NEW DE-GOOGLED smartphone: MURENA 2 first impressions

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  • Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
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    #privacy #google #android
    00:00 Intro
    01:08 The Phone: Murena 2
    02:36 Specifications
    05:17 eOS on the Murena 2
    10:46 Price and availability
    13:03 Sponsor: Get a PC made to run Linux
    14:08 Support the channel
    This isn't the completely finalized design, so the back of the phone, and the protection that came in the box aren't completely final and might change a little.
    The very point of the Murena 2 is to offer a privacy focused phone: it comes with /e/ OS, and it has a privacy switch to disconnect the cameras and microphone, and another switch to completely shut off any connectivity the phone has. The first switch, for the camera and mic is a physical one: it completely shuts off the connection to the camera and the mic.
    The connectivity switch is purely software, and will just turn on airplane mode and will mute your phone, so it's more a "big do not disturb" mode than a privacy switch.
    It comes with a mediatek CPU, with 4 performance cores at 2.1Ghz and 4 efficiency cores at 2 Ghz, it has 8 gigs of RAM, 128 gigs of storage, plus a micro SD slot. It supports dual SIM, and the OLED screen is 6.43 inches and a resolution of 1080x2400, plus a hole punch cut out for the selfie camera, which is 25 megapixels.
    On the back, you get 3 camera lenses, one is the standard lens, at 64 megapixels, one is an ultrawide, at 13 MP and one is a telephoto lens at 5 Megapixels.
    It has a 4000 milliamp hour battery, with support for high speed charging at 18W, it supports Wifi ac and bluetooth 4.2, and it's 4G, not 5G.
    They also say they have a 6 out of 10 on repairability, and they'll offer spare parts and schematics for easy repair. They'll provide 5 years of support for the software at least.
    On the Murena 2, /e/ OS runs OK. It's not perfectly smooth, animations can sometimes jitter a bit, but generally, the experience is what you'd expect from a mid range Android smartphone: it's not high refresh rate, buttery smoothness, but it's definitely not annoying. In some apps, you'll definitely notice stutters, like in the App Lounge when scrolling, but navigating the phone is good enough, and video playback and games run well.
    Haptics don't seem to be perfectly configured yet, as typing on the keyboard provides a very tiny sort of clicky rattle instead of a nice vibration, and going back using gestures also doesn't feel super tactile, but that's probably because it's a pre production model.
    The 2 privacy switches work perfectly, with the one on the right toggling airplane mode and do not disturb, and the one on the left shutting down the camera and the mic, both have a little LED as well to indicate that these switches are on, although handling of that could be improved, as launching the camera app with the privacy toggle on, will spit out an error, instead of a smoother message indicating your privacy toggle is on.
    Testing the phone further, the screen is really nice and bright, with very vivid colors, it feels pretty damn nice to use, but that's probably because it's OLED.
    The cameras are pretty basic, the telephoto had a very hard time focusing on anything for me, but the other 2 worked fine, although you won't find the same kind of post processing you'll get on most Android phones, so your pictures might not look as sharp or well balanced as on, say, a Pixel or even a Samsung A series phone. The front facing camera, though, is pretty solid, and produces nice pictures all things considered.
    The speakers are decent enough for a phone, they won't blow you away or anything, but they get pretty loud without distorting too much or at all. They are bottom firing, there's no "stereo" speaker using the earpiece of the phone. The microphone isn't great though, your vocal messages and phone calls won't sound extremely crisp.
    With the kickstarter, the phone is 399€, without it, it will be 499€.
  • Наука та технологія

КОМЕНТАРІ • 648

  • @TheLinuxEXP
    @TheLinuxEXP  7 місяців тому +23

    Grab a brand new laptop or desktop running Linux: www.tuxedocomputers.com/en#

    • @JohnGamer03
      @JohnGamer03 7 місяців тому

      Can you do a video on Mobile Linux?

    • @justuskid9577
      @justuskid9577 5 місяців тому

      Will buy russian without USA inside

  • @weathercontrol0
    @weathercontrol0 7 місяців тому +125

    It's ironic that best "de-googled" phones are Google Pixels, because they have the best support for privacy roms

    • @greenfoxes5903
      @greenfoxes5903 7 місяців тому +10

      I was forced to go this route do to hardware compatibility issues. I am happy to get lots of OTA security updates after I read about a zero-day on the hardware. I'm using LineageOS with no gapps, adaway, and AFWall+. I would love to use /e/OS tho.

    • @flashrandom
      @flashrandom 7 місяців тому +17

      Who knows how many backdoors are left in the Pixels....

    • @thomasmeunier8669
      @thomasmeunier8669 7 місяців тому

      stick to LOS it's much better than /e/@@greenfoxes5903

    • @DavidBabcock_AllYourDarkTeeth
      @DavidBabcock_AllYourDarkTeeth 7 місяців тому

      TRUE

    • @pietjespappie
      @pietjespappie 6 місяців тому

      @@flashrandom How is that after you installed GrapheneOS?

  • @jeefonyoutube
    @jeefonyoutube 7 місяців тому +35

    And the hunt continues for a small privacy focused device with a headphone jack. Using a ZenFone 8 and it's seemingly hard to replace

    • @Stalthdan
      @Stalthdan 7 місяців тому +3

      I'm still using my seven year old OnePlus 3... the battery is dying, but I don't know what phone to replace it with.

