A year has passed since Commodore, the computer brand many of you know and love, came back from the dead under new ownership.
The comeback is picking up pace too, with a lineup that already includes multiple Commodore 64 Ultimate editions, a C64X PC, and a licensing program that invites outside builders to use the name.
Now, they have announced a return to the phone market, and not in the doomscrolling glass-slab avatar we are all used to, but in a retro, very equippable flip phone format....
18 Jun 2026 14:45
This phone should cost $150 max. What's with dumb phones charging smart phone levels of money?
18 Jun 2026 14:55
for that price AND using the make whatever great again slogan? fuck all the way off.
18 Jun 2026 15:03
I agree it's too much money. But for the record it's not a dumb phone, it is a smartphone running sailfish which can run android apps in a sandbox
However for less money, the
Sony Xperia 10 III with Sailfish OS (Xperia 10 mk3) is a better buy.
18 Jun 2026 15:41
Not only are the phones extremely overpriced for what they are- the images they are using for advertising are AI images, and not real pictures. Also using "Make
blank great again" format for their tagline is another scoop of excrement on the shit sundae.
18 Jun 2026 15:41
From their FAQ:
Can I install my own apps?
>Web browsers and social media apps are blocked at the system level. Email and work apps are not offered through the Commostore app store, keeping Callback focused on life outside work and feeds.
>Users are still be able to sideload apps outside those that are blocked, using APK installer files, but Callback is designed first and foremost as a calmer, more intentional phone.
So I can receive an Email but if it has a link to a website I can't click it? That's just silly, Commodore. You're doing a fine job being memeable and appealing to our nostalgia. Trying to "protect us from ourselves" like that kinda destroys that vibe. And no, the inevitable custom ROM circumventing your blocks won't make up for it.
18 Jun 2026 15:43
Overpriced, stupid marketing, random proprietary crap, mildly interesting form factor, audio jack, microSD (but only 256GB, why?).
But more linux phones is more linux phones. I'll pass on it, but I don't
hate it. You could probably just flash vanilla sailfish without much trouble.
18 Jun 2026 15:54
I had a bad feeling about the whole C64 brand when it got overhauled recently. It had vaporware startup written all over it. Guess my gut feeling was on point once again.
18 Jun 2026 16:20
Android _is_ Linux-based.
18 Jun 2026 17:54
I have lots of music, it has a decent DAC IIRC
18 Jun 2026 18:21
I am literally that guy, but even I rarely need to look up something simple while I am out of the house. I don't need to be protected from myself. It is both condescending and dumb.
18 Jun 2026 18:28
I'd be wary of putting more than that on an sdcard anyway, but I am with you. I have far more flacs than would fit within 256GB. I also wouldn't bother loading up everything on the phone.
18 Jun 2026 18:31
Being too expensive doesn't mean they are necessarily gouging. My wife crochets blankets as a hobby, but she'd have to charge a stupid amount to sell them at a profit if she used decent yarn and valued her time at even minimum wage. Said blanket would be "too expensive" without a doubt.
18 Jun 2026 18:37
How are they determining if an an app is a browser?
18 Jun 2026 18:43
Isn't there a whole lot of small volume 'phone' companies that are charging far less? Nothing Phone, or the plethora of Chinese companies like Unihertz come to mind.
18 Jun 2026 19:15
Lemmy
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