Mmmm, better not. It’s going to always be like that, that something slightly newer is waiting just round the corner. Bet you half a dollar that by the time MX8 is available to small-volume customers, you will hear about MX10 or whatever its name will be.
Fully agree with this approach.
I would like to add my own, different opinion on this topic, for balance.
If the funding campaign succeeds and the phone gets shipped, it will be my first ever smartphone. I have stuck with an old Nokia ‘dumbphone’ for the last decade, as I’ve seen no compelling reason to upgrade given the extent to which the incumbents control the user experience on their devices. But a phone that can run a standard GNU/Linux system, enabling me to exert control over my own user experience: that’s something worth having!
So, I don’t really care how fast the CPU is, or what resolution the screen is, as long as it can run a decent GNU/Linux system without ugly proprietary drivers and bootloader workarounds, or weird hacked-on Android components. Anything that can do that is going to be miles better than what I currently have in terms of raw specs! I’ll probably be a bit annoyed if it comes with much less than 1280x720, but 1920x1080 is perfectly adequate as far as I’m concerned.
There’s nothing else out there that does what this phone promises, so 1920x1080 sounds absolutely fantastic in comparison to nothing at all!
Obviously a faster CPU is desirable if it becomes a possibility, but I would certainly not want the i.MX8 if it meant compromising on compatibility with Free Software, as that would defeat the purpose of having backed/pre-ordered the phone and I would have wasted my money! (I would want a refund.)
I would also personally choose better battery life over having a greater than 1920x1080 display or a faster CPU. That’s not to say that you can’t have those things AND good battery life, but if it did reduce the battery life I wouldn’t consider the upgrade worthwhile. I’m used to charging my phone once a week!
I’m not sure what the ‘typical’ customer looks like for this phone, but I have a feeling there are probably several different “types” of us, who want different things! Hopefully we can all be satisfied!
I fully agree to patch. This is the first crowdfunding campaign I take part in, and it will be my first smartphone. Actually, the hardware spec I’m mostly worried about is the battery, because this will be a serious step backwards compared to my >10 years old dumbphone.
Hi there.
I would like to share yet another point of view and why I belie this project is so important. Didn’t back it up yet because I didn’t see anywhere if NFC chip will be present or not.
To me Android was new world when I first got it in my hands. My first thoughts were: this is not just phone this is a computer with ability to make phones calls. This was way back when Froyo was cool…
Since then I replaced two phones. So from my LG P500 to Motorola Moto G 2013 (still owns it). So in 7 years I owned 2 phones. Reason why I will upgrade my current phone is because it became slow and of course I don’t have time to manually upgrade every month custom rom to receive security patches because each upgrade for me means I have to backup data install, (be offline for 20 minutes or sometimes even more) and then reinstall all the apps, get data back etc… cumbersome procedure just to be with latest security patches. Not to mention all of the data I leak to google and other big players…
So to me librem 5 would be a small computer with linux on it that has NFC and I can customize everything for multiple years with security updates on top and without fear that my phone will start lagging. I mean when I run Archlinux even with gnome on ancient hardware (with ssd) it never gets any slower…
So please just say you will put NFC chip inside and I will back this project right away. Also wireless charging would be great so it will auto charge while I will be in my car.
@nicole.faerber any thoughts on NFC and wireless charging?
The problem for some of us is not only about speed of the CPU but about its age.
In fact a newer CPU is most of times synonym of better battery life as the transistors are smaller and the architecture more efficient. Even more if we are speaking about an ARM processor.
The worst case scenario is a poorly implemented driver, but that can always be improved in the future (or rewritten), the hardware not.
Anyway, your position is right. We paid for freedom and that should be the priority of the project.
New CPU should be more power effective. So i.MX8 will be preferable. Battery life depends a lot on how good OS, drivers and apps are. In any case you should not hope for a week of work. It is not real. Two days will be perfect result.
Another vote for wireless charging or a wireless charging case of some kind.
Thank you @patch! I had drafted a post similar to yours but you’ve written it so eloquently here that I’m just going to +1 your post 
“Once we have a case design (I mean a design and fit of internal parts)” - nicole.faerber
As a part of the design of the case, and I realize it is subject to change at the moment, are there thought on support for covers? cases? or wallets? etc… to hold the phone?
I know this is some thing to think about in the future, but it is something ppl look for when buying (or in this case supporting) a new smartphone.
Hi all,
I’m new to this forum. Have been a avid Linux user since “Ubuntu 8”.
Seeing this is a thread on uncertainties & backing. I would like to canvas present backers of the crowdfunding for the “Librem 5” smartphone, to help it along, & get it over the Post, by maybe some of us who have already backed this campaign, by already pre-ordering a “Librem 5”; to back it again by pre-ordering another one for a girlfriend or other friend.