    • @garrettrinquest1605
      @garrettrinquest1605 7 місяців тому +4

      I'm in the exact same boat. The Zenfone 9 and 10 still seem like good options, though /e/OS doesn't have support for them yet

    • @0lderSch00l
      @0lderSch00l Місяць тому

      I can't even use bluetooth; my biolectric signature interferes with it unless it's at maximum efficiency; i.e. 80% charge or higher usually, so no headphone jack is a bust for me. On the fun side, if I walk between most people and their devices, it makes headphones go all static and I can sometimes even disconnect the bluetooth. Pisses my wife off to no end. :D

  • @Slugbunny
    @Slugbunny 7 місяців тому +231

    Like the privacy, dislike the hardware. Quality issues aside, I expect more user choice like a headphone jack and removable battery. The latter will be a requirement in the EU soon enough, too.

    • @softwarelivre2389
      @softwarelivre2389 7 місяців тому +19

      Pinephone Pro has a headphone jack and can run GNOME/KDE

    • @Freshbott2
      @Freshbott2 7 місяців тому +4

      Still hearing people talk about removable batteries in 2023. Never seen anyone use one ever.

    • @pradeepsomu2475
      @pradeepsomu2475 7 місяців тому +11

      Yeah, I feel the same.. Love the Fariphone too, but no headphone jack for some reason..

    • @gprn3
      @gprn3 7 місяців тому +5

      You can sincerely live without jack port or removable battery, useless in 2023. Privacy is essential and become so rare nowadays.

    • @jan-lukas
      @jan-lukas 7 місяців тому +23

      ​@@Freshbott2because no phones have them. Even I used that on my first phone, and I'm SIXTEEN years old

  • @murenacorp
    @murenacorp 7 місяців тому +25

    Thank you Nick for your balanced review of Murena 2! As you pointed out, this is a prototype. We are still working on the final case to be shipped with the Murena 2. The revised case will be fully compatible with the two switches. Plus we are working on other software improvements to make the whole experience even better.
    Should you have any inquiries, please don't hesitate to reach out to us :)

    • @Stalthdan
      @Stalthdan 7 місяців тому +6

      PLEASE include a headphone jack, I will instantly buy the phone.

    • @lesscommonsense1804
      @lesscommonsense1804 7 місяців тому +5

      I love the concept you guys created with the additional buttons to control hardware functionality on the device. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a better privacy respecting concept on any modern phone. If the phone just had better hardware installed I would pick one up in a heartbeat after they are officially released. But I have some contentions about this product:
      Headphone jack. Not a dealbreaker for me but I know a lot of older family members not well versed in tech that won’t buy a phone without one.
      1tb sd card support. Kinda a dealbreaker for me. 512gb is not enough. I don’t care much about on board memory size but sd card size is very important to me for professional work.
      The slow processor. It’s not even half the processing capability of the chip in the older google pixel 7a phone and that phone costs less. This is a dealbreaker. If you guys sold a phone with a processor within ~25% of the performance of competitor phones around the same price range I’d consider sacrificing performance for privacy but here it isn’t even close.
      120hz display (or 144hz). Definitely a dealbreaker for me. If there is ever a Murena 3 I hope it has at least this. I won’t buy any phone without this.
      I’m sure there are unreasonable reasons for your team to consider not using a headphone jack but to call it outdated on your kickstarter is just plain wrong (I did appreciate the QnA on the kickstarter though). You guys aren’t Apple and don’t profit from selling bluetooth devices to end users so why not advertise your product to a wider market? I have a lot of family members I would have shared this product with if it had a 3.5mm audio jack (I still probably will during the Holidays) but I know they won’t even consider a phone without one unless they are desperate to upgrade their hardware. Some of them still hate that they have to use phones without sd card slots or audio jacks but they still cough up thousands of dollars on Apple phones just because android is basically as bad as Apple now. I can talk to them all day about how a phone has “this” and “that” but the second they see it’s missing just one thing they’ve already made up their mind. Audio jacks are not outdated and whoever thought that on your team is ill informed and fell into Stockholm syndrome caused by big tech propaganda.
      All that being said what you guys did here was very inspirational. I’ll probably check your website or kickstarter a few years from now to see if you guys came out with any new innovations. Hopefully by then you’d have come up with a phone that caters to my high demands. Thank you for your contribution towards a more privacy respecting internet. And while your product doesn’t suit my needs or the needs of my close family members I’ll be happy to fork over my cash the day you release a product that does.

    • @rainbowsonic5501
      @rainbowsonic5501 6 місяців тому +1

      If it supported 5G, I would buy this for sure.

    • @user-ce9rf3xc4j
      @user-ce9rf3xc4j Місяць тому +1

      As @lesscommonsense1804 already mentioned some hardware choices made by the team can be a real deal breaker for (privacy oriented) customers even though this is probably one of the best privacy phones out there. Maybe it would be nice to divide the phones into three categories like most big tech companies do; budget, midrange and high range where high range not only has the best specs but also the most features (such as a headphone jack, higher SD Card GB support, better processor, 5G support etc).

  • @WilburJaywright
    @WilburJaywright 7 місяців тому +25

    My mom is using a Murena One at the moment. Not much of a thing, but it sounded like from the intro that this was the very first all Murena phone.

