Pyra versus Pinephone Pro


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What are your opinions regarding Pyra versus Pinephone Pro, usability wise?
Would Pyra be a lot more usable, given that it comes in a conventional laptop form factor? Just miniaturized.
This eliminate the need to design touch based UIs and touch input methods like in Pinephone (Pro).
And a full day battery life would make Pyra a clear winner. What are your opinions?
 
Thank you. From the replies above. It seems Pyra is in a crippling state no better than Pinephone.
I’m beginning to want to refund the Pyra preorder to purchase Pinephone instead in order to have something to play with.
And reconsider Pyra when/if it ever comes out.
 
And reconsider Pyra when/if it ever comes out.

The Pyra is already out, I've had mine since December 2020 and with a few snags in production orders are still being fulfilled. The Pinephone is well just a boring phone and not a proper handheld computing device with keyboard and gaming controls.

The issues described are just software issues being worked on right now, so up to you.

That said there are similar devices offered by GPD, but if my GPD Micro PC says anything,it hasn't been a reliable device. Charging issues, video distorts randomly , etc...
 
The Pyra is already out, I've had mine since December 2020 and with a few snags in production orders are still being fulfilled. The Pinephone is well just a boring phone and not a proper handheld computing device with keyboard and gaming controls.

The issues described are just software issues being worked on right now, so up to you.

That said there are similar devices offered by GPD, but if my GPD Micro PC says anything,it hasn't been a reliable device. Charging issues, video distorts randomly , etc...
Thanks for the tip. But I'm only interested in open hardware mobile computers.
 
I have had (until I drowned it in beer) a PinePhone and it was barely usable for any purpose. The battery life was also extremely short (1 hr phone call max; < 24hr standby). Installing mobian did give an improvement in usabillty however. Although it was still not really usable as a phone (other person always very faint and they would report I sounded very crackly). I ended up using it as an internet dongle for which it did really well until I killed it.

Not sure what improvements the Pro has but I understand they still run the same software.

From what I see on these pages the Pyra looks much more usable. For example, trying to enter text or select an option in a settings menu on the PinePhone was an exercise in sheer frustration as scrolling would frequently malfunction/jump/seize, screens would be cut off off-screen, settings would undo them selves regularly etc. etc.. Pyra's general usability issue's look minor.
 
I have had (until I drowned it in beer) a PinePhone and it was barely usable for any purpose. The battery life was also extremely short (1 hr phone call max; < 24hr standby). Installing mobian did give an improvement in usabillty however. Although it was still not really usable as a phone (other person always very faint and they would report I sounded very crackly). I ended up using it as an internet dongle for which it did really well until I killed it.

Not sure what improvements the Pro has but I understand they still run the same software.

From what I see on these pages the Pyra looks much more usable. For example, trying to enter text or select an option in a settings menu on the PinePhone was an exercise in sheer frustration as scrolling would frequently malfunction/jump/seize, screens would be cut off off-screen, settings would undo them selves regularly etc. etc.. Pyra's general usability issue's look minor.
Thanks for sharing. I also use to have a Pinephone Beta edition, and saw that the usability is terrible. I learned from online sources that Pinephone Pro should have a noticeably higher performance, due to hardware upgrade to the same level as Pinebook Pro. But still leave a lot to be desire regarding usability. I guess I'll keep my Pyra's preorder and hope for the best.
 
What are your opinions regarding Pyra versus Pinephone Pro, usability wise?
Would Pyra be a lot more usable, given that it comes in a conventional laptop form factor? Just miniaturized.
This eliminate the need to design touch based UIs and touch input methods like in Pinephone (Pro).
And a full day battery life would make Pyra a clear winner. What are your opinions?

For PinePhone (PP) or PinePhone Pro (PPP) there is a keyboard converting phone on a miniaturized notebook like Pyra. But I think it is worse from physical design: PP with keyboard (PP+K) is too much big to type while moving. When moving you use these pocket computers holding them with both hands and typing with thumbs; On that way Pyra would be much better because its size is optimal for that use, while PP+K is too wide so your thumbs can't reach all keyboard with comfort or without pain. On other side, while placing it on a desk, PP+K would be better.

A downside of PP+K is it isn't backlighted, while Pyra is.
An upside of Pyra are their 4 shoulder buttons: they are great combining with keyboard to get more combinations. Although they are only usable while holding it, not when it rest on a desk.

On other side the fact you can use PP without keyboard or with it is great, as you can decide if you want bulkier some days or thin other days (relaying on touchscreen). Having a true Linux computer in your pocket is nice for me.

The big Pyra problem is it isn't available, even if you have a number in the row for it, you don't know when you will receive it. PP is usually available.

