https://hackaday.com/2023/05/05/linux-cell-phone-build-ourphone/ Skip to content Logo Hackaday Primary Menu * Home * Blog * Hackaday.io * Tindie * Hackaday Prize * Submit * About * Search for: [ ] [Search] May 5, 2023 Linux Cell Phone? Build OURPhone 18 Comments * by: Al Williams May 5, 2023 * * * * * Title: [Linux Cell Phone? Bu] Copy Short Link: [https://hackaday.com] Copy [ourphone] [Evan] couldn't find a phone he liked, so he decided to build his own . There are advantages and disadvantages, as you might expect. On the plus side, you have the ultimate control. On the negative side, it doesn't quite have the curb appeal -- at least to the average user -- of a sleek new cell phone from a major manufacturer. The phone uses a Raspberry Pi, along with a 4G modem and a 480x800 touchscreen. There's a laser cut box that measures 90x160x30 mm. For reference, a Google Pixel 7 is about 73x156x9 mm, so a little easier on the pocket. But not one the pocketbook. The OURPhone only costs about $200 USD to build. There are trade-offs. For example, the touchscreen is resistive, so you'll want a stylus (there's a slot for it in the case). On the other hand, if you don't like something, it is all there for you to change. Obviously, a better screen would help. Thinner batteries might be a good enhancement too. But that's the beauty of an open project. You can do all these things and more. We wondered if you could get one of the "mobile" Linux editions to run or even Android. It seems like the hardest part is coming up with a sophisticated enclosure. * [share_face] * [share_twit] * [share_in] * [share_mail] Posted in Phone Hacks, Raspberry PiTagged cell phone Post navigation - CNC Feeds And Speeds, Explained As A First-Timer This Week In Security: Oracle Opera, Passkeys, And AirTag RFC - 18 thoughts on "Linux Cell Phone? Build OURPhone" 1. Upgrade pi-top [3] says: May 5, 2023 at 4:56 am Like a home brew version of the Clockwork Pi uConsole Report comment Reply 1. socksbot says: May 5, 2023 at 5:27 am They don't mention the battery charging and usage times. Maybe both are several hours! All in the name of ideological purity! Report comment Reply 2. The Commenter Formerly Known As Ren says: May 5, 2023 at 5:12 am Bravo! As I recently bought a Motorola Edge @ Verizon, (my 2-3 year old Samsung was failing). I considered getting a PinePhone to avoid the Google tyranny, but time was of essence. It now seems Moto is deeper in the hellish pit of Google than Samsung. (Sigh!) Report comment Reply 1. Dan says: May 5, 2023 at 5:29 am My moto was okay, decently responsive for being $150. I had to buy one when Verizon threatened to cancel my line for an unsupported device (Armor 9). Was nice having a phone without all of the Samsung bloat (you know exactly what I'm talking about) Report comment Reply 1. Piotrsko says: May 5, 2023 at 3:00 pm The bloat lessens when you spend a s*potload of time turning it permanently off. Or at least on S22's Report comment Reply 2. Miguel says: May 5, 2023 at 6:31 am I also bought a Motorola Edge (20) because I was happy with the mostly vanilla Android in my previous Motorola, but I also found that there is a lot of Google apps preinstalled than before. Maybe they can be uninstalled but haven't tried yet. Having a DIY phone is definitely the bold way to avoid them :) Report comment Reply 3. Adam says: May 5, 2023 at 5:28 am Raspberry pi and other set-top-box like boards aren't the best choice for portable battery powered devices Report comment Reply 4. motonnerd says: May 5, 2023 at 5:54 am For the creator: in case you are unfamiliar, the Librem 5 software stack may be useful to you. It's a bit rough and ready, but it seems generally to be keeping with the direction *nix is trying to go and already has several niceties nike an on-screen keyboard courtesy GNOME mobile. Disclaimer: this post was sent from a Librem 5. Report comment Reply 5. TG says: May 5, 2023 at 7:17 am I highly suspect that the chip in the cellular modem is still heavily owned and "not yours" but all in all very impressive :) Report comment Reply 1. come2 says: May 5, 2023 at 7:33 am As long as ICs aren't opensource and DIY-able, every "free phone" project will