Librem 5 – A Security and Privacy Focused Phone – Purism

Freedom of Choice

We believe phones should not track you nor exploit your digital life. We are in the middle of a digital rights revolution where you get to decide the future. We at Purism are building a phone that does not run Android nor iOS, but runs PureOS or any GNU/Linux distribution where all the source code is available.



Note that the visual design of the phone is a work in progress and is subject to evolve based on technical requirements and people’s feedback.

Peace of Mind

Our phone will not wholesale gather your data for profit. It will not lock you into an ecosystem that controls you. It will not require you to enter banking details to simply get an app from an app store.

Does Not Track You

Our phone will be built to protect you by default. It will never exploit you for profit. It will be a phone for the people, by the people.

High Quality

We know how to build products that are convenient, privacy and security focused. Our phone will give you peace of mind knowing it does not track you.




 

Purism PureOS

Apple iOS

Google Android

User Controls Device

Yes

No

No

Trackers Disabled by Default

Yes

No

No

Privacy Protection By Default

Yes

No

No

Does Not Track You

Yes

No

No

Layered Security Protection

Yes

No

No

User Controlled Source Code

Yes

No

No

Runs GNU+Linux

Yes

No

No

Separates CPU from Cellular Baseband

Yes

No

No

IP-Native Communication First

Yes

No

No

Decentralized Communication by Default

Yes

No

No


Purism has built and delivered laptops successfully for over 2 years and is now ready to begin development on a phone product.

We are focusing on creating a secure communication device, and will continually expand the product through software with community and developer support.

The first version will be capable of voice calling, video, camera, messaging, email, and web browsing, expanding quickly to include the thousands of productivity, gaming, graphics, and photography applications already in PureOS.

By creating a phone that supports an open community-driven development environment, we can change the future of computing to be respectful of your digital life. (learn more)



“I believe digital rights should mirror physical rights, our Librem 5 phone will get humanity closer to that goal.”

— Todd Weaver, Founder & CEO

“Computer users are individuals not just consumers. I want people to gain back control of their technical life, I want to empower people!”

— Nicole Faerber, Lead Phone Developer

“I don’t trust Google because 97% of their revenue is generated by knowing as much as possible about me.”

— James Rufer, Director of Product

“The idea of a Matrix-native smartphone is unbelievably exciting. Matrix has always aimed to be a decentralised encrypted alternative to the public telephone network, and the Librem 5 makes this all the more true. With truly open communications and a truly open operating system, this is a vision of a world where users are back in control of their communication and their technology, rather than being trapped in proprietary communication silos – a world that cannot come soon enough!

— Matthew Hodgson, Co-founder of Matrix.org

“Android is so frustrating! Trying to remove Google’s privacy invasion bit-by-bit removes functionality bit-by-bit, and you end up with a non-working phone. Purism will solve this by putting your privacy protection and security first.”

— Zlatan Todorić, CTO

“From the largest server clusters to the tiniest of phones, computing devices of all sizes should ultimately provide the choice to decide whatever level of privacy and freedom is appropriate for them.”

— Chris Lamb, Debian Project Leader 2017

“It should be our choice on which data we choose to make public. Lack of awareness or understanding of our digital footprint and having others’ benefit from it should not be the norm. Tools, like Librem products and PureOS, are vital to help us manage without needing to become cyber-experts.”

—Helen Vasilevski, Board Member

“Currently there is no choice but to put your trust in companies that you don’t want to trust, and this is a problem. The Librem 5 phone will change that, and allow you to control your own life.”

— Youness Alaoui, Hardware Enablement Engineer

“This is MY phone!”

— Theodotos Andreou, System Administrator

“I am very pleased to see Purism considering to use, support, and advance GNOME on mobile devices.”

— Neil McGovern, Executive Director, GNOME Foundation

“Partnering with Purism will allow us to ready Plasma Mobile for the real world and integrate it seamlessly with a commercial device for the first time. The Librem 5 will make Plasma Mobile shine the way it deserves.”

— Lydia Pintscher, President of KDE e.V.

“I am very excited about having a phone that only runs free and open source software. Not only is it a great win for users now having full control over their devices and their privacy, but it also enables the community to develop on a smartphone platform without restrictions, which opens the door for novel ideas and innovation on these devices.”