    • @AyushGupta-wn6zd
      @AyushGupta-wn6zd 7 місяців тому +1

      Is your mom privacy conscious

    • @asiliria
      @asiliria 7 місяців тому +5

      @@AyushGupta-wn6zdshe sure is at night 🥵🥵

    • @AyushGupta-wn6zd
      @AyushGupta-wn6zd 7 місяців тому +1

      @@WilburJaywright bro, I just asked because it's rare for elders to care about phone privacy. The concept of internet privacy is hardly something people grasp especially moms and dads which is why I was curious. I'm not pretending to be anything

    • @WilburJaywright
      @WilburJaywright 7 місяців тому

      @@AyushGupta-wn6zd my most sincere apologies! 😭 I knew I shouldn’t have said that. Yes, she is *very.*

    • @BroonParker
      @BroonParker 7 місяців тому +2

      ​@@AyushGupta-wn6zdrare? Really big generalisation. Maybe "elders" are the ones who can remember what privacy was?

  • @ys1197
    @ys1197 7 місяців тому +113

    Another option can be Pixel + Graphine OS.
    Still cool idea 😎

    • @Tyrone-Ward
      @Tyrone-Ward 7 місяців тому +14

      ​@@HeinekenLassebuy a used Pixel

    • @RethinkDNS
      @RethinkDNS 7 місяців тому

      There is nice channel: Side of Burritos, a lot of grate information about OS.
      If not GrapheneOS, any think based, using GrapheneOS. I don't understand why they use eOS, unsecured...

    • @venusfallen
      @venusfallen 7 місяців тому +3

      @@HeinekenLasse My Pixel 7a was less than 400 USD new

    • @mylinuxdiary
      @mylinuxdiary 7 місяців тому +7

      @@HeinekenLasse Pixel doesn't mean most expensive Pixel in existence. Get a cheaper model, it's going to be far better specced than the Murena at a similar or lower price.

    • @Proferk
      @Proferk 7 місяців тому +3

      @@HeinekenLasse Not giving google 800 bucks won't change a single thing lol. They earn 100x that every minute.

  • @halotroop2288
    @halotroop2288 7 місяців тому +50

    eOS already looked like iOS but now with their own hardware the resemblance to an iPhone is UNCANNY.

    • @MrNikVadik
      @MrNikVadik 7 місяців тому +6

      iOS has a damn well-designed UI, gotta give them that.

    • @SeyrahRed-ud5ge
      @SeyrahRed-ud5ge 7 місяців тому +3

      I'm all for staying ahead in the digital world, especially when it comes to privacy.

    • @Dee-Ell
      @Dee-Ell 7 місяців тому +5

      @@MrNikVadik Funny you say that because it has started to go downhill for me. Small annoyances have been creeping up in the design of both hardware and software. So much so I am looking to ditch iPhone when it's time to replace my phone.

    • @Jst4vdeos
      @Jst4vdeos 6 місяців тому +1

      @@MrNikVadikit’s annoying as hell and very clunky

    • @samhirsch4863
      @samhirsch4863 6 місяців тому

      e is to this day still the worst custom rom you can find out there if you are looking for security and privacy....

  • @BorlandC452
    @BorlandC452 7 місяців тому +14

    I usually use my phone as a phone, so 4G is fast enough for me. I really hope they reconsider the headphone jack! I think I'd be sold if they had that.

  • @norgeball3971
    @norgeball3971 7 місяців тому +88

    Honestly, I‘m a bit hyped. It is in line with what I have set as my experience with Debian, stepping away from Windows and macOS. Shipping a phone with a privacy focused OS by default feels great. Nice to see this. I‘ll keep it in mind once my current phone dies👍

    • @lowwastehighmelanin
      @lowwastehighmelanin 7 місяців тому +1

      Oh hey fellow person doing the same thing as me who also has excellent taste in webcomics 😂

    • @ItsMrLee
      @ItsMrLee 7 місяців тому +4

      But your fbi agent will be sad and miss you

    • @norgeball3971
      @norgeball3971 7 місяців тому +1

      @@ItsMrLee and just think of the marketing industry and about all the targeted advertising that this will eliminate

    • @Civic.
      @Civic. 7 місяців тому +1

      If it's an Android phone you might be able to install /e/OS on your current phone. I've been running it on a Pixel for a long time now and really like it. It's not without annoyances as Google really don't like you trying to hide from them and you give up some things in the name of privacy but I wouldn't go back and it's the best de-googled option for me.

    • @RidgeRacer
      @RidgeRacer 7 місяців тому +1

      I just hope it'll ship to Norway, without absurd import charges..

  • @willi1978
    @willi1978 7 місяців тому +27

    i hope open source cameras get better. taking pictures is an important feature but so far the best processing is in closed sourced apps

    • @GeorgeGzirishvili
      @GeorgeGzirishvili 7 місяців тому +2

      Yeah... Unfortunately, all of the FOSS camera apps I tried suck. For that reason, I use GCam and disable the network access with AFWall.

    • @user-ce9rf3xc4j
      @user-ce9rf3xc4j Місяць тому

      This is such an understatement!

  • @petar0402
    @petar0402 7 місяців тому +18

    Here's an idea for Murena phone: remove curved screen corners and camera hole! Give us standard phone with 9:16 or 9:18 screen with no holes for front camera, just like phones were some 5-10 years ago.

    • @murenacorp
      @murenacorp 7 місяців тому +3

      Thank you for your feedback :)

    • @AninoNiKugi
      @AninoNiKugi 7 місяців тому +1

      Sadly, these small companies can only use components that suppliers offer which nowdays have a cutout.

    • @user-ce9rf3xc4j
      @user-ce9rf3xc4j Місяць тому

      @@AninoNiKugi Makes sense. The display/screen really reminds me of the one from the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro. So it might indeed be a component which was already available.

