I want to purchase a pocket reform soon and have some questions about it. There has been some conflicting information on this forum about the modem that can be added, if I buy a modem and add it will I be able to do “normal” Calls i.e 3g or volte to phone numbers? If this is not possible what options would exist to get a voip based number in the EU?
I am specifically getting this to get rid of the smartphone.
Second question would be if some OLED panels are available as a replacement for the LCD, I have some light sensitivity problems and OLED usually performs better for me, I have seen two displays listed in the hardware handbook and the manufacturer wisecoco that made the second display does make OLED displays, but none that I found in a compatible size.
Third question would be if someone has ran Threema desktop on this device (the “standalone” version), or if the ART android runtime equivalent runs on the OS as is.
(Also, can the u-boot bootloader firmware provide an efi boot environment?)
You can find the spec for the monitor in the pocket here. Section 2.1 specifies that it speaks MIPI - DSI , which is the same protocol used by the very common official Raspberry Pi Display. Section 2.4.2 shows you the pinout for the cable that connects the display to the motherboard. For a new display to be compatible, it will need to have the same pinout, same connector size, speak the same protocol, and probably have a compatible driver chip (HX8279 in the case of the pocket’s LCD). I looked a bit on Aliexpress and the original display manufacturer’s website but didn’t find anything that would be a drop in OLED replacement. In order to make one work, you’d need to at the very least design some kind of little converter board and maybe do some firmware hackery.
One thing I didn’t know about the reform or the pocket before I got one is that putting them to sleep was a little difficult. They don’t sleep when you close the lid like most laptops, and most of the processor modules don’t even have proper software support for sleep in the kernel. Until that works, it’s going to be difficult to replace your smartphone with one. I like the idea though!