— Matthias Klumpp

“I trust freedoms governed by democratic transparent power structures. My current phone runs Free code – my next phone will be trustworthy.”

— Jonas Smedegaard, Debian developer and PureOS developer

“Do I want a phone I can finally trust, and doubles as a convergence developer board? Was Grace Hopper a rear admiral?!”

— David Seaward, Lead developer (Purist services)

“Planned obsolescence of Android and iPhones made me understand how important the free software movement is for everyone. Now, I refuse to buy another phone that I do not control and am not the owner of.”

— François Téchené, Director of Creative

“Purism has been doing genuine and important work around making truly free yet desirable laptops. The communities I work with would very much like to see the same philosophy replicated in a phone that runs a GNOME based stack where community members can participate in equal terms and that ensures respect for the users’ privacy and security. While pulling this off is hard, Todd seems like someone who sincerely cares about these issues and has a great track record executing, I think the efforts of Purism deserve the support of the free software community.”

— Alberto Ruiz, GNOME & Fedora Laptop Enablement


We have assembled a world-class global team, in over 15 countries, united in one common goal to make computing devices that respect digital rights. We have specialties that include mobile development, mobile communications, hardware manufacturing, software security, privacy protection, and free software. We are passionately devoted to security, privacy, and digital rights for users, and this shows clearly in all our products.


The Librem 5 is a 5″ phone that carries with it a social revolution, where we the people can stand up for our digital rights, we can say “We want to control our phone and keep our own data. We refuse to financially back the wholesale gathering of our digital life. We no longer will allow unfettered access to our photos, videos, email, text messages, applications and usage data.” By using a Librem 5 phone you are standing up for the future of phone privacy, you are supporting an open community-driven development environment, where all the source code can be used, re-purposed, and shared to improve society. By backing this campaign, you are voting with your wallet to support a future where people can be protected, feel safe, and participate in a respectful culture.


The Librem 5 can be used in any of three ways:

  1. With a cellular carrier provided phone number, data plan, and WiFi
  2. With a cellular carrier data plan, and WiFi
  3. With no carrier, and using only WiFi

WiFi calling and VoIP calling will be able to be provided in WiFi or data plan modes. We expect to offer call-out, and call-in with phone numbers in all of these plans as well. If you still require a “traditional” phone number through a carrier and want to make unencrypted phone calls or messaging, it will be an option you can choose, but is not required (we recommend avoiding unencrypted phone calls).


Starting with a metal case, high resolution screen, and multifunction port, we heard your feedback, know what you want, since we want it too. The specifications are continuing to get pinned down, and will not be finalized until after the campaign ends, so please share what you’d like to see, and we will evaluate all design feedback that aligns with our beliefs.

The CPU will be an i.MX 6 or i.MX 8, where we can separate the baseband modem from the main CPU, digging deeper and deeper to protect your privacy and isolate components for a strong security hardware stack.

Enabling the path for a true convergence device, capable to work as a phone, making video and audio calls, encrypted messaging, email, web browser, that can also become a full desktop computer with an option for a compatible keyboard, mouse, and monitor. It can be a desktop computer and phone all-in-one.



PureOS will ship by default, an isolation based security focused operating system, where all the source code is available. PureOS, like Ubuntu, Debian, and Red Hat, runs a Linux Kernel and utilizes the GNU operating system tools that power billions of users on a daily basis. PureOS strives for the strictest of security and privacy protection, by releasing all the source code, and offering safe security and privacy defaults, as well as avoiding common security threats, such as ransomware, and data mining tools. PureOS is in complete compliance with FSF’s free distribution guidelines and will never ship non-free binaries.

PureOS on the Librem 5 initially, upon shipment, will offer basic communication services: phone, email, messaging, voice, camera, browsing, and will expand after shipment and over time to more free software applications, through shared collaboration with the developer community (not “read-only open source”, but true free software collaboration).


Partnering with Matrix Librem 5 is the first ever Matrix-powered smartphone, natively using end-to-end encrypted decentralised communication in its dialer and messaging app.

Matrix is an open ecosystem for interoperable encrypted communication, supporting a rapidly growing community of over 2 million users for VoIP and Slack-style messaging. Allowing you to easily communicate securely to any Internet connected device, including iOS, Android, Windows, OSX, or GNU+Linux machines. Having a native communication suite which allows for Calling, Text Messaging, Group Messaging, and Video Calling is the future of communication.