  • @lnox2449
    @lnox2449 7 місяців тому +23

    Finally something for me thanks for covering such an awesome android device looking forward for more products

  • @petrelli231
    @petrelli231 7 місяців тому +31

    I'm familiar with the gaming industry so I never preorder anything that doesn't yet exist. That said, if I saw these at stores next time I need to replace my phone I would absolutely want to give them a try. I switched to the Google ecosystem in 2011 to escape the Microsoft monopoly, I now need a way to escape the Google ecosystem and there are no good options within my price range so far. I'm surprised Linux phones are so behind in development, you'd think Ubuntu or someone else would have jumped at the chance to work with Huawei once they lost the Google license.

    • @eps-nx8zg
      @eps-nx8zg 7 місяців тому

      android runs on linux, I don't know what you mean by linux phones are behind in development

    • @faetalize
      @faetalize 7 місяців тому +1

      @@eps-nx8zg dont be asinine, you know what they mean.

    • @peesafpayper9688
      @peesafpayper9688 7 місяців тому +6

      ​@@eps-nx8zgother than android there is no other linux based operating system that even comes close in terms of performance and app compatibility

    • @In-hoc-signo-vinces
      @In-hoc-signo-vinces 7 місяців тому +6

      @@eps-nx8zgi think you know exactly what he means

    • @Kyller3030
      @Kyller3030 4 місяці тому

      huawei is still banned in the US, GMS or not. Huawei's engineers moved to Honor, so huawei isn't making phones worth talking about anyway.

  • @RidgeRacer
    @RidgeRacer 7 місяців тому +19

    The Mediatek SoC is a surprising choice, but that's only to me as a user, I have a Mediatek phone currently, and when looking for custom OSes to run on it such as PostmarketOS or Lineage, all I can find for it are people complaining about how hard it is to develop for Mediatek SoCs. I wonder what Murena is doing to make this easier for developers, if it's not just a storm in a teacup that is.

    • @floppa9415
      @floppa9415 7 місяців тому +2

      I have installed custom roms on a few Mediatek devices already. It usually boils down to installing a GSI ROM (generic system image).

    • @RidgeRacer
      @RidgeRacer 7 місяців тому

      @@floppa9415 Cool! That's good to know.

    • @Alias_Anybody
      @Alias_Anybody 7 місяців тому

      @@floppa9415
      Which are in my experience a real letdown in terms of performance and battery life, like if you just got downgraded one tier in terms of SoC.

  • @lowwastehighmelanin
    @lowwastehighmelanin 7 місяців тому +23

    This is exciting! I really dislike current privacy options so this is pretty appealing. Thanks for covering this. :3

  • @unlucky1307
    @unlucky1307 7 місяців тому +12

    No headphone jack already means I'll pass. I'll de-google a Sony phone with one or choose a phone with more features if I'm going to sacrifice my headphone jack.

  • @narasimanrajendran2956
    @narasimanrajendran2956 7 місяців тому +7

    I Have been asking this kill switch for a very long time, finally someone listened. If its mapped via software it doesnt make any switch, apps would still bypass the software mapping.

    • @BroonParker
      @BroonParker 7 місяців тому

      The best single feature on this phone. And it's a simple toggle switch.

    • @murenacorp
      @murenacorp 7 місяців тому +3

      Hello! Let us give you more details on 2 buttons that we integrated in Murena 2, hope it helps:
      - the Privacy Switch button (on the left) disables the camera and microphone *physical circuits*, making the OS unable to access them. This cannot be overriden in any case by a software activity.
      - the other Disconnection Switch triggers software actions. In our case we have chosen to make it disable network and sound. We're also planning to offer customization options to the user for this second button.

    • @BroonParker
      @BroonParker 7 місяців тому +2

      @murenacorp excellent. Thanks

    • @narasimanrajendran2956
      @narasimanrajendran2956 7 місяців тому +1

      @@murenacorp Thanks a lot for your detailed explanation, truly appreciate it. kudos to your team.

  • @floppa9415
    @floppa9415 7 місяців тому +21

    I see this as a way for the developers to finance their work which is perfectly fine.
    But I wonder how big the group of people is that care enough about privacy that they would wanna put up with a de-googled ROM but at the same time wouldn't just custom ROM a better speced and cheaper base phone.

    • @cdnron75
      @cdnron75 7 місяців тому +2

      That was exactly my thought. You could accomplish the very same thing minus a physical switch disabling the camera and mics with a better, cheaper phone and LineageOS. If you're not running GApps, you shouldn't have to worry much further about privacy.

    • @rigierish3807
      @rigierish3807 7 місяців тому +1

      custom ROMs like LineageOS don't come as soon as the phone is released and usually take a year, if not more to come, if the team behind it chooses to develop on the phone you own, which isn't often the case.
      So buying a new phone with a preinstalled custom ROM on it would definitely be preferable, at least in my opinion.
      Does that mean I would still be ready to buy such expensive phones just for that: of course not.
      But I can understand the appeal.

    •  7 місяців тому +1

      Well, that's exactly the point and purpose of /e/OS: it's made for people who don't have the skils/don't have the time/... to make such things themselves. And here, customization means changing a lot of low-level stuff, changing default apps, default services... that you can hardly do without recompiling the ROM entirely.

    • @cdnron75
      @cdnron75 7 місяців тому

      @ The people who care about privacy know what they're doing with custom ROMs though. The majority of people just want a phone that works and they can install all of the apps they want/need. I've tried /e/OS and wasn't a fan. I don't like how they have their own cloud service that you have to log in to. How do I know their servers are secure? How private is it if all of your data is on their servers? Sure you can turn cloud syncing off but you can also do the same thing with a typical Android phone. If I want a phone with privacy, the only "cloud" service would be my own server. I also don't like how they're trying to emulate iOS.

