Hello everyone,
I’d frame the Librem 5 way more as a “Linux palmtop that can make phone calls” rather than a “Linux smartphone”. I deal with it like I deal with my computers, not with the iphones I used to have.
If you expect full connectivity to Instabooks and Failgrams, and to be getting all the notifications from all the connected services all the time, and to check something every 30 seconds (thus not allowing the phone to ever fully suspend), then your battery life won’t go far and you will be frustrated.
I never charged my Librem 5 more than 80% to preserve the battery and I can go out in the morning and still have 20% when I get home in the evening. I usually send 20 SMS per day, make 30 minutes or so of phone calls, watch a youtube video or two while waiting for something, browse the news (browsing the web in firefox is the biggest battery drain of all due to how bloated the web is) and I have zero anxiety. I set auto suspend to 5 minutes.
My Librem 5 made me excited about computers and tech like I haven’t been in a very long time. I am a very lousy programmer and managed to start putting together a program that is useful for me in less than an hour. No need to pay Apple, get a developer account, fool around figuring out how to load the application. It was as easy as connecting my phone to my USB-C display, launching gnome builder and working on top of the examples shipped with gnome builder.
If you are running local apps, battery lasts way longer than you may think, and everything is also snappier. The modern web truly ruins the experience here.
But when it comes to organizing my day (the PIM apps are fine!), checking my emails, logging into my bank account (via Waydroid), taking a few snapshots here and there (I get better results by editing the RAWs than the JPEG conversions), calling and texting, reading news, it really does all I need.
I am not on social networks, so I do not need to be notified of anything in general. The only messenger I use is Signal on Waydroid and I check it randomly throughout the day. My friends and family know they should call me in case of urgent need.
Calls and SMS always come through, even when I am abroad. The apps may look unappealing, because they are tools, not toys. I like it this way. Functional and straightforward. No silly animations, no eye candy.