Pine64

PinePhone Pro runs OS Linux and has 3GB RAM and 32GB

Open architecture hardware maker Pine64 has started shipping its new PinePhone Pro smartphone and tablet with e-ink screen, but so far only to developers. Hong Kong-based Pine64 started by launching the $32 A64 model on the crowdfunding platform and then began offering smartphones, tablets, laptops and even smartwatches based on it.

The A64 board is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Arm chipset, which is the fourth generation of Allwinner chips. In 2017, it formed the basis of the PineBook laptop and later debuted the PinePhone smartphone built around it. Smartphone deliveries began in 2020, and at the time of sales beginning, it didn't look very impressive, offering users 2GB of RAM and 16GB of permanent memory. Later, an updated modification of the device came out with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

Pine64 now offers its customers an upgraded hardware platform that is built around a 1.5GHz clocked six-core Rockchip RK3399, combining two high-performance Cortex-A72 cores and four Cortex-A53 cores. The chipset works in conjunction with 4GB of RAM. The new platform has already formed the basis of the PineBook Pro laptop, which offers users 64GB of storage and a decent range of ports, including USB 2.0 Type-A and USB 3.0 Type-C for $299.

Now the PinePhone Pro smartphone has also seen the light, also based on the new platform. Unfortunately, the device is only available to Linux-based operating system developers. Note that the original PinePhone supports about 20 different Linux distributions, including NetBSD, OpenBSD and RISC OS. In addition to the smartphone, Pine64 now offers the PineNote tablet with a screen based on e-ink technology.

The PinePhone Pro smartphone is priced at $399, while the price of the tablet has yet to be announced.

AVnews