be like that : even the SoC isn't free... Report comment Reply 1. Foldi-One says: May 5, 2023 at 7:43 am I don't think you really need entirely open hardware and you definitely don't need to be able to fab them yourself. What you do need is the ability to verify and/ or monitor the IC functions so you can 'trust' it. For instance I have a barcode scanner built into one of my old toughbook things, you read the data off it via a serial output but the thing itself is a blackbox. As long as that blackbox is only able to interact with the wider system when I want - which is easy to verify and monitor it doesn't need to be a FOSS with FOSH underneath that you could then home-fab on your chip printer... NB I am however all for open hardware as a concept, and would love if practical custom IC's could be printed at home sanely (though I think FPGA are probably the best equivalent you are going to get on that front for a long time to come). Just pointing out it doesn't really need every little part to be entirely open for the whole to be 'yours' rather than 'theirs'. Report comment Reply 6. Oliver says: May 5, 2023 at 7:25 am You call it a phone, but does it actually contain the hardware necessary for connecting to GSM/3G/4G/5G networks, making calls, sending and receiving SMS... If it does then the "not yours" aspect of such cellular hardware is atleast partially mitigated as compared to a commercial phone, as you can design the system such that this risky proprietary hardware is fully isolated from the onboard operating system via wired communication buses over which you have total control. In a commercial smartphone (I don;t have one) I understand that the proprietary cellular hardware is often integrated with the main processor chip and has effective root level control over it? Report comment Reply 1. Foldi-One says: May 5, 2023 at 10:33 am I think that is a simplistic view of modern smartphones and their modems, but there will certainly be a degree of modem having control over the CPU, likely access to memory directly etc, in many ways at least it will be comparable to most computer network hardware. And some of it is rather required for relatively basic functionality - to wake it from a sleep state on receipt of message/call for instance being rather required functionality. You can from a Linux computer usually access most if not all the modems features, though that isn't a certainty as driver support, the firmware loading mechanism and configurations are wild. So I really should say if you can get it working at all you can usually access everything, though I would not say it is at all slick to make phone calls or read SMS last time I played with that. But then the desire to run stock Linux on phones has been growing so it might be much improved... However as long as you can get the mobile data in the modern world I doubt most folks care at all about the rest... Report comment Reply 7. tony says: May 5, 2023 at 7:45 am I want my CrackBerry back!! Report comment Reply 1. Doug Roundup says: May 5, 2023 at 10:43 am I want my Oki 900 ! Report comment Reply 8. come2 says: May 5, 2023 at 7:54 am * Why not use a Pi Zero ? It's much more compact, but maybe it lacks one of the interfaces necessary (CSI, that could be replaced by a USB camera (small ones exist as spare parts for laptops) ). * You used proprietary formats for the documentation ?? /jk * Maybe drop the "less soldering" principle if you want to diminish size (or use custom PCBs) * 3D printed or cardboard-molded cases aren't less DIY and would allow less gluing and weight. * But in all cases, good job for putting together a complete phone ! Report comment Reply 9. Nicholas Roth says: May 5, 2023 at 9:37 am I love my PinePhone Pro but keep in mind that it seems like NetworkManager + cell modem extensions don't play nicely with all carriers. Telcel in Mexico never worked and I had to fall back on an old iPhone I had lying around for my trip. Report comment Reply 10. sxmwht says: May 5, 2023 at 9:55 am How does it make a phone call? Report comment Reply Leave a Reply Cancel reply Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy) This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Search