Commodore announces Linux-based flip phone with ‘no social media, no browser’ — the Callback 8020 will be available in five retro colorways starting at $499, runs 99% of Android apps
2026-06-16 16:24 UTC
Replies (38)
-
@Wrongdoer2@sh.itjust.works 2026-06-16 16:34
Great initiative but at this price it’s just a scam srlsy…
-
@Bohne93@feddit.org 2026-06-16 17:17
Will make a great match to my T1 device.
-
@AndrewZabar@lemmy.world 2026-06-16 17:30
This is a joke or satire, no? Who the F would pay that much for a flip phone. You can get them for free can’t you?
-
@morto@piefed.social 2026-06-16 17:30
I don’t get that “minimalist phone” market I can just get an older phone, remove all social media and use it
-
@thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 2026-06-16 17:32
My first thought was, this might be about just what’s installed by default. Reading a bit further the article says: Apparently, the OS has hard blocks to stop the installation of browsers and social media apps. So I’m not sure why I would want pay 500 Dollars / Euros, just so they have control over what I can install and not. To me this would be a deal breaker. Also this seems to be “basically a custom version of the Jolla Sailfish OS”, so there are probably “better” options using the same OS. I am not impressed.
-
@hopesdead@startrek.website 2026-06-16 17:25
How does it not have social media or browser if so many apps are compatible? Doesn’t that amount of compatibility mean we can still have social media and browsers?
-
@gary_host_laptop@lemmy.ml 2026-06-16 17:40
the “official reveal trailer” is done with ai, it looks like a scam
-
@AnAmericanPotato@programming.dev 2026-06-16 18:04
MediaTek Helio G81 SoC, with 4GB/64GB Uhhh. For $500? Sorry, no.
-
@original_reader@lemmy.zip 2026-06-16 17:29
500 dollars!? What’s the justification for that price?
-
@wltr@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-06-16 18:25
I keep repeating this for a decade. Buy a used old iPhone (like SE) and get a no fancy phone which is mostly fine for that use case.
-
@spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 2026-06-16 18:25
I have little hope that the feel of the case and buttons will be anywhere close to what the price would demand.
-
@placebo@lemmy.zip 2026-06-16 18:44
I get the idea of dumb phones, but $500 (or with taxes in Europe at least ~600 EUR) for a phone that cannot even run a browser? This is ridiculous.
-
@tomjuggler@lemmy.world 2026-06-16 18:55
They didn’t mention battery life once, and it doesn’t even have a torch?
-
@utopiah@lemmy.ml 2026-06-16 19:53
So happy with my 2nd hand Pixel 8. No BS, ecologically acceptable IMHO and yes runs most Android apps.
-
@Stupendous@lemmy.world 2026-06-16 20:15
It’s like that era of putting pink ribbons on everything for breast cancer that also signaled you were a supporter of women. Commercialized activism. Be real. This will sell very little. We’ll get some news articles about how it’s trending with Gen z that are rejecting technology and always online culture. It’ll actually only be a small amount of Gen z but you know blogspam going to blogspam. It’s a crappy product. We need a Linux phone that would actually be a halo product for people to not feel like they’re ripping themselves off to get away from Google and Apple
-
@willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-06-16 22:07
Look, I love the idea of a Linux phone. But $500 and it manages my temptations for me? Fuck no. The whole point of Linux is freedom. Enough behavior shaping.
-
@BartyDeCanter@piefed.social 2026-06-16 23:42
While it seems like everyone here hates it, I’ve been looking for a minimal phone for when my current one dies. This seems to hit the exact sweet spot of functionality I want vs what I don’t want. As for the price, well, I’m spending at least that much on my next phone anyway so it seems fine by me. And I have a huge nostalgia for flip phones and transparent electronics. So yeah, signed up to preorder.
-
@BottleBoardBakon@lemmy.ml 2026-06-16 23:44
That’s easy too expensive for a phone with bad specs that just has blocked access to certain apps
-
@SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-06-17 01:35
Commodore? C64 and Amiga Commodore? Well, it seems to be a new startup that simply bought and revived the trademark. Instead of a $500 paperweight, they should instead focus on affordable, Linux-based PCs laptop. Perhaps they build their own distro using an Amiga-esque filesystem. I would definitely daily-drive a Commodore-branded laptop.
-
@marcie@lemmy.ml 2026-06-17 02:16
499? hahahhaa
-
@Moonrise2473@lemmy.ml 2026-06-17 04:07
Browser and email is the bare minimum, though. Even the cheapest clamshells in the 2000s had those two. Don’t preinstall it by default if you want to look minimal but being forced to sideload (their app store blocks this essential category???) an Android APK in the emulator instead of using native Linux apps for that, is ridiculous
-
@cenariodantesco@lemmy.world 2026-06-17 04:21
how affordable of them [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°̲̅)̲̅$̲̅]
-
@Snapz@lemmy.world 2026-06-17 05:08
At $200… Maybe. AI slop video, no faith in what will (or likely won’t) be delivered.
-
@rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works 2026-06-17 05:55
Sounds great for kids. The price point can suck a dick tho
-
@daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-06-17 07:47
Ah yes, another company trying to squeeze ridiculous amounts of money out of people just because “it has linux”.
-
@plutopos@lemmy.zip 2026-06-17 08:41
The price is unfeasible lmao. You could get an old phone for like 50$ used, put lineage on it, don’t install any app or store and be done with it
-
@foremanguy92_@lemmy.ml 2026-06-17 08:46
How could this idea come to mind… Surely that’s great, but who in the team said “- Give me a price! - 500!! - Approved!”
-
@GMac@feddit.org 2026-06-17 08:50
Whatsapp preinstalled… hard pass from me. All the other considerations like price, browser block, app emulation implementation; those are all things I could probably get past but preinstalled spyware is unacceptable from the get go.
-
@DupaCycki@lemmy.world 2026-06-17 09:12
Who is going to pay $500 for a retro flip phone, when you can get a second-hand iPhone for half that? Or you know, an actual flip phone for $25.
-
@jackintosh@feddit.nl 2026-06-17 09:32
The first flip phone with WhatsApp since the unfortunate demise of KaiOS devices. Sailfish probably has much higher system requirements, hence the price. Great to have an alternative though!
-
@diaphragmwp@discuss.tchncs.de 2026-06-17 09:40
no social media, no browser marketing material: social media in a glorified browser
-
@Tiger_Man_@szmer.info 2026-06-17 11:05
500$? and they used to make one of the cheapest computers on the market
-
@boaratio@lemmy.world 2026-06-17 11:14
WhatsApp isn’t a social media app?
-
@melsaskca@lemmy.ca 2026-06-17 13:01
They lost me at $499. A phone that is just a phone should be about a hundred bucks max. I didn’t read the article though. Maybe it’s still very computery.
-
@Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 2026-06-17 16:33
It looks comically huge in all the pictures on the Commodore website… Is it really that big?
-
@yumyumsmuncher@feddit.uk 2026-06-17 17:51
$499? No thanks
-
@droniecarp@lemmy.zip 2026-06-17 20:42
Zero justification for that price tag.
-
@cornishon@lemmygrad.ml 2026-06-17 06:29
no social media, no browser runs 99% of Android apps Are the 1% all the browsers and social media apps? Somehow I think not.