Is Purism’s Librem 5 usable as your daily phone?
Purisms unit simply doesnt offer that pop in of experience.
But there are many people looking for something different.
Theyre not asking if the Librem 5 can beat Android or iOS at being Android or iOS.
Theyre asking whether the Librem 5 is actually usable as a phone, period.
And, well, yes, but also no.
Can You Place Calls and Send Texts?
Calls on the Librem 5 come through clear, as long as you have a compatible carrier.
SMS has proven reliable, and MMS messages come through as well.
Just know that you might have toconfigure APN controls manuallybefore your group chats and picture messages go through.
Hows the Battery Life?
Battery life is arguably the Librem 5s biggest weakness.
At the time of writing, the phone doesnt yet reliably receive calls or texts while suspended.
Suspending in general is considered an experimental feature.
The unit also charges slowly.
It comes with a 20W charger, but swapping for a 60W one doesn’t speed things up.
But if youre regularly away from an outlet for most of the day, this may be untenable.
Can You Take Pictures?
The Librem 5 has a capable 13MP rear camera.
The issue is the lack of mature software.
Most smartphone cameras come paired with proprietary firmware that hides whatever the manufacturer is doing to get pretty shots.
Purism developers are largely having to learn and calibrate the software for the camera themselves.
In its current form, the Librem 5 camera works, with a giant asterisk.
This is not a point-and-click experience.
So can the Librem 5 take good shots?
Yes, of stationary subjects, and as long as you arent in a hurry.
But then theres the issue of viewing those photos.
The Librem 5 doesn’t yet come with a gallery app.
You view images by opening them from the file manager.
Can You Browse the Web?
The Librem 5 comes with two web browsers:GNOME WebandMozilla Firefox.
That’s why the gear also comes with Firefox.
you might even installNoScriptto block JavaScript if youre willing to break certain sites.
With Firefox and a few add-ons, browsing feels pleasant enough.
Can You Connect to Bluetooth Devices?
The Librem 5 can connect to Bluetooth devices, but dont assume that it will.
Bluetooth earbuds may connect but have audio that goes in and out.
The Librem 5 fails to inform the car that it is capable of making calls.
This can create issues in regions of the world where only hands-free calls are legal.
Fortunately, the Librem 5 comes with a solid pair of wired earbuds with a mic.
This saves you from having to hold the phone up to your ear.
Just because a feature isnt ready this year doesnt mean that it wont be next year.
Can You Play Audio and Video?
Podcastscan handle, unsurprisingly, playing podcasts.
But it doesnt automatically search and pull podcasts from anywhere.
You must manually copy and paste RSS feeds.
If you want streaming apps, the Librem 5 isnt for you.
you could watch YouTube in a web client, and there are a few third-party clients available.
There is alsoSpot, an unofficial client for Spotify.
How Is the App Store?
The Librem 5 comes with an app store called the PureOS Store.
This is simply the GNOME Software app with Purism branding.
Out of the box, the PureOS Store only provides Linux apps, especially thoseavailable for PureOS.
And no, there aren’t any Android apps available here.
It suffers from frustratingly long load times on the Librem 5.
This list often fails to load.
What Else Can the Librem 5 Do?
Can You Daily Drive a Librem 5?
If the above functionality is enough for you, then yes, yes you’re able to!
More adaptive apps continue to appear, and its technically possible to run some Android apps in a pinch.
There is also much that the Librem 5 can do that Android and iOS cannot.
It is literally a portable Linux PC in your pocket, with all the freedom that entails.