Group Chat, and Individual Messaging

Double Ratchet, End-to-End Encryption

VoIP signaling for WebRTC

Read Receipts, Typing Notifications

Push Notifications

Multiple Device Search

Synchronized Read State and Unread Counts

Decentralized Content Repository


Purism’s Librem 5 phone will be able to run HTML5 applications, which means common applications you use everyday will be available through the web browser. Purism will be able to isolate these applications from the OS, so the applications will not be able to have visibility into other running applications or have access to areas that you do not allow.




This device is for anybody and everybody interested in protecting his/her data, communicating privately to your loved ones, or supporting a future of protecting your digital rights.

Parents

Parents will love the Librem 5 because it will allow you to communicate with your child, while having peace of mind that they are not being compromised or tracked without your permission.

Developers

Developers will love the Librem 5 because it will allow you to control your software and do what you’d like with a phone device.

Enterprises & Businesses

Enterprises will love the Librem 5 because it will allow them to have a security focused phone that is immune to common threats and protects their data by default.

Business Professionals will love the Librem 5 because it will give them the peace of mind that they have the best security and privacy protection built-in.

Technology lovers

CTOs/CIOs/IT will love the Librem 5 because all the source code is available for audit, and they can tightly integrate whatever configuration the corporation requires.


The specs will be finalized as late as efficiently possible to ensure the best available components. The hardware will run almost any GNU+Linux based distribution, and it will also work with 2G/3G/4G, GSM, UMTS, and LTE networks.

*Specifications are subject to change.


The developer kit includes:

*Specifications are subject to change.


After funding is completed, we will prepare the hardware design, manufacture developer units and get those into the hands of all the developers and backers of the development kit, so we can work on the software and full hardware roll-out in parallel. Once we confirm the basics from these developer units, we will update the hardware design and begin production. Learning from experience, we are giving ourselves time to develop and follow the hardware trends to deliver to you the ideal phone product running the most rights-respecting software available.

The product that ships to backers will be finalized phone hardware that can make a phone call, check email, browse the web, make a video call, and take a photo. This is designed to start as an encrypted communication device, and expand, after shipment, over time, to include all the productivity and software common on existing phone and desktop operating systems.


The Librem 5 phone project started a little over 1.5 years prior to the launch of this campaign, researching and selecting hardware that would work to create a PureOS based phone, that would not rely upon Android. We have added team members to do all the research and development, and after testing the hardware to confirm we can meet our goals, we are now at the point of seeking preorders to prove the demand and fund the manufacturing.

As you can see from the gantt chart above, we expect to use the funds from this preorder campaign to fabricate the development units, manufacture the phone, port/develop the OS, and develop the communication applications. This is a lot of work to accomplish, and we are both allotting enough time to get this all done, and putting a call out for quality, eager, free software developers to add to our phone development team (see our jobs page for more information).


After the Librem 5 ships to customers, we will continue to improve the software by adding common and requested applications such as calendar, notes, calculator, pdf viewer, etc. Since this is a free software phone where all the source code and packages are available, we would expect to see developers creating their own applications, porting existing applications, and improving the overall “app store” experience. If you are a developer interested and wanting to port your application, we will be creating a community area to participate in PureOS mobile development. You can find out more about PureOS at PureOS.net.


Like any great endeavor, we have some lofty goals that could be accomplished with enough funding, so we have included our dream roadmap below. Applying funding targets to each goal, allows us to share the stretch goals and see just how far we can go with the product, based on user support:

$4m = VOIP phone number, call-in, call-out features

$6m = Reverse engineering faster WiFi/BT firmware

$8m = Free encrypted VPN tunnel service for all backers for 1 year

$10m = Run Android applications in isolation on Librem 5

$20m = FUN GOAL, Candy Crush (clone) 🙂 available for free

$32m = FUN GOAL, “We did it!”(polite reference to Ubuntu Edge goal)


We want to hear from you, literally! We want to have a unique Purism Librem 5 ringtone, and will give-away (or refund an existing order for) a Librem 5 to the winner(s) of the Ringtone contest!

