The Commodore Callback 8020 flip phone looks like it’s from decades ago but its price was definitely a sign of today’s times. That’s changed, with Commodore’s announcement today that it will drop the price $100 for most models before pre-orders start next week.
The phone caused a stir when it was announced a week ago. First, there was the thrill of 80s computing legend Commodore making a phone. Then the phone being retro in both look and function caught attention, with a flip-phone form factor combined with a focus on privacy. But one of the most unique features of the Callback 8020 is that it runs Android apps on Linux-based Sailfish OS instead of Android. Among all of the praise though, was criticism that a $500 starting price for the basic models was too high.
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For a phone that is toted as being privacy respecting, its fucked they are preinstalling software from one of the worst privacy invading companies on the planet.
Disappointing
Meh. Nokia does some of this. Why cant i flash a secure kaios onto one of those?
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I don’t get it. You literally have the choice of any dumb-phone out there, why buy a new one?
Point me towards a dumb phone that can run Signal properly and I’ll cancel my 8020 order right now.
(yes, it’s still a bit of a guess whether the 8020 can actually run it properly, but that’s what they’re promising right now anyway)
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Thanks! Interesting, I hadn’t heard of that one.
I wasn’t able to find if the tt970 (or the newer t990) provably can run Signal, but seems like it’s an Android 14 so I guess it should.
Do you have one?
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Oh, the TTFone OS core is a proprietary fork of AOSP, and developed in China. That is probably a nope for me.
But I appreciate for letting me know of it. Might be good for the kids in the near future.
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