  • @ubercorey
    @ubercorey 5 місяців тому

    So grateful for your channel!

  • @mylinuxdiary
    @mylinuxdiary 7 місяців тому +18

    Really expensive for what it is tbh. Makes sense given the company, but from a customer standpoint it makes more sense to just buy a Fairphone. Though still far from great, the old mid-range Snapdragon in the Fairphone probably blows the cheap Mediatek in this one out of the water. The fact that they don't specify the SoC probably means that it's very bad. The Fairphone also has better repairability, a partnership with /e/, long support and other good ROMs like CalyxOS as well. You don't get the hardware switch, but that's not enough to be compelling. Another, and arguably better if repairability and software support isn't as much of a concern, option for privacy is just getting a Pixel with GrapheneOS.

    • @avadrumm
      @avadrumm 7 місяців тому +1

      It's very easy to physically disconnect the cameras from a fairphone, although that's a bit more permanent than a switch

    • @mylinuxdiary
      @mylinuxdiary 7 місяців тому +1

      @@avadrumm Yeah, it's more permanent, but at least you can do it without too much difficulty. That said, a switch is nicer, but it is nto enough to make this phone worth it imo.

    • @BroonParker
      @BroonParker 7 місяців тому

      ​@@avadrummso cover them up if it's an issue.

    • @thomasmeunier8669
      @thomasmeunier8669 7 місяців тому

      /e/ is the worst in the privacy scene to be honest, very shady and far from the quality of other custom ROMs

    • @mylinuxdiary
      @mylinuxdiary 7 місяців тому +1

      @@thomasmeunier8669 It's not really shady imo, but it is lacking compard to Calyx or Graphene. It has some known outdated software with vulnerabilities and they tend to be quite slow with updates in general.

  • @Homiloko2
    @Homiloko2 7 місяців тому +6

    I was interested at first, but the connection button being just a simple airplane mode toggle, and the lack of a headphone jack kind of killed it for me. Probably better off getting a phone I like and flashing graphene OS into it.

  • @ChaosTheory666
    @ChaosTheory666 7 місяців тому +6

    Perfect microphone is a _minimum_ requirement for a phone.

    • @TheLinuxEXP
      @TheLinuxEXP  7 місяців тому +4

      The microphone is indeed very disappointing

  • @ukaszpalczewski7588
    @ukaszpalczewski7588 7 місяців тому +8

    Very nice video! Good work with "finding" a degoogled phone! 😉 Hope there will be some higher mid tier phones (for smooth scrolling etc.) with much, MUCH better microphone!

  • @DeactivatedAlmonds
    @DeactivatedAlmonds 7 місяців тому +5

    I WILL NEVER EVER BUY A PHONE WITHOUT A HEADPHONE JACK
    AND YOU CANT MAKE ME
    EVEN THOUGH THIS LOOKS AMAZING

  • @AvatiLabs
    @AvatiLabs 3 місяці тому +1

    Loved the video (and channel( I sub'd straight away. Came for the Asahi Fedora Linux distro video and stayed for the privacy, quality content and ethical reviews. Do you have an idea when the Morena 2 will be commercially available?

  • @garrettrinquest1605
    @garrettrinquest1605 7 місяців тому +3

    I'll be keeping my Zenfone 8 with /e/OS. Better in every spec, (refresh rate, SOC, camera, etc.) and has a headphones jack! The only thing Murena has on this is the hardware camera/microphone switch.
    Everything works great since I switched the camera app to a degoogled one from the Pixel. It might even take better pictures than with the original ASUS camera app.

  • @paarker
    @paarker 4 місяці тому

    I love the hardware disconnect of the microphone and camera.
    That is one thing that really makes this phone interesting.

  • @MarcosCodas
    @MarcosCodas 7 місяців тому +3

    I love Murena and /e/. I helped port /e/ to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 (Lavender). The camera was the only thing stopping me from using it daily back then. The community is also amazing. Having said that, I also experienced some UI slow-down issues when compared to other roms.

  • @victorleser6413
    @victorleser6413 4 місяці тому

    Thanks for this review.
    Spread the news!!

  • @C0SSTY
    @C0SSTY 7 місяців тому +12

    Non-removable battery and no headphone jack. I don't even need to think about this.

    • @Linux_ASMR
      @Linux_ASMR 7 місяців тому +1

      Removable batteries need to make a comeback.

    • @jernaugurgeh451
      @jernaugurgeh451 7 місяців тому +1

      @@Linux_ASMR Upcoming EU regs will force them to, thankfully.

  • @vladislavkaras491
    @vladislavkaras491 7 місяців тому +1

    It is cool, that there are people that are moving towards non-Google Android phones!
    Thanks for the video!

  • @TehAbdullah
    @TehAbdullah 7 місяців тому +4

    Take off the notch put a forehead and chin with stereo speakers
    Put a 3.5mm headphone jack
    Simply copy the sony Xperia 5 v that's the perfect phone just change the aspect ratio to 18:9 if not possible then 19:9

  • @igavinwood
    @igavinwood 7 місяців тому +1

    As I do not play games on my phone this is tempting. The features that I need most are video messaging and a stable internet connection for hotspot tethering; along with being able to act as a phone with the usual caveats for sim support and charging. I'd happily give up most apps except ones that allow for traveling, booking tickets, or hotel rooms and other planning functions. Map apps are the other big feature that many people use and you can't get away from how good Google Maps are for finding and connecting to local businesses, however they are useless for planning a walk around a local area. Bing use to come with OS maps in the UK, so if something like that was available then this could be a real marketing feature.