What we would like is a free format ringtones for; power-on, phone call, text message, video call, and email notification. We will refund any existing order, or give-away a Librem 5 to whomever we select in any of those categories (so yes, it could be one winner, or could be 5).

Please submit your free format sound clips via email to info@puri.sm with the subject “Ringtone Contest submission”, please provide the files under a free cultural work license, please name the files or reference the file names to the categories mentioned above. (e.g. purism-librem-5_email-at-domain_power-on.flac ).

EDIT: The ringtone contest is over, we do not accept any further submissions! Thank you all for participating, the voting process has started among team members and the winner(s) will be announced soon.


Although our core business is hardware, software, and services, and having spent the last 18 months (prior to launching the campaign) doing phone research, there are still risks. We’ve partnered with one of the largest phone manufacturers in the world to produce the case, and fabricate the motherboard from our specifications, and of course sourcing the screen, battery, and power supply. We have a worldwide team to address all that we need; from mainland China manufacturing, Hong Kong exporting, South San Francisco USA assembly, European reseller, and a Worldwide developer network. We’re excited and ready for the journey from this campaign to delivered phone.

One reason for setting the funding goal at our target is to mitigate risk of research and development, and to have some padding for delays, errors, and issues that arise during any new manufacturing project.

Finally, because we will be making some hardware and chipset changes during the development process, this will introduce changes in software or drivers. The good news it that since we believe what you believe, you will end up with a high-quality phone that protects you by default no matter the version of a given chip.


Do I need to add the cost of shipping to my pledge?

We offer free worldwide shipping on orders, so there is no need to add any shipping.

Do you have a German or UK/EU Reseller?

Yes, we have partnered with a German reseller, and will be shipping all German (and UK/EU orders) from Germany.

Can I run Android apps?

Not day 1. However there is a lot of interest in including a isolation layer that will be able to power Android applications natively. We have added that as a stretch goal to quantify the effort.

What forms of payment do you accept?

Credit Card, Direct Bank Transfer, Bitcoin, and International Wire Transfer. If you need any assistance or alternative options for payment, email ops@puri.sm for assistance.

Do you accept Paypal?

No, Paypal’s policy does not allow for the full funds to be used as pre-sales, they put a large reserve on crowd-funded presales, and that large reserve severely limits the ability for us to pay for non-recurring engineering, tooling, development, manufacturing, and ship product. If you need any assistance or alternative options for payment (or require a one-off Paypal payment), email ops@puri.sm for assistance.

Will the Librem 5 have CE Markings?

Yes we will have proper and registered CE markings on the Librem 5 phone, the location of those markings will likely be in the lower back section of the case in a light gray silkscreen, similar to our Librem 15 and Librem 13 laptops.

How easy will it be for me to switch from Android or iOS to the Librem 5?

For phone calls, email, web browsing, there will be no issues with switching, if you rely upon native applications that are not yet supported, you may need to use HTML5 applications (Social Media, News, Banking), or consider alternatives (e.g. Riot.im vs. Signal). If we reach our stretch goal to run Android applications in isolation, it will become possible for some applications to run.

Can I transfer my photos, files, downloads from Android or iOS to the Librem 5?

Yes, you will be able to use the phone as a storage device, that can show up on your computer by just plugging in the USB cable and viewing the folders. This will allow you to import or export files, photos, documents, with ease. With the Librem 5 there is no proprietary software that locks your files into proprietary formats, allowing easy sharing of the content you want to share.

Will I be able to communicate from my Librem 5 to other phones?

Yes, you will be able to make regular unencrypted phone calls to any phone number. You will also be able to communicate securely by using the phone dialing application and messaging application, that can run on the Librem 5 phone, Android based phones, and iOS based phones, and any computing device.

Will communicating from my Librem 5 to other phones compromise my privacy or security?

The Librem 5 will be the most secure when communicating with another Librem 5 phone, communicating via an encrypted app on a Librem 5 to an Android or iOS encrypted app is the second best option available.

Will my existing SIM card work on the Librem 5

We aim to support 3G and 4G for the most common international frequency bands and carriers. Exact specifications will follow.

Will I be able to use emergency services (e.g. 911 or 999)?

Yes, the Librem 5 will work with most carriers, and those carriers support emergency services

What countries and mobile networks will support the Librem 5 phone?

