PinePhone
The PinePhone is a smartphone created by Pine64, capable of running mainline Linux and supported by many partner projects. A "braveheart" edition is currently available for purchase from the PINE64 store, though it should be noted that this version comes without a preinstalled OS, and is geared specifically towards tinkerers and hackers. People looking for a stable consumer-grade phone should wait for the final release, which is expected to occur in March 2020 and will be available for at least five years.
Specifications
Dimensions: 160.5 x 76.6 x 9.2mm
Weight: Between 180-200 grams
Build: Plastic
SIM Card: Micro-SIM
Display:
- Size: 5.95 inches (151mm) diagonal
- Type: HD IPS capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
- Resolution: 1440x720, 18:9 ratio
System on Chip: Allwinner A64
RAM: 2GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
Internal Storage: 16GB eMMC, extendable up to 2TB via microSD, supports SDHC and SDXC
Back Camera: Single 5MP, 1/4", LED Flash
Selfie Camera: Single 2MP, f/2.8, 1/5"
Sound: Loudspeaker, 3.5mm jack & mic (jack doubles as hardware UART if killswitch 6 is deactivated)
Communication: EG25-G
- LTE-FDD: B1/ B2/ B3/ B4/ B5/ B7/ B8/ B12/ B13/ B18/ B19/ B20/ B25/ B26/ B28
- LTE-TDD: B38/ B39/ B40/ B41
- WCDMA: B1/ B2/ B4/ B5/ B6/ B8/ B19
- GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
- WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, single-band, hotspot
- Bluetooth: 4.0, A2DP
- GNSS: GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo/QZSS, with A-GPS
Sensors: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, ambient light, compass
Killswitches: Modem, Wifi & Bluetooth, Microphone, Cameras
Battery: 2750-3000 mAh Li-Po (replaceable with any Samsung J7 form-factor battery)
I/O: USB Type-C (SlimPort), USB Host, DisplayPort Alternate Mode output, 15W 5V 3A Quick Charge, follows USB PD specification
History
The PinePhone was announced at FOSDEM 2019, February 2-4, 2019. The first Project Don't be evil devkit was on display at the Pine64 booth during the weekend.
Hardware revisions
The PinePhone platform went through two "developer kit" phases that partner projects used to prove their software on the upcoming platform.
Additionally, two "early adopter" revisions of the platform were created:
The first generally available PinePhone batch was PinePhone 1.1 "Brave Heart". Pre-orders for this batch started on November 15, 2019. It is expected to ship sometime in December 2019 to January 2020.
A "full release" Pinephone, which will likely have board revision 1.2, will be released in 2020.
Killswitch configuration
The PinePhone features six switches that can be used to configure its hardware. They are numbered 1-6, with switch 1 located nearest to the modem. Their on position is toward the top of the phone.
- Modem: On enables 2G/3G/4G communication and GNSS hardware, off disables.
- WiFi/BT: On enables Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication hardware, off disables.
- Microphone: On enables audio input from on-board microphones (not 3.5mm jack), off disables.
- Rear camera: On enables the rear camera, off disables.
- Front camera: On enables the front camera, off disables.
- Headphone: On enables audio input and output via the 3.5mm audio jack, off switches the jack to hardware UART mode.
Modem and Carrier Support
| Carrier | LTE Bands | PinePhone Support? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA:Verizon | B2, B4, B5, B13, B66 | Supported | Not B66 |
| USA:T-Mobile | B2, B4, B5, B12, B66, B71 | Supported | Not B66, B71 |
| USA:Sprint | B25, B26, B41 | Supported | |
| UK:EE 4G | B1, B3, B7, B20 | Supported | |
| UK:O2 4G | B1, B3, B20, B40 | Supported | |
| UK:Three 4G | B3, B20, B32 | Partial | Not B32 |
| UK:Vodafone 4G | B7, B20, B32 | Partial | Not B32 |
| China:China Mobile | B38, B39, B40, B41 | Supported | |
| Germany:T-Mobile | B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B22, B28, B32, B38 | Partial | Not B32 |
| Germany:Vodafone | B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B22, B28, B32, B38 | Partial | Not B32 |
| Germany:O2 | B1, B3, B7, B8, B20, B22, B28, B38 | Supported | |
| Australia:Telstra | B1, B3, B7, B28 | Supported | |
| Australia:Optus | B1, B3, B7, B28, B40 | Supported | |
| Australia:Vodafone | B1, B3, B5, B7, B28 | Supported |
- Although 4g.co.uk reports UK:Three and UK:Vodafone use 1400MHz SDL (Band 32) for LTE, as at November 2019 it is believed this is in theory only and not in practice!
- According to inside-digital.de in Germany in 2019, Band 32 is only for one-way data boosting, not meant to be used for cellphones but for Homespots, like Vodafone GigaCube
- Australian Telco bands
- More information about carriers' frequency usage can be found at frequencycheck.com
Software Support
Please see the PinePhoneOS page for details of images available for the PinePhone and how to install them.