Alternative Smartphones

In this section we gather the phones that have something special: real Linux phones, devices with E Ink screens, handsets built to break away from social media, repairable or de-Googled phones, or ones with physical switches that cut off the microphone, camera and modem. Not all of them are meant to be your only phone, but each one tries to do things differently. Where the hardware is essentially rebranded Chinese hardware we say so plainly: in those cases what matters is the software and any privacy considerations.

They range from the most usable Linux daily driver (the FuriPhone FLX1s running FuriOS, or the Volla Phone Quintus that ships with Ubuntu Touch) to the sustainable, repairable hardware of the Fairphone, to the ready-to-use de-Googled Murena 2 with its physical switches for microphone, camera and networks. Then come the devices that cut distractions: the Mudita Kompakt with its E Ink screen and hardware kill switch, or the Light Phone III, which drops social media, browser and email entirely. Switzerland's Punkt MC03 splits apps between a secure vault with Proton services and a “wild” area, but requires a monthly subscription to keep all its features. The gem is the Commodore Callback 8020: a Y2K-style flip phone with a transparent shell that, beneath the nostalgia, runs Sailfish OS and is anti-social by design.

A few projects we mention without giving them their own card. The Jolla C2 is the “original” Sailfish OS in a traditional smartphone form: great for enthusiasts, but with still-inconsistent Android app compatibility and telephony (VoLTE), so better suited to those willing to accept some trade-offs. The Liberux NEXX is an ambitious European Linux phone with kill switches and plenty of RAM, but it is still crowdfunding and so far well below its goal: promising, yet to be judged with the usual campaign risk. The classic PinePhone Pro and Librem 5 remain excellent for tinkering, less so as a main phone. Finally the Clicks Communicator, with its BlackBerry-style physical keyboard, is a fun alternative form factor but runs plain Android, with no particular privacy ambitions.