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PINE64 has kicked off today the pre-orders for its PinePhone Beta Limited Edition Linux-powered smartphone from $149.99 USD.
Unveiled earlier this month, the PinePhone Beta Edition is the next step in the evolution of this Linux phone developed by PINE64, the makers of the Pinebook ARM laptops, PINE A64 and ROCK64 SBCs, and PineTab Linux tablet.
After offering the Linux community several limited editions of the PinePhone Linux phone branded and pre-installed with some of the most popular Linux operating systems for mobile devices, PINE64 announced last month its decision to no longer make these editions and stick with Manjaro Linux as default OS featuring the KDE Plasma Mobile user interface.
The company said that all future PinePhone devices will ship with Manjaro Linux ARM pre-installed, starting with the Beta Edition, which is now on sale in two variants, a standard one that includes only the smartphone for $149.99 USD and one called “Convergence Package” for $199.99 USD that also includes a USB-C dock that lets you turn the device into a personal computer by attaching keyboard, mouse, and monitor.
The “Beta” in the Beta Edition indicates the current status of the software pre-installed in the PinePhone. Previous PinePhone editions were considered of “alpha” quality, but PINE64 still recommends them only to experienced Linux users and developers/hackers.
But, on the hardware side, PinePhone Beta Edition is pretty much identical to the previous editions, featuring a 5.95-inch HD IPS (1440×720 pixels, 18:9 ratio) capacitive touchscreen, Allwinner A64 64-bit Quad-core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A-53 CPU, MALI-400MP2 GPU, up to 32GB eMMC flash storage, and up to 3GB LPDDR3 SDRAM memory.
The device also features a 5MP 1/4″ LED Flash rear camera, 2MP f/2.8 1/5″ selfie camera, 3.5mm audio jack with mic, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0 A2DP, and GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS support. The Beta Edition comes with the newest PCBA (printed circuit board assembly) revision v1.2b.
PinePhone Beta Limited Edition comes in a black plastic case design with apparently no branding on the back. However, PINE64 said a while ago that they would consider selling branded back covers with the logos of the supported Linux mobile OSes for the PinePhone to support the community of developers behind them.
Until then, if you want to buy a PinePhone Linux phone, you can pre-order the Beta Limited Editions right now from PINE64’s online store. Be quick because the stocks are usually very limited. All orders will be shipped starting late April 2021.
Last updated 3 years ago
