PinePhone Pro Linux Smartphone Unveiled with 4GB RAM, Custom Rockchip SoC

PinePhone Pro

PINE64 unveiled today the PinePhone Pro as their flagship Linux smartphone and the successor of the original PinePhone, featuring more powerful internals and an upgraded display.

Meet the PinePhone Pro, PINE64’s latest Linux-powered and Open Source smartphone device featuring a custom-made RK3399S Rockchip Hexa-Core processor that runs at at 1.5GHz and allows the smartphone to receive calls and SMS messages during suspend state, thus preserving battery.

PinePhone Pro also features a gorgeous in-cell IPS 1440×720 display covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 4, 4GB of dual-channel 800MHz LPDDR4 RAM, 128GB of internal eMMC flash storage, a high-fidelity 13MP rear camera, and a 5MP front-facing camera for video calls and selfies, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, and an ARM Mali T860 GPU.

While a tiny bit thicker than that of the original PinePhone, the chassis of the PinePhone Pro is not that different to keep the device compatible with all existing peripherals, including the PinePhone keyboard, PineDio LoRa, fingerprint reader, and wireless charging cases, yet it has a better coating to minimize oily fingerprints.

Furthermore, the device comes with accelerator, gyroscope, proximity, compass, and ambient light sensors, a 3.5mm audio jack with UART output, flash, status LED, vibration motor, Micro SD slot, pogo-pins, USB-C port for charging and DP alt-mode video out, as well as a Samsung J7 form-factor 3000mAh battery.

Of course, users will also find hardware kill switches for both the cameras, microphone, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, headphone jack, and LTE modem (including GPS) under the back cover. Software-wise, the PinePhone Pro is powered by Manjaro Linux ARM with the KDE Plasma desktop environment.

“We learned a lot from working on the original PinePhone. Over the past two years we painstakingly collected and analyzed end-user feedback and explored all avenues for hardware improvements. The PinePhone Pro is the end result of this journey,” said PINE64.

According to PINE64, the device offers performance levels similar to those of recent mid-range Android smartphones, supporting native Linux games like SuperTuxKart and popular retro game emulators like PPSSPP or MAME. Moreover, PinePhone Pro supports external peripherals like monitor, keyboard and mouse for a convergent experience.

The PinePhone Pro Linux smartphone costs $399 USD and it’s available for pre-order starting today (shipping in December 2021) only for partner-project developers and established contributors. A PinePhone Pro Explorer Edition will be available for pre-order in November (shipping in early 2022) for everyone else who wants a Linux-only smartphone as their daily driver if they accept the current software limitations.

If you want to know if the PinePhone Pro is for you, check out the official website’s FAQ section and PINE64’s October Community Update. Also, check out the promo video and image gallery below to see the Linux-powered smartphone in action! And don’t worry, the PinePhone will still be around to buy if you want a less expensive Linux phone.

Image credits: PINE64

Last updated 2 years ago

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