  • @truthdoesnotexist
    @truthdoesnotexist 7 місяців тому +6

    it's nice but I'm sticking with my motorola since I can't leave the headphone jack, I use it every day and I'm not going to budge on that

  • @Priimerra
    @Priimerra 3 місяці тому

    Gread vid. This will be my next phone

  • @tulsatrash
    @tulsatrash 7 місяців тому +5

    I'm not buying a phone without a headphone jack until phones come with 2 USB C ports so I can charge and used wired sound at the same time.

  • @thesmartI
    @thesmartI 6 місяців тому

    I loved the Bixby button. One app and an adb command and it was a fully customizable button

  • @shooterdefronvrps2
    @shooterdefronvrps2 7 місяців тому +6

    I already hate my phone for not havin user removable baterry
    No headphone jack is a nope

  • @LeonardWassAU
    @LeonardWassAU 7 місяців тому

    0:59 lol at waving the phone around, loosely holding it, saying that you have to send it back XD #LivingOnTheEdge

  • @smolbirb4
    @smolbirb4 7 місяців тому +1

    3:23 hell yeah Warhammer, looks like the eldar

    • @TheLinuxEXP
      @TheLinuxEXP  7 місяців тому +1

      Dark Eldar, the cooler kind ;)

  • @Jamestorn48
    @Jamestorn48 7 місяців тому +4

    No headphone jack is a killer for me

  • @oclasos
    @oclasos 7 місяців тому +47

    Mediatek is a BIG no-no, we know that they have quite literal on-chip backdoors that are quite literally even leveraged by certain fully open source projects to quite literally control whatever anybody wants with the phone. They are also known to overclock the chips way over their limits just to enumerate the results on benchmarks, i believe a few devices even died trying to push themselves so hard. I love /e/ but it's really fucking weird and even arguably dangerous that they chose mediatek.

    • @AlanTwoRings
      @AlanTwoRings 7 місяців тому +26

      You got a source for that?

    • @oclasos
      @oclasos 7 місяців тому +6

      @@AlanTwoRings Jesus UA-cam keeps on deleting the reply

    • @jacquelineliu2641
      @jacquelineliu2641 7 місяців тому +13

      @@oclasos yt doesn't like links in comments. give us a keyword to search.

    • @arantes6
      @arantes6 7 місяців тому +1

      Also interested

    • @oclasos
      @oclasos 7 місяців тому

      @@jacquelineliu2641 i actually wasn't even sending links lol, search "mediatek benchmark cheating"

  • @gregcampwriter
    @gregcampwriter 7 місяців тому

    It looks nifty, but I'd need a protector shell that accommodates the privacy buttons, and I'd have to be sure that the phone could run a couple of apps that I need.

  • @bubbles581
    @bubbles581 7 місяців тому +1

    If the airplane mode switch was hardware it would be more compelling to me. If the OS cant handle radio hardware disconnection while live, maybe hardware disconnect the antennas ? No headphone jack requires bluetooth - odd choice on a security focused device.
    For me, personally, a real privacy focused device should let me easily open it and take the camera module physically out if i want.

  • @ronm6585
    @ronm6585 7 місяців тому

    Thanks Nick.

  • @cyrildescoursiere9060
    @cyrildescoursiere9060 7 місяців тому +4

    What about battery life ? Thank you a lot for this review.

  • @awetisimgaming7473
    @awetisimgaming7473 6 місяців тому +1

    For me, I would never be able to deal with the super low quality sounding microphone, I want as few things making calls sound worse as I can possibly manage. The concept seems awesome, and if they make it better at being a phone, I'd buy it

  • @thembasivate
    @thembasivate 7 місяців тому +3

    The rest of the features I see, but I'll never buy a phone without headphone jack.

  • @rdson1621
    @rdson1621 7 місяців тому

    Question, how do you get your Banking app from the playstore on e/os? Do you still have the option to get the playstore on that?

  • @petrkisselev5085
    @petrkisselev5085 7 місяців тому +2

    Maybe it's not the right place to ask, but is there a way to have your /e/ account on premises ? Like, host your own backups on your home server or something ?

  • @dhanushprejipreji7991
    @dhanushprejipreji7991 7 місяців тому +2

    The fact that new copilot in windows 11 is privacy destroyer..btw the OS looks damn clean to next level

  • @Wasserbienchen
    @Wasserbienchen 7 місяців тому +1

    I just got a fairphone 5 with e/OS. Honestly, upgrading from a mid-range 4 year old phone, it's a delight. I understand that the phone isn't perfect, but I don't need it to be. All I really need is a usable phone that I can keep for a long time, that doesn't track me completely. I don't want complete stealth, just more privacy. I don't need high end specs, just good enough to take a photograph that is sharp. I don't need the apps with the most features, I really only need a few apps and most of them are already more privacy focused. In fact, it's brilliant that this app store has access to apps like NewPipe from the getgo. Previously I had to manually install.
    I have no doubt that people who use their phone a lot more extensively than I will be disappointed, though, and the pricetag might be pretty high for the fairphone too. (I took that because I care about repair.)

  • @sphinx3r
    @sphinx3r 7 місяців тому +4

    I used to be all-in on /e/OS and I've been using it for about 18 months on my main phone. But it's gone so far downhill. I haven't received an update in months due to some bug that they're apparently working to fix (but seriously, who takes months to fix something as important as not receiving updates?). At the moment you have to flash the phone manually to update, which of course I won't do to my main phone, in case of issues.
    There's also been many weird bugs popping up in the last few updates I did receive. Like the touch screen randomly going nuts until the screen is turned off and on again. Or the app store randomly not being able to connect.
    I think it's a nice idea but I've given up on it. I now believe the only way to fight companies like Google, is through stricter privacy laws.

