Librem 5 : There have been many instances when you visit a hotel or a restaurant and as soon as you leave the place there is a google notification asking you about the experience at the property. Ever wondered how the same product on which you clicked last is on your google ads when you go to the later sites?
There have been cases earlier when companies have been through allegations of data selling and believe or not Facebook is one of the famous examples of Data Selling. Data selling and spying on customers is used as kind of extra income source. Well, none of us wants to leak our privacy, right? This is where the Librem-5 comes in the play.
So let’s get started with the offers on the list that comes with the Librem-5.
Purism Librem 5 : A Linux Smartphone We Seriously Need To Talk About
Purism Librem-5 is something all the privacy lovers have once in a while dreamed about, but does it have all what they dreamed about? Let’s take a look at Tech specs first:
A battery of 4500 mAH powers the phone. The CPU of the product is the NXP® i.MX 8M Quad core Cortex A53, 64bit ARM @max 1.5GHz (auxiliary Cortex M4) and a pretty decent GPU which is Vivante GC7000 Lite. The RAM of the phone is 3 GB and the storage capacity is 32 GB eMMC internal storage which is expandable to upto whooping 2 TB of external storage.
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The screen size is a decent one, 5.7″ IPS TFT 720×1440. The camera setup is that of a single camera which is pretty much disappointing. Well, we can say that Purism has looked over the designs and trends of the latest phones, like the triple and quad camera setups, sleek designs and glass backs, and has just said ‘NO’ to all of them.
The box of Librem-5 comes in an unlikely square shaped box. On the top, you obviously have the phone. Beneath it you can get a power brick / adapter, a C-type charging cable, a set of nice and good looking earphones, and a user manual.
PureOS : Your Data is Secure With Linux
The software, rather the operating software, is totally free of any kind of bloatware or ads, which is pretty much common in Androids and iOS. Librem-5 is made for the people who are looking forward to the future and want to have cyber-privacy. Well, peace of mind is what you aim for when buying a smartphone and that what a Librem-5 offers you no unwanted ads and privacy dangers.
Kill Switches (what they call them)
Well ‘Kill Switches’ feels like some kind of assination codeword, right? Okay so let’s get back to the phone, Librem-5 has some external switches that can be used to turn some certain privacy things off. So, by these buttons you can operate the WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular signal, microphone & camera. Your privacy is on your fingers now. These keys and buttons would be an addition to being a bit consumer friendly, well just assuming.
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User-Replaceable Battery
Well, seeing a mobile phone whose back cover could be opened up is a real rare task nowadays. The Librem-5 is an exception to the list. Purism came up with this idea so that the electronic waste would be reduced and with safety to privacy of the users, they can now offer safety to mother nature too. In a case the battery of Librem-5 is not performing well, rather than throwing the whole phone away you can just replace the battery with a new one, pretty fair, right? Well, it’s been a long time that phones are able to do this.
Price and the Reason behind the Price
- Librem 5 Price : $799
- Librem 5 Price in India : 58,916.90 Indian Rupee (Converted)
- Librem 5 USA Price : $1,999.00
A big question here is privacy and all is great, no issue but if you are paying an amount of $800, you at least want a luxury or Porsche product. A simple answer to this is that if you buy the phone, then the purchase cost is the only income stream for the company, unlikely to companies like Samsung and Xiaomi who have contacts with different third parties to have their apps and ads on the product. Well, Apple and Samsung have apps where they can ask you to pay which is again an income stream for them and the most common example for that is the Apple TV or Apple Music.
Now the Concerns about It : Librem 5 Apps and
The brand new concept mobile phone launched by Purism has an upper hand in the software and privacy concerns but if we take a look at the hardware, it is not pretty impressive. The body is really thick and fully made of plastic with not so luxury and fancy finish which you expect with a phone which is priced at $800.
There are not all the apps on the phone’s app store which can get you in some trouble. There are no google maps which are an essential part of life if you are a more doing person. Though it has its own maps app but it is way too raw and is not at all finished.
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The chipset used in the mobile are really weak and outdated. Well, if you are going to advance to privacy and performance then the chipset used is not what you would want. Well, just guess shifting from a Samsung Note 20 Ultra or Apple 12 Pro Max to directly a weak and outdated chipset of Librem-5, yeah you guessed it right, it would be a real blunder.
However, Arun Maini from Mrwhosetheboss said in his video that “as it is running a Linux based OS and will keep very few things running in background thus it is still capable of providing good and smooth experience. I also talked about it with Sourabh Kumar Founder of this blog We Observed and having a good experience in these technological things and he said the same thing. Thus, may be it will handle all the day to day tasks easily. So Don’t wait and buy it from below links:
We also noticed that the phone now also supports some accessories and other librem products, which can be attached to the phone very easily. These accessories or products include, Privacy Screen for Librem 5, Librem AweSIM, along with Anti-Interdiction Service. You can check more details and order them from the official website. Even if you want an extra battery, you can order it on the official website.
Librem 5 Review : The Final Verdict
So, the question is that is the phone worth buying? Is Librem-5 a mission accomplished or a dead fish in sea? Well, according to the sources, the people behind the phone to know that the concept or the mobile is not going to be an Android or iOS killer on the day it’s launched but they are very much confident that the concept launched is pretty uncommon and new to the market.
The idea behind it is privacy of the users. And with the growing world it’s the thing which is in danger the most. According to a survey in the United Kingdom people are preferring privacy over anything else. Other than privacy, a big aim behind it is to support the individuals behind it. So just to inform, these LINUX powered phones are not made by huge companies like Samsung or Apple, they are created by small individuals who are working for the technological welfare of the world.
So if you are a kind of person who keeps your privacy always on priority and can pay high prices for that and who also like to do social work can go for the Librem-5 but if you are a guy who is very much keen on the camera performance, display, RAM and other specifications then mate you would be really disappointed. Librem-5 is a great step towards the future of cyber security and privacy but the product that has been launched is really a raw product, fingers crossed and let’s hope that companies come up with more such ideas and vision. With that say we’ll meet you the next.
Librem is a scam.