The Commodore Callback 8020 flip phone looks like it’s from decades ago but its price was definitely a sign of today’s times. That’s changed, with Commodore’s announcement today that it will drop the price $100 for most models before pre-orders start next week.

The phone caused a stir when it was announced a week ago. First, there was the thrill of 80s computing legend Commodore making a phone. Then the phone being retro in both look and function caught attention, with a flip-phone form factor combined with a focus on privacy. But one of the most unique features of the Callback 8020 is that it runs Android apps on Linux-based Sailfish OS instead of Android. Among all of the praise though, was criticism that a $500 starting price for the basic models was too high.

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  • BeUnique@lemmy.zipEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    I don’t get it. You literally have the choice of any dumb-phone out there, why buy a new one?

    • abc@suppo.fiEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      Point me towards a dumb phone that can run Signal properly and I’ll cancel my 8020 order right now.

      (yes, it’s still a bit of a guess whether the 8020 can actually run it properly, but that’s what they’re promising right now anyway)

        • abc@suppo.fiEnglish
          0·
          4 months ago

          Thanks! Interesting, I hadn’t heard of that one.

          I wasn’t able to find if the tt970 (or the newer t990) provably can run Signal, but seems like it’s an Android 14 so I guess it should.

          Do you have one?

            • abc@suppo.fiEnglish
              0·
              4 months ago

              Oh, the TTFone OS core is a proprietary fork of AOSP, and developed in China. That is probably a nope for me.

              But I appreciate for letting me know of it. Might be good for the kids in the near future.