ago

        as someone who has been using t9 phones for the last 3-4 years, the tough part is will the software and keys even be good on this. you just don’t know till you use it. It’s true, having an underpowered phone sucks ( I’m using the Sonim X320 now which I believe has 4GB of ram, and it’s soooo nice compared to the Cat S22 Flip ). But a lot of issues on my previous phones (prev mentioned Cat, then the Qin F25) was mostly the software not working well with buttons or the screen size. The sonim I have now works well because the stock apps a designed for the hard ware. $450 or whatever is still too much, but if it covers all the bands and use usable, at least it’s an option.

      • PabloSexcrowbar@piefed.socialEnglish
        2·
        5 hours ago

        I know some people who would actually kill for a physical T9 keyboard so they could touch-type. It’s not my cup of tea, but I can definitely see it being a major draw for people who grew up texting on a real flip phone.

        • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
          3·
          4 hours ago

          I thought it woud suck, but with the touch typing + consistent dictionary guessing, it’s really on par with the random chaos of a touchscreen keyboard.