    • @cyberbillp
      @cyberbillp 7 місяців тому +1

      I haven't had any of those issues. What phone are you using? I'm on a Moto Revvlry+.

  • @willi1978
    @willi1978 7 місяців тому +3

    how big a difference does the .1 Ghz make? thought the difference to the performance cores would need to be higher to be useful

  • @rklauco
    @rklauco 7 місяців тому

    I like the new FairPhone, was thinking about getting that one with /e/OS... Would you mind to make a comparison video, perhaps?

  • @df3yt
    @df3yt 7 місяців тому +2

    Glad the fingerprint sensor isn't on the screen! Looks like a great phone

  • @manualshchik
    @manualshchik 7 місяців тому

    it is good to see a de-googled phone. I also have that OS on my xiaomi phone and it is really good for me

  • @realtimestatic
    @realtimestatic 7 місяців тому +2

    I'm kinda waiting until Fairphone releases a better phone than my iPhone 12 and I would use it with /e/OS

  • @ChairmanKam
    @ChairmanKam 7 місяців тому

    4:43 It's because the USB C port creates EMI with it on daughterboards. Owning a Nokia X100 taught me that.

  • @vishalkumar040393
    @vishalkumar040393 7 місяців тому

    I like the Vollaphone interface, something like that if available for normal android user will be great.

  • @lokelaufeyson9931
    @lokelaufeyson9931 7 місяців тому +2

    i live in a smaller city so 5G is overkill and 4G is more than good enough. 5G is only peak speeds in general, 4G is constant high speed so the 4G is better overall. More stable as well

  • @AEGISFACTOR-kj6vo
    @AEGISFACTOR-kj6vo Місяць тому

    hey. is the power button is a killswitch for the battery ?

  • @mihaisau7999
    @mihaisau7999 2 місяці тому

    Hello. Can you do a future video to compare the major de-googled ROMs? Try to review the following categories: usability, security, future updates, installation, trade-offs vs stock android, etc.

  • @caffeinevelocity
    @caffeinevelocity 7 місяців тому +3

    Even the Game Boy has a headphone jack, why has it become so difficult to add one to a modern smartphone?

    • @TheLinuxEXP
      @TheLinuxEXP  7 місяців тому +1

      It’s not difficult, it’s become undesirable. It’s an extra port, that uses depth on the phone and makes laying out internals harder, it’s another hole in the design that breaks waterproofing, and also, you can’t sell Bluetooth headphones if you have one

  • @THeck_23
    @THeck_23 7 місяців тому +2

    Nice review! :)

  • @Ryan-ct3rv
    @Ryan-ct3rv 7 місяців тому

    I feel like the better buy is a fairphone with e/os if you want a good e/os phone

  • @DavidTaylor-qy7tk
    @DavidTaylor-qy7tk 6 місяців тому

    Does app lounge support most banking apps?

  • @patricksportal7552
    @patricksportal7552 4 місяці тому

    They do not appear to be available in the USA unless you buy them from sites like Ebay from overseas.

  • @albertoyape2976
    @albertoyape2976 10 днів тому

    im using this e/os to my old Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 (chiron) coz it is fully supported. 🙌🏻

  • @simongrushka983
    @simongrushka983 7 місяців тому +1

    what's the SoC? what are the cameras?
    why would that phone (apart from the sd card slot) be better than pixel + eos?

    •  7 місяців тому

      maybe... the killswitches? ;) (if you care about them)

  • @manny-
    @manny- 7 місяців тому +2

    I really like these privacy switches. Awesome Phone!
    But why does every cool phone has to be big?! A mini version of it would be a dream.

  • @pradeepmalar327
    @pradeepmalar327 7 місяців тому +1

    I tried to check which exact processor they used in the phone, but failed. Can someone try to dig in a bit more to have a better idea on the performance?

  • @reclee8333
    @reclee8333 3 місяці тому

    Setting aside the device / phone brand used.
    How does e/ compare with iodeOS? What are the pros and cons of one over the other?

  • @GandhiTheDerg
    @GandhiTheDerg 7 місяців тому +5

    Sounds like a Honeypot Lmfao

    • @TheLinuxEXP
      @TheLinuxEXP  7 місяців тому +1

      There has never been any proof or even suspicion it might be one

  • @faritmutugullin
    @faritmutugullin 7 місяців тому +4

    Privacy phone without a 3.5 jack? Are they for real?

  • @scottlewis2372
    @scottlewis2372 7 місяців тому

    I run /e/ on a Samsung S9 with a Mint SIM as a secondary phone. I'm in the USA and the supported S9's are Euro models (it seems to me) so my phone won't work on Verizon, which is my preferred primary carrier. Murena will be offering their OS on Google Pixel 6-7 later this month. For me, that's a no brainer. Thanks for the review, Nic!

  • @AAAMGGG
    @AAAMGGG 7 місяців тому

    Nice video as always.
    Yet I am wondering, how is brick device (like modern iPhones or Galaxy S2 to lesser degree) with no smooth curved sides that sweep from sides to bottom plate can be a good fit for hand? I feel like for example modern Pixel or Nokia N9, Galaxy S3 is inherently better fit to your hand.

