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Sailfish OS (GNU/Linux) on "Commodore"
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Liliputing ☛ Commodore Callback 8020 is a distraction-free flip phone that runs Linux-based Sailfish OS with support for (some) Android apps
The Commodore Callback 8020 is a new phone that’s up for pre-order for $500 and which is expected to ship before the end of 2026. But it looks like a flip-phone from the early 2000s, and that’s intentional.
Positioned as a distraction-free phone with a retro-inspired design that evokes Nokia handsets from the turn of the century, the phone also has some features inspired by classic Commodore computers and other devices (like calculators). It’s clear that the new owner of the Commodore brand is looking to capitalize on the nostalgia factor. But unlike some other modern phones positioned as distraction-free or minimalist devices, the Callback 8020 is actually a full-fledged smartphone… with a few very unusual limitations.
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Cybernews ☛ Commodore releases $500 Linux-based phone that doesn't support Slack or Instagram
What may look like another dumb phone at first glance is actually something “in between,” the company explained.
Nowadays, more is being talked about the excessive use of smartphones. With that, more people are looking for alternatives to reduce their time spent online.
Considering this, the company has launched Commodore Callback 8020.
“Callback may be designed to help you spend less time staring at a screen, but when you need to capture something, it makes it count,” stated the company.
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Tom's Hardware ☛ Commodore announces Linux-based flip phone with ‘no social control media, no browser’ — the Callback 8020 will be available in five retro colorways starting at $499, runs 99% of Android apps
After some teasing and a couple of red herrings Commodore today unveiled a retro-styled flip phone dubbed the Callback 8020.
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After switching to an Android flip phone, in an effort to promote digital well-being, Fractic says the process involved “learning what worked, what didn’t, and what people wanted.” Thus, the Callback 8020 was designed as “the perfect middle ground between dumb and smart, and what should a Commodore phone be today?”
It's FOSS:
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Commodore's New Flip Phone Skips Android for Linux-Based Sailfish OS
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.
Hackaday:
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Commodore Unveils Linux Powered Flip Phone
Whatever happens with the new incarnation of the Commodore corporation, we’ll always remember the old one fondly. Well, we’ll remember certain of its products fondly, at any rate, if not the corporate leadership that drove them under. About that, perhaps the less said the better. That’s why we’re looking at the revived Commodore’s latest offering with equal parts interest and trepidation — is there really a market for a Linux-based, Commodore branded flip phone in 2026 and beyond?
The official reveal trailer, which you can watch below, can only be described as weaponized nostalgia for the late 90s, which tracks because the revived C-64 is more-or-less the same thing for the 8-bit era. That said, between replaceable batteries, actually having a decent camera — a 48MP Sony module — quality Cirrus Logic DAC for audio, and running the Linux-based, Android-app-compatible Sailfish OS, the “Callback 8020” ticks all the boxes. Except for price, that is. Many will find the $499 USD launch price a little tough to swallow in this economy, so we hope they aren’t betting the farm on this one being a mass hit.
One more take:
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Commodore is releasing a flip phone running Sailfish OS!
I was not expecting this at all, and did not see the news before someone on the French SFOS Users Telegram channel mentioned it: Commodore is releasing a flip phone that will run Sailfish OS!.