There have been many rumors and running jokes over the years that XDA would, and probably should, make a phone. Our history with alternative platforms such as LineageOS (and CyanogenMod that came before it) has meant that XDA has been at the forefront of helping develop viable alternatives to the primary platforms available on smartphones.
Today, we’re super excited to announce that we’ve finally done it – we’ve made a phone. Earlier this year, we partnered with F(x)tec to discuss how we can bring an alternative platform to a wider audience. The F(x)tec Pro1-X does just this: it’s the world’s first phone to run LineageOS out of the box, and you can also get a version running Ubuntu Touch OS.
Here are all the details:
A choice over software
CyanogenMod – the spiritual ancestor to LineageOS – began in the XDA community, and since then, we’ve helped to maintain, develop, and expand the devices that LineageOS supports. It’s safe to say that the history of LineageOS and XDA are inexorably linked and we’re excited to launch the first phone running LineageOS out of the box.
The main reason we created the Pro1-X was to offer our users a choice. Every phone launched either runs Android or iOS, and even the best Android phones require rooting to be able to truly customize the experience.
Now, there’s more than just two options: the Pro1-X doesn’t only run LineageOS; there are also variants available running Ubuntu Touch OS and Android, and we’re actively exploring other platforms.
Key Specifications
The Pro1-X might look familiar to you; we took the popular F(x)tec Pro1 that was launched last year and made a few key tweaks. The RAM and storage have both been increased – from 6GB and 128GB to 8GB and 256GB respectively – and the Pro1-X comes in this new Discovery Blue color that looks fantastic!
Beyond that, many of the Pro1 specs have remained the same. There’s a 66-key full QWERTY keyboard that slides out from beneath the display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, Dual SIM support, a fingerprint scanner, a dedicated camera button, USB-C, and HDMI out, and far more. There’s also an 8MP front camera, a 12MP primary camera, and a 5MP secondary camera.
Why we created the Pro1-X
For years, we’ve teased that we’re planning to create a phone. So why did we finally do it? This year especially, privacy has become more important than ever before, and LineageOS is known for letting you go beyond the controls you’d find on a traditional Android smartphone. In particular, the Privacy Guard – in LineageOS 16, which was replaced by AOSP’s Permissions Hub in LineageOS 17 – allows you to only share the data you want to share, and not share the data you don’t want to share.
We’ve also seen that the popularity of LineageOS and other platforms across our community has grown over the past few years and there’s more interest in these alternative Android distributions.
Beyond just LineageOS, there’s a large community of Ubuntu users who’ve always dreamed of having a smartphone running Ubuntu Touch, and the Pro1-X is the first Qualcomm-powered smartphone to run Ubuntu Touch. Not only that, we’ve also managed to get the HDMI-out feature working, so you can plug an HDMI cable in and connect it to a big screen, and use the display as a trackpad.
A special launch price for the XDA community
Building a smartphone isn’t cheap, even when we’re adapting an existing device with some key upgrades. That said, we’ve managed to keep our costs down and there’s a special price for the XDA community.
The full retail price of the Pro1-X is $899. But for the XDA community, there are a limited number of devices available at $639, which is 29% off! If you’re fast enough, we also have a pre-early bird offer for $599, which is a saving of 33%!! To find out more details, head over to our Indiegogo crowdfunding page. You can only access the special XDA price using the link on this page!
We’re super excited to finally launch the XDA phone, and we’re proud to be helping elevate LineageOS and Ubuntu Touch OS to the next level.
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