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Pinephone review: Arch

I tested Arch Linux with Phosh on a microSD.It fits an 8GB microSD too, the Phosh image is only 4GB wide. Arch for Pinephone provides small images, generally speaking, therefore you can try them in smaller (and slower) cards too. The SXMO image uses only around 3GB of space. The experience is similar to the one of Manjaro. Wifi works, calls in & out too, and I found the phone very responsive for the calls. I mean, respect to other distros, I get the phone ringing immediately after the first waiting tone on the calling phone, and vice versa too. SMS not tested. Bluetooth works. The GPS test made with Gnome Maps sets my position at first about 100Km far away from the real one. Later it moved closer, only 2-3 Km wrong...  same old story. The camera works.

Not many apps installed as default: no app to download / update sw   Well, Arch isn't made for rookies.

Usual localization problems of Phosh with languages like Chinese. 

No encryption offered during the installatio process.

GUI is quite responsive, one of the best I tried with Phosh. Imho this is the best feature of Arch on the Pinephone. A minimalist setup, but a phone side which works, and works well, at least for what I tested. Currently there are images of Arch Linux for PInephone with Phosh, sxmo and KDE Plasma.

I then decided to give a try to SXMO, for the first time. It's a really geeky GUI. Too much for me. You definitely must give a look at the user guide here: https://man.sr.ht/~anjan/sxmo-docs/USERGUIDE.md

By the way, sxmo works both on Wayland and Xorg. Learn to use the gestures: how the hell do I close a window?

Fast, well it is. I took a picture with the camera, but then I haven't been able to open it from the "button" on the app itlself. Ok. Enough for the first quick impact