14 DAY TRIAL // Purism, the hardware manufacturer known for their security and privacy focused Linux laptops, announced that the new Librem 5 Linux phone has started shipping to customers around the world.
Earlier this month, Purism announced their shipping plans for the Librem 5 Linux smartphone, which has been in development since October 2017. Two years later, the Librem 5 phones will finally start ship to customers who pre-ordered them, in batches, until Q4 2020. The first batch, will start shipping from September 24th until October 22nd.
Librem 5 promises to be the very first smartphone on the market that focuses only on security and privacy by not tracking, nor exploiting your digital life. It features hardware encryption, layered security protection, hardware kill switches, decentralized and IP-native communication, and user controlled source code.
"This is a big moment," stated Todd Weaver, founder and CEO of Purism. "Not just for us as a company, but for everyone concerned about issues of privacy, security, and user freedom. The Librem 5 represents years of work, building the software and hardware required to make this phone a reality."
The first batch of Librem 5 smartphones consists of the initial Librem 5 board with all hardware components, an individual milled case with loose fit, varying alignment, and hand crafted unfinished switch caps. Librem 5's operating system, PureOS, will feature the core apps and support for software updates via the terminal.
A security and privacy focused Linux smartphone
The second batch will start shipping between October 29th and November 26th, and consists of the next run of the Librem 5 board with all hardware included, as well as an Aspen mechanical design with tighter fit and improved alignment. Software-wise, there will be improvements to the setup, power management, and web browsing in PureOS.
Customers who pre-ordered the security and privacy focused Librem 5 smartphone will be receiving an email from Purism to inform them about which shipping batch they will receive, as well as the respective shipping date window they are scheduled for. We can't wait to read the first reviews of the Librem 5 Linux phone.
