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"We Listened" - Commodore Reduces The Price Of Its Forthcoming Callback 8020 'Dumbphone'
(www.timeextension.com)
this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2026
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That’s more like it!
And I completely disagree with the people saying it should be much cheaper.
It’s a LTE Linux computer. In 2026. With multiple screens, a 48MP camera, good DAC, enough power to run real Android apps and tons of bells and whistles; what do you expect?
Electronics are expensive, unless it’s cheap garbage, heavily subsidized, or both. That has a huge externalized cost, and avoiding that is the whole point of this phone. R&D, customer service, and continued software support for the translation layer and OS, must crazy expensive too.
I know wages haven’t gone up with inflation, which makes $400 hard to afford, but that’s not in Commodore’s control.
If one wants a cheaper AliExpress Android fliphone, that’s reasonable.
But it’s not the same product. And you’re going to pay for it in other ways.
An Oppo A5M 4G costs around a bit over $150 in AliExpress and that's including the VAT for Europe (which will be the VAT of whatever country they imported it into, normally around 20%).
This thing has a 1080p 7" screen, which judging by the pictures is more than that Commodore phone.
Electronics are expensive for these things but that's when you're aiming for heavy use such as gaming, and that means larger/higher-density screen, more CPU/GPU power and bigger battery to feed those all the things as well as more memory and storage, which are the most expensive parts. LTE modules are comparativelly cheap nowadays, as are stupidly high resolution cameras and good DACs.
The only reason I would see for this to end up in the expensive electronics range is if they're aiming for it to run heavier AI models locally, which might very well be the case since judging by what others said the CEO of the company which bought the Commodore brand is AI-bro.
This, I think the price is decent. Most dumbphones are low cost but you notice it - terrible buttons, slow camera, lackluster audio. On top of that they have no coolness factor. This is a phone that ticks all boxes and is privacy friendly. On top of that, it is from a company I like to support.
the cheap flip phones are truly dollar-store build quality and cameras. mine has a crappy radio, it seems, too.. nearly always roaming on another carrier's nearby tower because it can't pick up the vzn one just a couple miles outside of town.
the 'rugged' ones are built better and can take a literal beating and still work, but they cost as much as a recent model 128gb smart phone.. and still have squat for storage and lousy cameras.
Not interested. Want SailfishOS.
1st-party supported SailfishOS, to be specific.
That's huge, to me.
Yeah! I have a Sony Xperia 10 III, but the SailfishOS support is kinda... not officially supported in the US?
The alternative would be a mid-range phone with SailfishOS on it. I have one, a Sony Xperia III which I chosed for the small size. I like it. BTW I had nearly every Linux phone by Nokia and Jolla since the N900.
But if you still want something that is more like a pocket computer and less like a distracting phone, you could look for handheld PCs / ultraportables, and put Linux on one. These can run Threema Web, and Waydroid if you still want apps. (I have a Gemini PDA, and I like it, but be careful - this is NOT a phone - but fine for answering mail).
Saying "lte Linux that can run Android" means nothing. All Android phones run Linux and support LTE. It's an Android phone with restrictions on what Android apps it will run. That's it. The screen is tiny and two small screens are cheaper than a larger one.
You can buy all of that for $100 on Aliexpress.
This is trash dressed up in a fun skin to sell to Commodore fans who don't know how to delete an app from their phone.
It's not Android. It's SailfishOS. With first party support.
And even that aside, I don't see anything comparable on Aliexpress, hardware wise.