I think that Purism should cancel the Fir version alltogether and build another, more improved phone, from scratch.
The purose of the Fir version was actually to assure everyone that a reasonably completed final Librem 5 would eventually be released as it was necessary during the initial development prosess to rev the Librem 5 several times before the hardware could be considered to be complete and fully functional. But they got it right or close enough in Evergreen. To have a Fir version now would likely slow development. Samsung doesnât release something like a Note 10 and then a few years later release a Note 10.1. They move-on, radically innovate, and give the next product either a new number or maybe even a new name. Itâs all in the marketing. The next phone should be ânew and improvedâ, as opposed to âthe same but a little betterâ. Technology marches forward, hopefully in bigger steps.
The arm architecture is ridiculous in performance and this arm cpus seriously depends on others accelerators to final purpuse, these accelerators are still on construction(Libre) to be enabled in the Librem 5. Asking for another phone with a better CPU is falling into the same hole again and start again. Fir it is super super super import on the same SOCompat.
Fir is a batch though, not a version. The differences between batches A through E are relatively minor, and if Fir comes into being, the same may be true again. That may not accord with the expectations of those who have deferred their order to the Fir batch however.
The Librem 5 v2 is a whole different (hypothetical) device. The Librem 5 v2 has unfortunately, in this forum, also been misleadingly named the Librem 6.
⌠so the extent to which Fir would slow development depends on what Fir encompasses.
A possible compromise: Fir is Evergreen but with the 4GB RAM upgrade and/or the 128GB eMMC upgrade (whatever is most practical without disrupting things).
One unknown for us as outsiders is ⌠how many phone orders are in the Fir batch?
Purism is in no position to dump what they have learned making the Librem 5 and starting from scratch. Samsung, sure they have very very deep pockets.
I think the main thing with the Fir batch is if they can improve the battery life/power management, network reliability (modem/bluetooth/wifi) and perhaps figure out a way to shrink the footprint a bit so itâs not quite so hefty, like a weight loss program.
These further refinements to the existing platform will set them up nicely for a next full revision of the device, but like I said there is really no starting from scratch here unless they get some sort of windfall of money in which to do so.
I havent seen anything from Purism to support this claim.
I dont think were going to know what Fir will contain until theres an official announcement, and I suspect that there will never be an official fir batch but rather a new product, a Librem 5v2 or something similar as the amber - evergreen batches has too much baggage to keep with that naming scheme and it is more beneficial to the business to avoid the sins of the past where possible.
Not going to lie, I think if Purism was selling a version of the Librem 5 with 8+ GB of ram, a much faster processor, and a marginally better camera, I would probably throw like $5000 at it just to keep using this style of handset while getting marginal improvements.
If I had any financial advisors, they would probably tell me I was being extremely unwise, but luckily I probably wonât tell anyone acting in that capacity for me in the future about this behavior
I think i would rather bedazzle it with the corpses of my previous android phones, ripped out from their circuit boards, just for the off chance that they might cause it to run faster
Edit:
How much faster does a Librem 5 run if it has the processor from a samsung ripped off its circuit board and glued to the L5 for inspiration? maybe thatâs the question i should be asking
What you may really want is a die shrink i.e. smaller process fab - so that even with the same speed of processor, you get reduced power consumption, and hence a longer time to deplete the battery. Thatâs not to say that someone might not also welcome a faster processor but then I would also welcome a faster disk.
I think with a faster processor (smaller process fab) I would prefer a setting where I can choose between performance mode and speed mode. This way I could do more heavily tasks when Iâm not out of power (i.e. on desktop) while extending battery uptime on a trip.
The camera is the only thing that sounds realistic for now. But the camera will also make better pictures with further camera app improvements. Anyway, it would be nice to get improvements especially for dark environments.
For 8GB of RAM the processor has to support it. And for a better processor (beyond what was or is the plan for Fir, which only supports 4GB RAM if Iâm not wrong) Purism needs to find one where proprietary blobs wont be a thing plus with an available FOSS firmware. The requirements are high as you can see.
I read Purism news from time to time to see if I am to expect my phone any time soon but I havenât read nothing about the Fir batch (though itâs possible I missed it).
Has Purism communicated anything about it? Is it still expected to happen? Is it possible to fallback to an Evergreen phone otherwise?
I would say very likely but only Purism can say for sure.
I would also say that, given the absence of news on Fir, this might be a sensible course of action. I guess it depends on your goals and your personal situation.
But the camera will also make better pictures with further camera app improvements. Anyway, it would be nice to get improvements especially for dark environments.