If I lived in the US I would totally buy one of these

The Furiphone FLX1 - finally a Linux phone which works out of the box without needing to be a Linux nerd to even attempt to get it to work properly.

OS - FuriOS which is a debian based distro
works like an android with the security of an iPhone - runs Android Apps securely via sandboxing / containerisation. It’s inherently degoogled. Instead you load android apps via the well known third-party repos

Dual use - The Hybrid Linux and Android capabilities means it works well as both a phone and a terminal too

Privacy - has a zero data collection policy. Users have full control over their personal information, with settings to manage data permissions.

Price - Doesn’t cost and arm and leg unlike the purism stuff which is practically abandoned anyway from what I can see.

Hardware - obviously cameras is not great but with a 50mp camera woth Phase Detection Autofocus and Optical Image stabilization is still not bad. But the people after good camera on their phones for some reason aren’t reallt the traget market. Replacable batterys, lots of stuff to boast about.

I’m not a paid shill or anything like that and don’t even live in the US so can’t use one, that being said, i’d say this still definitely seems like a company and projects worth backing and supporting (alongside pine64) especially if you someone that’s fed up with the devices of mass espionage that are iphones and androids (Google is closed sourcing android OS just for you information) so there is no mainstream open source OS anymore. I imagine all the custom roms - graphene etc will all eventually be killed off as a consequence.

Just to elaborate on the above point about thier no longer being any open source mobile operating system, I read a blog post on their site that emphasis’s the importance of a privacy friendly smartphone that truly works - https://furilabs.com/spy-free-furios/

Sadly besides this, and to some extent the pinephones, haven’t come across anything Linux based that works as you’d expect so fingers crossed these guys will really get the ball rolling here!!

Harro is that you

Joking btw… but you talk a lot like he did.

For anyone wondering - Harro was basically the older version of @Zwielicht on bhw wayyyy back in the day, when bhw was wild and free! When diamond Dave vanished Harro ran the show until Damien came along and he was removed. Nice dude and actually local to me funnily enough… a smart man, crazy but smart.. proper old school BH.. too BH for Damien.

If you want a privacy focused phone get Google pixel, install grapheneOS and you good to go!
It supports eSim too

It sounds juicy but as @Aristocratic recommended, it's easier with a Pixel amd financial better

Yeah I’m using Graphene rn. Before that I used Calyx. A few AOSP forks out there, but main reason why I highlighted this one is because it a full-fledged Linux OS based on the most stable and corporation free distros around. That means no one at any point is going to be at google’s mercy at any point in the future... Google seems to have been at war with custom rom developers ever since they deprecated the dialler and messaging apps and it’s just been getting progessively worse since then for everyone except their OEMs. Making AOSP development seems like another nail in the coffin. Just for privacy enthusiasts, seems customs roms is uncertain - not just graphene, but all the good half a dozen or so other notable projects too.

t0mmy said:

Harro is that you

Joking btw… but you talk a lot like he did.

For anyone wondering - Harro was basically the older version of @Zwielicht on bhw wayyyy back in the day, when bhw was wild and free! When diamond Dave vanished Harro ran the show until Damien came along and he was removed. Nice dude and actually local to me funnily enough… a smart man, crazy but smart.. proper old school BH.. too BH for Damien.

Click to expand...

I had actually come across and bookmarked some of his posts haha crazy how some of his info seem useful and inspirong even so many years later.