I really think this endeavour by Purism, to make a viable, purely Linux secure & private smartphone, with Open source software, has a lot of potential to really succeed in bringing it to market.
There has been several big development attempts at it; the last one being the Ubuntu Phone; which did get a long way, & KDE had been paralleling “Ubuntu Touch” in their own way for some years. So there should be a lot of Open source developed software available, to make a good smartphone, in the rough timeframe the developers at Purism are proposing.
Lets get this one off the ground, as I would be thinking to start with, most of us entering into this crowdfunding effort, are avid Linux users, of different levels of experience.
There are a lot of people, who buy a mid-range smartphone to a low-mid-range smartphone; that is quite good enough. The “Librem 5” don’t you think should be in the mid-range category? Does a good smartphone always have to be the bleeding edge of specs?
“Start with something that you can achieve; & build on it, bit by bit”; & get a Linux Smartphone off the ground. It is only by supporting it, that you will see good people’s effort succeed. This is really worth it.
The CPU & Screen, & Ram, are all acceptable by my way of thinking.
Cheers, HD-OZ
Remember, “What goes around, comes around”
I have backed the “Librem 5” campaign twice, each time for one Librem 5.
Problem: My pledges with my bank, through my credit card, are ONLY kept “On-hold” by the bank for 10 days, after which the pledge is cancelled by the bank (NOT me, as I pledged the money, & want the “Librem 5” reward, & to back the crowdfunding for BOTH times).
My last pledged money has now been taken, sinced they have reached their goal of 1,500,000., & it was within the 10 days, my bank, will keep a pledge “on-hold”.
The 1st pledge I made, back right near the beginning, hasn’t been taken, as the “on-hold” with that pledge, went well over the 10 days, & was cancelled by the bank (not me).
I would like someone at Purism, to help me pay for & honour that pledge, as I had done, so I can keep my position in the queue, when it comes time to ship, the completed phone.
I have also, as well as here, emailed support about this.
Has anyone noticed the same restrictions, with credit card pledges, as I have done, with their bank?
HD-OZ
Good on the crowdfunding reaching its target. 
So my question is what happens if I dont buy the phone prior to the campaign ending today, will I be able to purchase the phone lets say 6 months to a 1 year from now once specs are better defined? will the cost be the same? If I can purchase 6 months from now will I still get the phone in 2019?
Also can I get an answer to
-how dies the imx6 compare to a snapdragon cpu let say from a samsung galaxy 5
-front and back camera specs
-will it run a hardened kernel by default for example grsecurity patches
-will it have a hard switch to prevent firmware upgrades, such as google chromebook
thanks
@nicole.faerber I definitely also support the idea to rather wait a few months if this gives us the ability to have the iMX8.
Not for computing power, but for energy efficiency. I really don’t care much if we have more than HD and more than 3 GB RAM. I mean it’s all nice and dandy, but energy efficiency trumps a lot of sugar coating.
On the kernel support, I would hope it is not too hard to do? I mean the name implies it is kind of similar to the iMX6.
I’m confident Purism will take the proper steps 
Also, a thought to those who fear that the iMX6 could be underpowered: I don’t know what I could compare it to.
Nicole, can you give a rough estimate how iMX6 and iMX8 compare to a Raspberry Pi 2 or 3?
But I also think that optimized native apps should have an advantage over Android apps, so a slightly weaker CPU is not the end of the world.
@nicole.faerber
So my question is what happens if I dont buy the phone prior to the campaign ending today, will I be able to purchase the phone lets say 6 months to a 1 year from now once specs are better defined? will the cost be the same? If I can purchase 6 months from now will I still get the phone in 2019?
Another user emailed the team with a similar question and posted the response in another thread. Linking it below:
i.MX 6 (1 GHz to 1.2 GHz)
i.MX 8 M (Up to four 1.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 processors) X (Up to four (4) 1.2 GHz Cortex-A35 processors)
Raspberry Pi (1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53) [idle power consumption 300 mA (1.5 W) max 1.34 A (6.7 W)]
That is the information I could get on the Wikipedia.
if i may … i reached this older topic by way of search. sorry if i bump this old thread maybe there is a newer one.
a modular phone is indeed a big step for a future custom design.
if you have a modular camera, wireless nic, celular why do you need the hardware kill switch for ? just pop-out the respective modules (all or just one at a time)
just so i’m clear. you don’t need to detach the respective module/modules out completely just sever the hardware connections. that way you don’t misplace/forget/lose them (the modules) and you don’t need any kill switches(as buttons)
i don’t know about you - but i would feel much better knowing that the entire camera module and/or the microphone module are semi-detached from the main body - just enough so i can SEE that there is NO hardware connection whatsoever with the motherboard.
helps to be more upfront and decisive than just a hardware-button-killswitch (not a bad idea either)