I’ve been using my OnePlus 6t since launch and love it, but I am very interested in Linux phones now. I’ve been an early adopter before, but it’s finally getting where I think I need it to be to try. I pretty much only do basic phone functions and emulation. Would a Pinephone Pro have the power to run something like a Wii or 3ds game? What about an older ported game like STALKER? Curious just how much it could do

  • wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works
    1·
    1 year ago

    You’re in luck… The OnePlus 6t is one of the best supported, non purpose built, phone for Linux with support from both PostmarketOS and Mobian!

  • CalcProgrammer1@lemmy.ml
    1·
    1 year ago

    The OnePlus 6T outperforms the PinePhone Pro by quite a bit. The OnePlus 6T is actually a pretty good Linux phone these days with postmarketOS. I picked one up to use as a Linux phone (as well as a OnePlus 6 now, but that one’s running Android). I used the PinePhone for about a year, the PinePhone Pro for about a year, and now I’ve been using the OnePlus 6T as my daily driver for 6 months or so. I ended up getting the OnePlus 6 (non-T) and leaving it as an Android phone though, picking up a second SIM card because I had call audio issues on both Linux phones so I told people to just call me on my Android number. I still mainly use the Linux phone for everything else because the software ecosystem works so much better for me.

    Pros of OnePlus 6T:

    • Much better battery life (can last most of a day with screen off)

    • Much better performance

    • Much better GPU - Full OpenGL and Vulkan support on the OP6T

    • Much lower power consumption (doesn’t get anywhere near as hot)

    • Louder speaker

    • Better Bluetooth (my BT headphones lag to an unusable degree on the PinePhone and PinePhone Pro when there are other devices around, but are usable on the OnePlus 6T)

    • Higher resolution, brighter, OLED screen

    Cons of OnePlus 6T

    • Bootloader is proprietary and cannot be replaced

    • Android boot and partition scheme

    • Call audio doesn’t work reliably, sometimes calls will have no sound

    • Modem doesn’t receive calls unless it is forced to 2G mode, which limits Internet speed (texts seem fine though) likely due to missing VoLTE

    • Sensors (rotation, ambient light, etc) require testing an open merge request at the moment, but it does work

    • No USB host mode support (software/driver limitation)

    • No external display support (apparently hardware limitation)

    • No headphone jack (the OnePlus 6 does have it though)

    • No SD card slot

    • No removable battery

    • Cameras don’t work at all

    • No keyboard case option

    Pros of PinePhone Pro

    • Better Linux support overall

    • More OS choices

    • More bootloader choices, which include completely open options

    • SD card slot

    • Headphone jack

    • Removable battery

    • Keyboard case option

    • Cameras work to a degree

    • Much more repairable

    Cons of PinePhone Pro

    • Eats battery like no other phone I’ve ever used, the keyboard case is almost a must-have just for usable battery life

    • Gets quite hot while eating battery

    • Lacks more modern OpenGL versions, Vulkan support

    • Modem has a tendency to disconnect and reconnect occasionally, even with open source modem firmware

    • Call audio can have some static or distortion, especially on your end (the microphone)

    • Keyboard case makes using it as a phone cumbersome