# PinePhone

36 Hacker News commenters recommended PinePhone and 61 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 2 years (5 owners).

**Verdict:** Open-hardware Linux phone that runs desktop software, valued as an alternative to Android and iOS despite slow, immature software.

## Why people recommend it

- Open schematics, owners control hardware (4 comments): "It's the most open, pretty sure... What other company is selling smartphones with schematics, datasheets, and ICs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48372743)) "They deliver beyond that too, with support for Alt-DP over USB-C for instance, open schematics" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49200200)) "I guess something with open schematics (Librem 5, Pinephone) should be better" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47050253))
- Full desktop Linux software (4 comments): "My PinePhone runs postmarketOS and can technically run every modern Linux desktop "app"." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48904358)) "I love the experience on the Pinephone, because I can use the same stack as on desktop." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46371563)) "I can run my everyday software stack (Emacs + Firefox + Dino) on my 3 GB RAM Pinephone." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48178308))
- Alternative to Android and iOS (4 comments): "spreading the word about true alternatives existing today, Librem 5 and Pinephone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46566416)) "You can escape the duopoly by using a GNI/Linux phone, Librem 5 or Pinephone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46176711)) "Such phones also exist today. Have a look at Librem 5 and Pinephone." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48501733))
- Good kernel and driver support (2 comments): "rkisp1 driver that drives ISP on RK3399 on Pinephone Pro is available upstream in fully supported manner" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49190941)) "Pinephone Pro has almost full kernel support, multiple bootloaders" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50057769))

## What people warn about

- Weak security for sensitive use (5 comments): "the device and its software is just completely lacking in security to any real degree" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47248078)) "I would not trust any of these. They are a security disaster, lacking even basic features for securing your device against tampering and hacking." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46178407)) "With your Librem/PinePhone, you cannot even reasonably expect your calls with end-to-end encrypted apps like Signal and Element to be protected." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47854892))
- Software immature, slow to develop (4 comments): "Pinephone Pro had a very small developer community (of volunteers) and thus quite undeveloped software." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49363129)) "I did buy the PinePhone Braveheart edition a few years ago, but never did much with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48746373)) "We dumped all software development and support on the foss community." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48367892))
- Slow, underpowered hardware (5 comments): "It is underpowered, but at least it doesn't have to waste its resources on rendering ads." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49049909)) "It has 3GB of RAM and needs to be charged daily. It's barely enough for my use case" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49197084)) "the phone's hardware is just far too shit for daily driving" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48451470))
- Hardware defects, no bug reporting (4 comments): "microphone cutoff switch doesn't actually cut off the microphone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47243335)) "tons of hardware was non-functional since all they did was piece shit together and not support software in any way" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49338658)) "I see the flicker on my PinePhone's screen. I usually see it for a minute or two after I turn on the phone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50065527))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Purism Librem 5](https://hackerapproved.com/p/librem-5.md): 32 recommend
- [FuriLabs FuriPhone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/furiphone.md): 8 recommend
- [FuriLabs FLX1s](https://hackerapproved.com/p/furilabs-flx1s.md): 7 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Pine64+PinePhone+Pro&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://pine64.org/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "PinePhone", https://hackerapproved.com/p/pinephone/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).