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.
Still, compared to other premium “digital minimalist” products like the LightPhone III, the price looks reasonable — and with web browsing and social media explicitly excluded from the app store, this phone is firmly in that category. At least this one comes with some sweet Commodore branded headphones, which double as an FM antenna just like they did on your Nokia back when.
While it doesn’t come with DOOM from the factory, it does come with Snake and a selection of emulated C64 games . Ringtones are SID samples, but of course there’s no actual SID chip in the phone, any more than there’s a 6502. That said, if someone builds a phone around a 6502, please let us know.
No, it’s not a new Amiga, as so many of us were hoping for, but by putting quality modern components into the flip phone form-factor, at least they’re trying to innovate (or perhaps retrovate) and we have to respect that. Only time will tell if the market does.
I doesn”t have to have Doom but Gian(n)a sisters or Skate-or-d1e, of course
No want Flip Phone
BIG WANT qwerty slider.
Or a “candy bar” form factor! Needs QWERTY either way.
With modern autocorrect seeming to get worse, even from major industry players, I’m highly skeptical of any modern take on T9 from a small newcomer.. also T9 was pretty annoying to start.
I’d love a more real keyboard linux phone too, but still a flip phone is way way better than one of those annoying touch screens to type on when you must, as actual tactile feedback is just unbeatable allowing you to use the darn thing without looking, and means you don’t have to actually proof read every word to be sure the touch keyboard hasn’t made up button presses or auto corrected to entirely the wrong word.
As I’ve been needing a new phone for a long time I might actually be tempted, but going to need to look at what it really is on the Software/hardware technical front first.
Nobody will stock language specific keyboards, creating SKUs for every language.
This. If there’s a winning format for mobile devices that should also do other things where a keyboard becomes a necessity that’s the ideal one. Here’s an interesting platform I found lurking around some time ago. All Linux capable, the flip one giving strong Psion Series 5 vibes. No idea about how good they are, reliability etc, would love to read comments from users.
https://www.www3.planetcom.co.uk/devices-specification
I second Cosmo Communicator, just the right form factor combining the best from both, flip phone and flat brick phone.
“BIG WANT qwerty slider.”
YES…..PLEASE!
Hmm, bit too much of a stance for me. I don’t want the social media apps, but I really do think a web browser is a useful thing to have in your pocket.
You can always load the APK of your favourite browser. It’s not locked out at the system level; it’s just not in whatever they’re calling their app store.
I don’t know what they mean by it, but the website literally says it’s locked out at the system level.
Their “four phase” patented system should prevent loading browsers. I get a very “we hijack retro sentiment to put the digital surveillance on steroids” vibe from their site.
ssh works?
It’s just sad the newest phone with SailfishOS is an expensive Commodore device which highlight is doing less things than the other phones, and with a pitch so filled with obviously generated AI slop that makes my stomach turn.
Give me my new Linux based Nokia E71 please :'(
It will be a bumpy start for sure, but we could use a big corporation that is sincerily on our side. I’d rather buy this than an Iphone, and to me it is way cooler.
I don’t think this Commodore is a big corporation to any extent more than my local plumber is.
How do you do banking on this during vacation? You carry a 2nd phone?
Banking on your phone? Good Lord. You get what you deserve.
Needs a Commodore beige version.
There is a Commodore beige version.
Just keeping up the bad business decision tradition of Commodore.
“secure gps” What, how, which??
Same reaction
I can only speculate and I assume they’re less that successful. Modern phone AGPS augments accuracy from many sources, telco networks, wifi and bluetooh scanning. Each of these augmentations allows a provider to log location, probably anonymously, to “help make gps” better.
Something like: “These are all the Wifi/BT devices I can currently see, my geolocation is XYZ.”
In turn your phone, when powered on can ask: “These are all the Wifi/BT devices I can currently see, give me a rough geolocation so I can fix satellites quickly.”
So, your OS maker, chipset supplier and cell provider run databases to make things work smoothly.
There is something really weird about how corporations and their IP and trademarks can be gobbled up such that we can see things using the name and logos of the old companies long after their death.
This can’t be healthy and probably undermines the purpose of trademarks.
While you are correct in general in this case I’d give them a pass – they are a revival of the old Commodore bringing various community members that have kept the C64 alive together along with owning the IP etc. They are to some extent a nostalgia based company revival, but that won’t be enough to last as a real company will it?
So at the same time as redoing the old for a modern audience, creating new products with some of the same ideals for the tinkerer seems like a good idea – not sure this specific product is going to be a good idea yet. But you can’t sell new C64 forever.
Indeed — how about the sad fate of Radio Shack, gobbled up by that online scamster who famously shot video of himself in a garage that contained a bookshelf full of what appear to be books and a Lambourghini. SMART and RICH! I think he used that brand for some skeezy NFT play. NFTs! How soon we forget!
I wonder if this OS will be made available for install on other phones ??? I imagine a retro revival if it can
Sailfish OS isn’t a Commodore product; It’s already available on Jolla phones and some Xperia models:
https://docs.sailfishos.org/Support/Supported_Devices/
The OS itself is also Open Source, but the Android compatibility layer and the custom interface designed by Jolla everybody praises are unfortunately closed. They said some months ago they want to Open Source them in the future, but as of today… that’s what you get.
i tried the fxtec pro1 when it finally launched and was disappointed to find that pretty much every app out there has abandoned landscape mode. ESPECIALLY gsuite apps. it was a major disappointment and made qwerty mode pretty much worse in every way. i feel like we need to solve a lot more than just adding a keyboard.
i wonder what things break in apps that expect to have a touch screen. ie how hard is it to arrow around their ui.
I have actually been interested in something like this for a while, my phone is constantly at risk due to my job, + I would like a flip phone with a great camera that is unbreakable, And I would like it to basically have my main phone forward its calls to it when I’m working, no texts allowed. But the price point is all wrong, my giant pixel 10 XL pro is a great phone but I am going to destroy it eventually and then I’m going to be pissed and be out $1,000. I would definitely be interested in this if they would make a lighter version of this phone for about $200 with the same gray camera and all that, my one catch is is that the phone does need to have access to Google Play / photos so that all the pictures get automatically synced with Google photos.