- Built in California, powered by Linux, the Liberty phone says no to tech giants
- Without Android or iOS it’s the lonely smartphone on the market today
- It costs more, makes less and still claims to be the best smartphone for privacy
Despite rising political pressure to bring technical presentation back to the United States, the construction of a premium smartphone remains a precious and technically difficult challenge.
The Liberty phone after purism, price for $ 1,999, offers a rare example of how close a company can build an America-Made device, but it comes with significant trade-off and practical trade-offs.
Unlike the widely promoted but questionable trump phone of $ 499, the Liberty phone is at least affirming in the United States, even though it lacks flagship level functions.
Still not 100% “made in the US!”
Todd Weaver, Purism’s founder, is in advance about the limitations and notes, “a person who needs an evil strong camera is not our audience.”
Weaver estimates that the Liberty phone costs about $ 650 to produce, higher than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which TechInsights says cost about $ 550 to build in China.
This discrepancy is largely driven by US labor costs with savings using lower-species components such as a basic camera and a low-resolution screen.
This may fit its core user base, including Security Geeks, older users, children and those who want to distance themselves from larger tech brands, but it is nowhere near mainstream Android alternatives -for anyone who expects the best smartphone for business or multimedia tasks, the Liberty phone is unlikely to compete.
Part of Purism’s appeal lies in its transparent and partly domestic supply chain – the motherboard is built at the company’s California place, the chip is obtained from NXP’s Austin, Texas, Facility, and the final assembly is local.
But some critical components, such as the camera from South Korea and the display and the battery from China, still depend on global sourcing.
“There are just some parts that do not yet have a supply chain,” says Weaver. “We continue to increase there until we can get to that point.”
It runs Pureos, a Linux-based operating system that supports basic tasks such as calling, SMS and web browsing, but without support for Android or iOS apps, it is a hard sale for anyone who needs a broad app ecosystem or advanced performance.
Nevertheless, Weaver believes that there is a niche market and claims that about half of Purism’s customers are US public agencies.
Although tariffs one day can narrow the cost gap, the continuity of this project is not sure.
“We do not have factories here that build application processors, advanced screens or most of the other things in your smartphone,” said Jeff Fieldhack of Counterpoint Research and showed his skepticism.
Currently, the Liberty phone is more of a philosophical gesture than a practical solution, and only Americans or those who are loyal to the United States will give it another look.
Via the Wall Street Journal