The Librem 5 is an open network phone, not locked to any particular network. It will work in all countries that provide 2G/3G/4G, GSM, UMTS, or LTE-based network services.

Are all hardware components running completely free software, with the source code available?

From testing the CPU, GPU, Bootloader and all software will run free software, we are evaluating the WiFi and Bluetooth chips and firmware, this is an area we have to evaluate, finalize, and test. The mobile baseband will most likely use ROM loaded firmware, but a free software kernel driver. We intend to invest time and money toward freeing any non-free firmware.

Can the Librem 5 phone run Windows?

Very likely, even though we will not expend resources to test this.

Can the Librem 5 phone run Android?

Very likely, even though we will not expend resources to test this.

Can the Librem 5 phone run iOS?

Not likely, and we will not expend resources to test this.

Will the phone receive updates after launch?

Yes, all hardware Purism releases gets regular security and performance updates within PureOS.

Can the phone runs Qubes OS like Librem laptops?

No, Qubes OS requires virtualization on the CPU, and the Librem 5’s CPU will not offer that. The Librem laptops do support VT-d and VT-x and therefore support running Qubes OS.

What if you don’t reach the funding target?

It will show that there is not enough interest in producing a device that focuses on security, privacy, and digital rights, which will be a tremendous social disappointment. If we don’t reach our target then all contributions will be fully refunded.

Will Twitter, Fandango, My Bank, etc. work on a Librem 5 phone?

Yes, any web based app will work through the browser. Over time these sites will either use progressive web applications, or could have a native app.

Will you have a calendar app, maps app, notepad app, etc. by default?

Our first version will be focusing on phone calling, encrypted communication, and web browsing. However the free software community is encouraged to test, port, author, and get involved to take all the great free software applications that exist already and make it work on a 5″ screen.

Will I be able to open word or excel documents sent via email?

At delivery we do not plan to support the reader or renderer for these proprietary formats, but this is a top priority to solve after product delivery.

Will there be hardware kill switches?

Yes, we need to evaluate the wiring and design limitations to determine the best approach; the intention is to include Camera, Microphone, WiFi/Bluetooth, and Baseband Modem kill switches or some combination. We may utilize a microphone headphone jack plug to kill the microphone at the hardware level as an example of some inventions we are testing and considering. But rest assured we will have hardware kill switches.

Can I remove the battery and replace it?

Yes, like all Purism products, the case itself will allow you to access the insides, and the battery will be modular and can be replaced with ease.

Does Purism comply with CALEA requirements?

No, because CALEA applies to US based telecommunications providers, not to Purism. If the user of a Librem 5 phone uses a carrier in the US with a traditional “phone number”, that carrier must comply with CALEA for phone calls, as the phone call is sent over the carrier’s connection. Pure Matrix-to-Matrix calls are outside of CALEA requirements (Matrix nor Purism are telecommunications service providers). If the call touches the PSTN is becomes the carrier’s responsibility to adhere to CALEA. Matrix is an encrypted voip/messaging protocol not a telco.

Will this run coreboot and have the Intel ME neutralized?

The Librem 5 will not be Intel based, it will be i.MX 6/8 based, so therefore we don’t need coreboot nor the Management Engine. The i.MX 6/8 CPU will be completely free software without any binaries whatsoever!

Why don’t you build a free UI ontop of Mer (Sailfish OS)? Or resurrect Firefox OS? Or insert-name-here?

Because we want to promote a pure and unified stack, not have a separate mobile OS with proprietary bits or a completely different middleware stack. We want to support the community efforts of GNOME and KDE*, and allow for any GNU+Linux to work out-of-the-box providing mainline improvements that work not just on mobile but across the device spectrum. The Librem 5 is a new approach to use a regular Linux system and adopt it to mobile use-cases instead of creating a completely new system. We do not create a walled garden, instead we tear down these walls, creating an open utopia. A fully standards-based freedom-oriented system, based on Debian and many other upstream projects, has never been done before–we will be the first to seriously attempt this.

You can also learn more about our position on GNOME and KDE further below in this FAQ.

Will the Librem 5 be able to run Anbox or Shashlik?