  • @MysticMylesZ
    @MysticMylesZ 7 місяців тому

    9:08 what even is post processing?!
    Is it adding data to the photo?
    Because that doesn't sound appealing to me... I don't want my camera to fill in stuff... I'll do that on software

  • @JamesStray
    @JamesStray 7 місяців тому +1

    Would Lawnchair be the launcher that's the closest to the /e/os launcher? If so, which version? V2 or 12.1?

    • @necromancygood
      @necromancygood 7 місяців тому +1

      Bliss Launcher is what /e/OS uses

  • @iPard2
    @iPard2 5 місяців тому

    How do you think /e/os compares to GrapheneOS? Would love to see you cover GrapheneOS as another privacy focused mobile OS on Android phones.

  • @oliviermayeres
    @oliviermayeres 7 місяців тому

    It seems they haven't received the latest security patch. These are available the first Tuesday of the month.

  • @clankfish
    @clankfish 7 місяців тому +523

    no headphone jack = no buy

    • @flarebear5346
      @flarebear5346 7 місяців тому +151

      Brother you're never buying a phone again

    • @koghs
      @koghs 7 місяців тому

      ​@@flarebear5346skill issue

    • @pakshimitra-friendsofbirds9965
      @pakshimitra-friendsofbirds9965 7 місяців тому +1

      ​​@@flarebear5346brother my phone has sd750g, 50 mp cam, wide angle, 5g and a headphone jack

    • @SvalbardSleeperDistrict
      @SvalbardSleeperDistrict 7 місяців тому +74

      @@flarebear5346 What's the logic behind not making them with jacks? I don't follow phone tech news so that was a surprise to hear.

    • @g4mingaz
      @g4mingaz 7 місяців тому +16

      yep, first thing I thought of too...

  • @JMRVRGS
    @JMRVRGS 7 місяців тому

    Custom roms has these options Vanilla (de-googled) and Google

  • @avvn9331
    @avvn9331 6 місяців тому

    Looks like a interesting phone as of now

  • @sharkuel
    @sharkuel 7 місяців тому +3

    Roses are red
    Charcoal is black
    My cash you'll never get
    Smartphone with no headphone jack.

  • @jingaro0614
    @jingaro0614 2 місяці тому +1

    I can tell this eos is excellent.Only the downside is i cant restore my previous whatsapp back.i've been using a week.

  • @Qyngali
    @Qyngali 7 місяців тому

    Does it have wireless charging? Yes I am going to look it up myself, just asking because it would be nice if it had been mentioned in the video. :)

  • @mikehawk7307
    @mikehawk7307 7 місяців тому

    Is there anything like Android auto or navigation?

  • @DakotaJones-nn2oi
    @DakotaJones-nn2oi 7 місяців тому

    Okay, this is kind of nice and all, but when are they finally getting the Fairphone 5 to the US market?

  • @harrisontu264
    @harrisontu264 7 місяців тому +1

    I’m very interested in getting one of these. I have a question though, I’m totally blind, do you know if this has a screen, reader built-in? On regular android, it’s under the accessibility settings you would be able to turn on talk back.

    • @zeta_eclipse
      @zeta_eclipse 7 місяців тому

      it probably does, I'm assuming that stock android has it so eos has it too

    • @harrisontu264
      @harrisontu264 7 місяців тому

      It may not, since it is a Google product. It’s a Google app.

    • @zeta_eclipse
      @zeta_eclipse 7 місяців тому

      @@harrisontu264 but android is open source

  • @MiguelTorrellas
    @MiguelTorrellas 7 місяців тому +2

    I don't like the red leds always on, what about at night when we are sleeping

  • @neobscura
    @neobscura 7 місяців тому +1

    What about apps needing enhanced security features ? (I'm thinking banking)... La dernière fois que j'ai essayé mon appli de banque c'était nada.

    • @TheLinuxEXP
      @TheLinuxEXP  7 місяців тому

      My banking app worked (Crédit Agricole)

  • @kramercanfield1742
    @kramercanfield1742 7 місяців тому

    I saw in the background it looks like there’s a box for an iPad mini. How well does it work with your NextCloud account? What do you use it for? Why did you choose an iPad over a Windows or Linux tablet? What do you like or dislike about it?

  • @tizian_heckmann
    @tizian_heckmann 7 місяців тому

    The Zenfone 8 is supported, right?

  • @anandhunt1000
    @anandhunt1000 6 місяців тому

    i am ready to buy it

  • @tassaron
    @tassaron 7 місяців тому +2

    Headphone jack would be the only thing that would've made up for all the other issues. A software privacy switch isn't even a privacy switch ...

    • @murenacorp
      @murenacorp 7 місяців тому

      Hello!
      Privacy Switch on Murena 2 is a hardware switch and cannot be overriden in any case by a software activity.

  • @bluephreakr
    @bluephreakr 7 місяців тому +2

    Hype this up so Hugh Jefferys and Louis Rossmann are in on it. I'd love to hear their thoughts!

  • @TheJackiMonster
    @TheJackiMonster 7 місяців тому +1

    I stick with my Librem 5 but I think it looks like a great option given that it's a Google-free Android phone with hardware kill-switches from my understanding. However I'm not fully convinced by Murena's services to replace the Google services. Is it possible to use a self-hosted Nextcloud server instead? (I assume it is possible given e/OS is open-source but it would be great to know how easy that option would be to setup...)

    • @garrettrinquest1605
      @garrettrinquest1605 7 місяців тому +1

      Yup. Connecting it to your own Nextcloud instance is as simple as downloading a few apps and signing in

  • @armandaneshjoo
    @armandaneshjoo 7 місяців тому +1

    Lovely