So the Librem5 will use the i.MX8 SBC, I think that’s a fact now.
Unfortunately I get extremely confused about the processor & RAM capabilities of this:
Do I understand correctly that the i.MX8 can have various processors (speed and number of cores)?
So what will the Librem5’s processor speed/cores be then?
Similar question about RAM; I cannot see any definite information about that.
3GB or more?
it seems to me by the time shipping starts 3GB won’t even be low-spec anymore…
(related question: will the default operating system be just as taxing on resources as, say, a contemporary Android system? I know GNU/Linux is generally considered to be lighter, but then so is Android, and also both the GNOME or KDE desktops are not lightweight at all.)
Will the phone have a 3.5mm headphone jack?
And what about Dual SIM card support?
I have asked this before, and it seems it’s almost a done deal… But this is essential for me, and almost is not quite enough…
I have looked at the Tech specs and recent blog posts, and just now trawled the forums for related threads, but could not find what I’m looking for.
The exact version we’ll get is most likely a quad-core i.MX8M (https://puri.sm/posts/librem5-progress-report-3/ - “More specifically we are looking at the i.MX 8M which features four ARM Cortex A53 cores”), which run at 1.5 GHz according to Wikipedia.
Android is nowhere near lightweight. Aside from the code size (yes, I know, not an accurate measurement of speed in the final product) ballooning as time passed on, the code itself is so convoluted as to be utterly incomprehensible to me (admittedly, I’m not a good coder).
As an example, it was possible in CyanogenMod 11 to show the actual signal strength in dBm in the status bar instead of meaningless “bars”. That, I think, was handled by the file frameworks/base/packages/SystemUI/src/com/android/systemui/statusbar/SignalClusterView.java. It was 9.3 KiB in CM 11(Android 4.4), but is now 26.1 KiB in LineageOS 14.1 (Android 7.1). I looked at that file, the part in the settings where it let you pick raw signal strength, and various others in the system UI package. After several hours, I barely had a faint understanding of how Android 4.4 did it, but couldn’t even begin to comprehend where 7.1 got its information from or how it was actually sent off for display. I just gave up at that point.
And then there’s the issue that you’re doing everything with Java instead of actual compiled and optimised native code.
A more accurate comparison can be made with a Raspberry Pi 3 model B. The Pi 3B has basically the same CPU as what the phone will end up having (Pi 3B = quad core 1.4 GHz Cortex A53, i.MX8M = quad core 1.5 GHz A53), but only has 1 GB of DDR2 RAM as compared to the 3 GB of faster DDR3 which we’ll get. The OS in both cases is basically a native build of Debian (Raspbian/PureOS). Raspbian runs Gnome by default (though I wouldn’t mind seeing if I can get KDE or Trinity running on mine…).
Alternatively, you could also look at the various Windows Phones (which I believe also used compiled native binaries). Their CPU and RAM specifications were notably lower than contemporary Android phones, yet despite that they were apparently (I have never used one) much more responsive.
Almost certainly yes. See https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/ (scroll down, or just Ctrl-F and type in “headphone”). It does say “specs subject to change”, but a headphone jack is such an incredibly important part of a device like this that I don’t see it being removed.
oops, that went right past me.
i guess i’m going to have to get used to “almost certainly” and “specs subject to change” with crowdfunding projects… sorry about being so insistent.
I have used iPhone, Android, and am currently using Windows Phone(yeah, I know support ends in December of next year). I would say the build quality of my phone is excellent and while the OS has its quirks and is missing some features that I would consider standard (probably since its being phased out) overall its very good.
These are the specs for the phone I have:
The OS itself is quite excellent, nothing is slow to open and its relatively easy to find and do the things I want, other than the fact that its obviously non-free it has a similar experience in terms of app support that the Librem 5 will have. I actually really like this phone and its a shame that the OS is being phased out , good thing the Librem 5 is coming in January!