We will test the capabilities of powering Anbox or Shashlik to allow users the ability to run Android applications within PureOS on the Librem 5, but our long-term goal is to utilize native applications that adhere to our strict philosophy. Enterprise clients or users who require Android applications may choose to to run a Android applications within an isolation container, so this is the reason for testing this type of configuration. We have a stretch goal to help with this developmental effort to have Android apps run in isolation.

What hardware specifications are subject to change?

RAM, Storage, USB version and type, WiFi version, Bluetooth version, Screen type, Screen resolution are the important things that are subject to change based on supplier availability, and software and driver support.

What is the RAM/Drive configuration?

Purism plans to max-out the CPU’s RAM and Drive according to the best capabilities during testing, and have listed the minimum confirmed specifications on the campaign page.

What detailed hardware specs can be provided, and when?

The detailed specifications will be released as we firm up the hardware choices, it will be ongoing communication during the research phase.

What CPU will be used, i.MX 6 or i.MX 8?

We started prototyping with the i.MX 6, and are getting close to be able to fully confirm the possibility of using i.MX 8. We want to know we can use i.MX 8 for sure. The i.MX8 would be pretty ideal for us, it has much more computational power while at the same time reducing power consumption since it uses a more recent production technology. It is especially designed for mobile use. The i.MX 8M or i.MX 8X seem like the ones we would want. But they have two areas we will be closely following; we will be getting new prototypes in November 2017. The i.MX 8 will have a new, more recent GPU, a dual core Vivante GC7000Lite which is not yet supported by the free Etnaviv driver. The big questions are, when will silicon become available and when will decent Linux support be available for it? So we will keep evaluating after the campaign ends and decide i.MX 6 or do we get to fully move to i.MX 8.

What warranties apply to the Librem 5 phone?

Our standard 1yr parts and labor warranty applies. Also if you are not happy with the product, you may return it within 30 days of receiving it for a full refund. Purism will not cover the cost of return postage and packaging.

Will this be an “open hardware” design?

Our intention is to have everything freed down to the schematic level, but have not cleared all design, patents, legal, and contractual details. We will continue to advance toward this goal as it aligns with our long-term beliefs.

Why not use Wire, Telegram, WhatsApp, or Signal?

While these all provide encryption, and some do release the client software under acceptable licensing terms, they all are walled gardens wanting you to register with them, and their server software is proprietary and therefore not acceptable to us. Matrix is the proper solution and that is why we have partnered with them.

Will you be seeking FSF RYF endorsement?

We will constantly keep FSF up-to-date on the hardware and software, our current understanding is any non-free kernel firmware needed for RF chips will not meet the RYF qualifications today, so we will continue to evaluate the WiFi and Bluetooth cards in the hopes to advance toward RYF. The end goal for us is to gain RYF for all Purism products. PureOS will always be compliant with FSF distribution endorsement, PureOS will never ship with non-free binaries.

Will you be running GNOME, Plasma, or your own custom UI?

We will be working with both GNOME/GTK and KDE/Plasma communities, and have partnered with the foundations behind them for the middleware layer. PureOS currently is GNOME-based and look forward to working with GNOME as an upstream as well as GNOME’s OS and design-centric development model; however we will also test, support, and develop with KDE and the KDE community, and of course we will support Qt for application development.

Learn more about the rationale behind this approach.

Will the phone have a fingerprint reader, or other biometric access?

No, we will not be shipping with any biometric hardware, the reasons for this is because single access via biometrics does not prevent access to your phone the same way a security code or lock does. The US Supreme Court has alluded to biometric access not protecting you the same way that a security code from memory (a security code) does (e.g. You can say “no” to a passphrase, or security code, but you cannot say “no” to biometric (physical) information). So even if in future models of the Librem 5 phone we do include biometric hardware, we will be double-locking it with a security code, to have the best security story we can for users.

Can I come work for you?

We are actively hiring. Please visit https://puri.sm/jobs/ and take a look. We are mostly interested in eager, self motivated, free software enthusiasts who want to change the world for the better.

Can I invest in Purism?

Yes, please reach out to ir@puri.sm (Investor Relations), and you will get a reply within 24 hours to discuss the opportunity.

I don’t see my question, how can I get it answered?

Please email support@puri.sm and we will answer you, and if it applies to the general audience we will post it here!

https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/