Search for: [ ] [Search] Never miss a hack Follow on facebook Follow on twitter Follow on youtube Follow on rss Contact us Subscribe [ ] [ ] [Subscribe] If you missed it * [LinuxFu-th] Linux Fu: Supercharge Bash History 2 Comments * [vg2023_thu] Virgin Galactic Cautiously Returns To Flight 29 Comments * [BarcodeMat] Barcodes Enter The Matrix In 2027 76 Comments * [eclipse-th] Getting Ready For Act 2 Of The Great American Eclipse 39 Comments * [AmazonSide] Your Guide To Using Amazon's Sidewalk Network For The Internet Of Things 49 Comments More from this category Our Columns * [microphone] Hackaday Podcast 217: The Unintentional Space And 3D Printing Episode No comments * [darkarts-t] This Week In Security: Oracle Opera, Passkeys, And AirTag RFC 4 Comments * [Magnetite-] We Already Live In A Hydrogen Economy: Steel Production, Generator Cooling, And Welding Gas 42 Comments * [voyager_th] NASA's Voyager Space Probe's Reserve Power, And The Intricacies Of RTG-Based Power Systems 39 Comments * [simpleelec] FET: Fun Endeavors Together 42 Comments More from this category Search Search for: [ ] [Search] Never miss a hack Follow on facebook Follow on twitter Follow on youtube Follow on rss Contact us Subscribe [ ] [ ] [Subscribe] If you missed it * [LinuxFu-th] Linux Fu: Supercharge Bash History 2 Comments * [vg2023_thu] Virgin Galactic Cautiously Returns To Flight 29 Comments * [BarcodeMat] Barcodes Enter The Matrix In 2027 76 Comments * [eclipse-th] Getting Ready For Act 2 Of The Great American Eclipse 39 Comments * [AmazonSide] Your Guide To Using Amazon's Sidewalk Network For The Internet Of Things 49 Comments More from this category Categories Categories[Select Category ] Our Columns * [microphone] Hackaday Podcast 217: The Unintentional Space And 3D Printing Episode No comments * [darkarts-t] This Week In Security: Oracle Opera, Passkeys, And AirTag RFC 4 Comments * [Magnetite-] We Already Live In A Hydrogen Economy: Steel Production, Generator Cooling, And Welding Gas 42 Comments * [voyager_th] NASA's Voyager Space Probe's Reserve Power, And The Intricacies Of RTG-Based Power Systems 39 Comments * [simpleelec] FET: Fun Endeavors Together 42 Comments More from this category Recent comments * jj ium on This Week In Security: Oracle Opera, Passkeys, And AirTag RFC * Dude on We Already Live In A Hydrogen Economy: Steel Production, Generator Cooling, And Welding Gas * Nick on Cassette Player Cupholder Is A Useful But Risky Idea * Dude on We Already Live In A Hydrogen Economy: Steel Production, Generator Cooling, And Welding Gas * Andrew on CNC Feeds And Speeds, Explained As A First-Timer * Dude on We Already Live In A Hydrogen Economy: Steel Production, Generator Cooling, And Welding Gas * Piotrsko on Linux Cell Phone? Build OURPhone * Senonu on Easter's Over, But You Can Still Dye Keycaps * Dude on We Already Live In A Hydrogen Economy: Steel Production, Generator Cooling, And Welding Gas * Ian on How To Install Mac OS On The Nintendo Wii Now on Hackaday.io * Brett Smith has added a new log for Echo Sounder Buoys: Upcycling Playbook. * elektryk78 liked LITEF 104267 "Enigma" LED display. * M. Bindhammer has updated details to Spectrum Tera. * DuCo liked 3D PRINTED PORTABLE WIND TURBINE. * chichione liked Hackaday.io Project. * Mark Lehane liked Hackaday.io Project. * kelvinA has added a new log for Coaxial Hotend [gd0144]. * Christoph has updated details to Effect of moon phase on tombstoning. * Christoph has added a new log for Effect of moon phase on tombstoning. * Dusan Petrovic has added varhafsoll to Featured Projects. Logo * Home * Blog * Hackaday.io * Tindie * Hackaday Prize * Video * Submit A Tip * About * Contact Us Never miss a hack Follow on facebook Follow on twitter Follow on youtube Follow on rss Contact us Subscribe to Newsletter [ ] [ ] [Subscribe] Copyright (c) 2023 | Hackaday, Hack A Day, and the Skull and Wrenches Logo are Trademarks of Hackaday.com | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Digital Services Act Powered by WordPress VIP [impression] [close] By using our website and services, you expressly agree to the placement of our performance, functionality and advertising cookies. Learn more OK