tallship<span class="h-card"><a class="u-url mention" href="https://mastodon.social/@NatCor" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>NatCor</span></a></span> <span class="h-card"><a class="u-url mention" href="https://carnivore.social/@Soy_Magnus" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>Soy_Magnus</span></a></span> <br><br>I'm actually not familiar with <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/murena" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Murena</a>. I had been following <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/fairphone" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Fairphone</a> through their Fairphone 3, but discounted it because they only shipped to EU countries. They at one time were pumping their "Fair", "Ethical" manufacturing, which reportedly was the reason for the pricey cost. I found their manufacturing not standing up to that claim, but there really isn't a phone that can. <br><br>Although a <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/pixel" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Pixel</a> (now Pixel 6) running either CalyxOS or <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/grapheneos" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GrapheneOS</a> is good, they still lack a few standard concepts I would like to have as hard requirements - requirements that the Fairphone meets. Namely, removable battery and support for SD Card.<br><br>I tend to recommend Pixel's with <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/calyxos" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CalyxOS</a>, and either the Pinephone or Librem 5, the latter two being relatively underpowered devices by current market standards.<br><br>I really like the <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/pinephone" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Pinephone</a>. It checks off a lot of boxes that the Fairphone doesn't/can't, namely electrical switches that turn of the LTE transceiver (very important), Bluetooth, WiFi, Cameras, and Microphone. And like all three manufacturers, removable battery.<br><br>But the Pinephone is not an <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/android" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Android</a> - it's a Linux workstation that can achieve close resemblance to an Android with varying degrees of performance/stability in the UI. If you want a Linux box that fits into your pocket and is also a phone, this is the clear winner with a price tag of only $200 USD.<br><br>I know a lot of folks like to bash the <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/librem_5" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Librem_5</a> but it has as part of its standard manufacturing a couple of things that none of the other phones do...<br><br>The so-called, "Kill Switches" are easily accessable, since they are located on the outside of the device. This can be particularly annoying with respect to the Pinephone, because presumably, the privacy conscious operator would likely want to turn on and off things like the microphone and cameras and <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/bluetooth" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Bluetooth</a> when they're not actually going to be used, and disabling or enabling any components on the pinephone entails removing the back panel to access the (tiny) switches.<br><br>Still, the <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/librem" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Librem</a> 5 being so overpriced for being so underpowered has an advantage that none of the other phones do.... The ability to change your <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/imsi" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#IMSI</a>. This is an extremely powerful privacy control capability - i.e., you can swap out your LTE transceiver at will, making your Librem 5 effectively the world's first "non-disposable <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/burner_phone" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#burner_phone</a>".<br><br>Anyone can swap out a <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/sim_card" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SIM_Card</a>, but that only changes your <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/imei" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#IMEI</a> - it is still instantly recognized as the same device, owned by YOU, the second it comes back online because the IMSI never changes - it's part of the freaking radio itself! The Librem 5 gives you this extreme control to pseudonymize yourself that no other phone on the planet that I'm aware of can.<br><br><br>When it comes to the notion of a functioning telephone, or rather, making and receiving phone calls, many of the features of the phones above are a moot point if you are looking into the not too distant future where services like <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/jmp" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#JMP</a>, or any <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/voip" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#VoIP</a> <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/did" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DID</a> for that matter, can accommodate you just as well as having an <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/lte" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LTE</a> transceiver onboard (the actual 4G/5G cell phone part). I like <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/zoiper" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Zoiper</a> a lot for my purposes, and a couple of others work quite well. Some folks find Linphone quite satisfactory as well. JMP isn't cheap at about $3/mo, but it does afford the same text/audio/video that other IM systems do but over <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/xmpp" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#XMPP</a> - The text is actually <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/sms" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SMS</a>, something you don't get with say, regular XMPP or <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/matrix" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Matrix</a>.<br><br>Where this is actually a huge advantage over 4G/5G cellular - especially where privacy is concerned, you can achieve the same level of security on the fairphone simply by removing the SIM card. The downside of removing the SIM Card (or turning off the transceiver on the Pinephone or Librem 5), is that you're going to need WiFi coverage anytime you want to make or receive a phone call, or pretty much anything that requires transport over an IP network - like using most of your apps.<br><br>This can be mitigated by the use of a Calyx Institute <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/mifi" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#MiFi</a> puck - your name never appears anywhere - the device reports itself as "Calyx Institute", thereby pseudonymizing you..... In truth, anonymizing you, at least until you do something that fingerprints you, which is almost impossible to avoid, although in theory, we each would like to think that we can circumvent such surveillance techniques based on the analyzation of stored farmed data that seeks to identify us based on our usage, contact, and travel patterns.<br><br>Anyway, I'm quite interested and looking forward to picking up a couple of these <a class="hashtag" href="https://pleroma.cloud/tag/fairphone_4" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Fairphone_4</a>'s for myself. Indeed, it's a great mix of some of the best in privacy where the practice of common sense privacy protection is concerned.<br><br>But again, I'm asking, what is the "Murena" thing all about. What kind of branding is that? Well, maybe I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth now that I don't have to jump through any hoops enlisting my European friends, and can buy direct from a distributor that ships to the US.<br><br>Anyway, thank you very much Xypper, for bringing this vendor to my attention!<br><br>I'd appreciate any thoughts or feedback you have on what I've covered above too :)<br><br>⛵<br><br>.<br><a href="https://pleroma.cloud/media/34dad7625050d3cca3dcb60bd8b0e18e01a7597d967031f6c16c2b9f309551a5.jpg?name=fairphone4.shop.fairphone.com.jpg" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fairphone4.shop.fairphone.com.j…</a>