PP soft is not very mature on same fields, but the good point is there are a lot of options and much more people working for that options than on Pyra. There are much more PP users/devices than Pyra, and there will be more distance with age. Even there is interesting/strange Linux versions for it. For example I like Sxmo
(there are newer versions)

The thing I like more on Linux (other than freedom) is its terminal, so I think Sxmo could be great for me on PP (good for terminal plus simple X Window).

I have read PPP has more problems than PP because soft is more mature on PP. I would not use none of them for main cell phone but for Linux pocket computer.

If Pyra was available, even some more expensive, I would buy it immediately. Also I would buy a PP as it is very cheap (not so on PPP). But Pyra isn't available... We continue waiting as there is no other pocket computer like Pyra.
 
What are your opinions regarding Pyra versus Pinephone Pro, usability wise?
Would Pyra be a lot more usable, given that it comes in a conventional laptop form factor? Just miniaturized.
This eliminate the need to design touch based UIs and touch input methods like in Pinephone (Pro).
And a full day battery life would make Pyra a clear winner. What are your opinions?

I have just ordered a PinePhone with Convergence Package (later, when I receive it, I will order keyboard plus accessories). So soon I will test and enjoy or suffer it :)
 
... Pyra versus Pinephone...
I have the Pinephone stuff. Had to bridge the time until the Pyra was delivered...
20230531_065238.jpg

I have play around with various OS but I not find the one for me. I am currently locked out and can no longer log in.
The Pinephone has to be flashed again and I hope that there are now some improvements in the new images.
With a lot of fiddling I also got the RISC OS Linux port up and running.
PinePhone_RiSCOS.jpg

Nice to play around with, little real use ... like a good hobby ;-)
 
I also have both of them (actually all three of them, the Pyra, the PinePhone & the PinePhone Pro) and I am happy to report:

TL;DR: The Pyra is way more usable as a truly "swiss-pocket-knife-like" daily driver device, although the 32-bit architecture and the barely working modem are severe limitations. However, I see both devices fitting different niches.

Personally, I find the keyboard of the PinePhone rather impractical to use. The keys have very different pressure points and you need a lot of time to learn how to type quickly. Sometimes key presses don't get registered correctly, or only with a lot of force, but maybe I just got a particularly bad one.

The Pyra, on the other hand, has by far the best mobile keyboard I've ever seen (and I've owned/tested a lot of mini-computers!). In my opinion, the Pyra's keyboard is the only one in this small format that actually allows efficient mobile work. Evil Dragen has cracked the problem of an optimal mobile keyboard in my eyes :p Programming, scripting and writing works great for me with it.

With the OS it really depends on the use case. The Pyra is perfect little machine for desktop applications and gaming. The Nubs allow you to use almost all normal desktop tools.
On the other hand, Phosh/Plasma is of course very well programmed and is fun to use without a keyboard. The keyboard is rather unnecessary for mobile desktop environments on the PinePhone. I use the PinePhone as a google-free secondary mobile device. Most of the mobile applications are daily-drive capable nowadays and very stable.
Desktop applications are not usable on the PinePhone itself because of the capacitive touchscreen, but the convergence via USB-C is great. I ordered a cheap chinese lapdock and like to use the PinePhone in docked mode as a chatting machine. I wish the HDMI would work properly on the Pyra, as it would probably be even better for this purpose. The working 4G-Modem with mostly libre firmware is of course a big plus for the PinePhone.

The PinePhone's hardware support has gotten much better with Linux, and the battery life is also much better than it was in the beginning. However, the Pyra is miles ahead there. I am rather disappointed with the PinePhone Pro. The battery life is so bad that you can hardly do anything when not docked before the battery runs out(!) and much of the hardware, like the camera, is not even supported yet. The Pyra is much more usable, even in the current state.

As for the CPU, the Pyra and the PinePhone Pro are "feeling" (without benchmarks) equally fast and complex desktop applications, such as VS Code and websites, run well on both. The PinePhone is very slow and more complex software is not truly useable.
The 32 bit CPU makes running some software on the Pyra more difficult than on the PinePhone, as most container repos, like Snap, only support 64 bit platforms. However, since it is Linux, you can get everything to work with a little more tinkering in the end.

For me, one of the main advantages of the PinePhone over the Pyra is that it is very cheap and easily replaceable. I waited a long time for the Pyra and it's unclear if (and how fast) you would get a 2nd Pyra if this one breaks. So I treat it like a raw egg and don't take it with me on more "dangerous" events. The PinePhone, on the other hand, is immediately available relatively cheaply from China, so you don't need to take any more care of it than you would a normal cell phone.
 
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