Basically I’m tired of all the restrictions smartphone companies are adding, and I just wanna have a cheap budget phone with a data plan then just hotspot it to my pocket-pc.
Does such a “pocket-pc” device exist?
MNT Pocket Reform
‘MNT Pocket Reform is a fully-featured 7" mini laptop that is modular, upgradeable, customizable, and repairable.’
Saw this mini-laptop recently. May fit your criteria. I don’t have one to test.
Steam Deck could be a pocket PC but it doesn’t have any of the features typical of a phone. It would just be a PC that fits in your pocket.
I think Linux phones are a thing? https://itsfoss.com/linux-phones/
Looks cool, but:
I don’t think they can even boot from a USB drive? I’m thinking of using a hardware-encrypted-USB (like ones with a keypad built in), set to read-only mode which I would have the bootloader stored in, and use as a boot drive to make it evil-maid resistant. AFIAK, Devices such as the Pinephones only accept microsd cards for boot (correct me if I’m wrong).
FxTec Pro1 X… As someone who has spent years searching for a modern-ish phone with a Qwerty keyboard… How has this flown under my radar for 5 years?!?
I’ve completely rethought my phone situation recently and it wouldn’t really fit my lifestyle, but man I am still tempted to keep my eyes out for a cheap one.
The problem with the question is that somewhat inherently, “full desktop OSes and programs” are designed to run on screens so large they don’t fit in your pocket. So you kinda have to decide what you actually want.
Look up the PinePhone or Librem 5.
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I’d recommend the GPD MicroPC as well, with its utility focus instead of just gaming.
the R. Pi is kinda that. it’s not really a phone, but Raspbian is a fork of debian. Plenty you can do with it if you want.
The problem is that “full desktop OSes” expect full desktop peripherals (key board and mouse) and get clunky if you try to have something like a touch screen instead. Which is a large part of why win 8 was as bad as it was- they wanted a “seamless” OS for their phones and what they found was… NOPE.
Sure laptops frequently now have touch-screen monitors, but you still have the KBM input too.
I’ll echo the GPD sentiment already on display here. I have a GPD Win Max 2 and it’s not exactly pocket sized per se, but it is just about as small as you can make a traditionally laid out (more or less) laptop while still keeping it usable. It’s also tiny little gaming monster which is neat, but might be overkill for purposes. I carry it around in a pistol case rather than a laptop bag, just to be an asshole.
If you want to go smaller you can try the GPD Micro PC which is roughly the volume of an OG Nintendo DS although its proportions are a little different.
If you want cheaper and don’t need the horsepower, one of my coworkers actually bought one of those little N100 based 8" micro laptop thingies, akin to this one, and I have some hands on experience with it. They’re sold under a myriad of non-brand names and I believe internally they’re all the same. It’s got about the footprint of a paperback novel although it’s much thinner, and could conceivably be put in a pocket if you wear Jncos, or possibly in a jacket. I was surprised at the build quality but the performance is rather dire, and using its little capacitive mouse nubbin for any length of time is an exercise in frustration.
All of these are truly x86 compatible, i.e. real computers, and come with Windows by default. They can certainly be bullied into running some flavor of Linux if that’s what you prefer.
If you want to go tiny you could get an Anbernic Gameboy like the RG35xxSP. They run Linux with a gaming UI on top. But it’s very easy to run full desktop Linux distros on them.
Skip to 5 minutes. https://youtu.be/EvbGb_rHFqk
That’s incredible.
It’s bigger than pocket sized, but if you search for Mini PC, there’s a fair few. They’re about 10-12cm square and about 5 or 6 cm tall, so easily fit in a bag.
Although you’ll still need a screen, mouse, keyboard, etc of course.
Lol I like how you technically answered the question even tho that’s not what I meant 😅 (its cool tho)
😁
The latest version of Android allows you to plug your phone into a screen and use it like a desktop
If you mean to use full desktop applications on the go, they aren’t really designed to work on small touch screens. Your best bet for that kind of thing is an ultrabook or netbook style laptop, but that’s not gonna fit in most pockets.
Perhaps something in the steam deck form factor could work
There was one I can think of.
It’s called the DragonBox Pyra, a handheld computer that runs Debian, and has a keyboard and touchpad. It kinda looks like a DS. It’s apparently fully open-source from the top down.
But, the thing is, it’s been in development since 2015. It’s still not ready for consumers. They started shipping their first batches in 2020, and by then the technology was already outdated. When it’s finally released (if it ever does release), it won’t be up to modern standards at all. If you want something like that, at this point you’re better off getting a GPD Win and installing your distro of choice on that.
It’s a shame, really. It looked like it could have been so much more…
Android 16 will come with a desktop mode (like Samsung Dex). The Steam Deck is a pretty portable full fledged Linux PC.
Meh, sure android is trying the “desktop” thing again, which is just another glorified mobile UI. They just added restrictions for installing apps out of the play store (aka: “sideloading”) to supposedly stop scamming (its currently Singapore only, but they might expand it worldwide), and didn’t release pixel-specific code to allow custom ROMs to be easier made, so I worry about the direction they are going with the authoritarianism under mobile OSes.
From what I understand it’s a modified version of the Samsung DEX, which in my experience was very decent.
For actual desktop, Linux is always great.
Just an add on to your thread. I use Netshare to hot spot my data from my phone to devices. It lets you avoid the data limits on sharing mobile data so I don’t have to pay extra.
I’ll also admit that I’m a little older and maybe I’m saying something that everyone else already knows about.
I used to have a Dell stick PC that I traveled with to hook up to TV’s in hotels and apartments to stream Netfli, youtube, plex, etc. Worked great for its size and I would hook up a mini wireless mouse and keyboard to control it.
Look up Stick PC or PC on a stick. You can get windows or Linux variants and I imagine you can change the OS if you work at it.
An Android phone with an os like LineageOS.
What sort of restrictions are you trying to avoid?
Is more like I want to pre-emptively move away from android in anticipation of Google’s autocratization, because, Google have:
- recently added restriction on sideloading in Singapore to “protect against scams”.
and
- Google has also refused to provide pixel-specific source code to make it easier to build custom roms.
Thete are just the first 2 of the “red flags” I see.
So… as far as I know, Graphene OS is kinda on life support because it depends on Google’s co-operation. I don’t like the idea of Lineage OS because for most of the phones, you’re just running around with an unlocked bootloader, which to me, is insecure.
Also: I’m not in the EU, I’m in the USA, so Digital Markets Act wouldn’t have jurisdiction here.
To Reiterate, the things I want is (in order of importance)
- The ability to install any app/program I want (which Google seems to start to restrict, and Digital Markets Act doesn’t apply in my country). So I want to move away pre-emptively as a precaution.
- Evil-Maid resistance (such as Graphene OS with Re-Lockable bootloader, which is on life support I remind you, due to Google being a dick). On a computer, I can boot from a encrypted-USB drive in read-only mode therefore making it very evil-maid resistant (I know its not impenetrable, but it’s the best I’ve come up with).
- To have as much privacy as I can reasonably get.
