- Built in California, driven by Linux, the Liberty phone says no to technological giants
- Without Android or iOS, it is the most lonely intelligent phone in the market today
- It costs more, less and still claims to be the best smartphone for privacy.
Despite the growing political pressure to return the manufacture of technology to the United States, build a premium smartphone in the country remains an expensive and technically difficult challenge.
The Liberty phone for purism, with a price of $ 1,999, offers a rare example of how close a company can build a device made in the United States, but comes with important compensation in performance and practicality.
Unlike the Trump phone of $ 499 widely promoted but questionable, the Liberty telephone is assembled verifiably in the United States, although it lacks flagship characteristics.
It is not 100% “done in the United States!”
Todd Weaver, founder of Purism, is sincere about limitations, and points out: “Someone who needs an evil force chamber is not our audience.”
Weaver estimates that the Liberty phone costs around $ 650 to produce, higher than the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which Techinsights says it costs about $ 550 to build in China.
This discrepancy is largely driven by US labor costs, with savings made through the use of lower specification components, such as a basic camera and a low resolution screen.
This can be adapted to its main user base, including security geeks, older users, children and those who want to distance themselves from the main technological brands, but it is not close to conventional Android alternatives, for anyone who expects the best smartphone for commercial or multimedia tasks, it is unlikely that the Liberty Compete phone.
Part of the appeal of purism lies in its transparent and partially domestic supply chain: the motherboard is built on the company’s California site, the chips comes from Austin, Texas, NXP facilities, and the final assembly is local.
But some critical components, such as the South Korean Chamber and the China screen and battery, still depend on global supply.
“There are only some parts that still do not have a supply chain,” says Weaver. “We will continue to increase until we can reach that point.”
Executs Pureos, a Linux -based operating system that supports basic tasks such as calling, sending text messages and web navigation, but without support for Android or iOS applications, it is difficult to sell for anyone who needs a broad application ecosystem or high -end performance.
However, Weaver believes that there is a niche market and states that approximately half of the customers of purism are government agencies in the United States.
Although one day tariffs could reduce the cost gap, the continuity of this project is not safe.
“We have no factories here building application processors, high -end screens or most other things on your smartphone,” said Counterpoint Research Jeff Fieldhack, which shows his skepticism.
At the moment, the Liberty phone is more a philosophical gesture than a practical solution, and only Americans or those loyal to the United States will give a second look.
Via Wall Street Journal
