the convergent UI is actually great. (i own a librem 5.)
my keyboard, mouse, and speakers are connected to my monitor. i connect the phone via a single USB-C cable. suddenly i have full-blown gnome, exactly as i would on a desktop PC or laptop. applications and the launcher return to their normal, desktop layout when using the desktop mode.
it's "just plain old linux with gnome" as long as it's connected to your peripherals, only going into a custom UI when you go mobile. much like the steam deck, but without the clunky "switch to desktop/gaming mode" transition.
the oomph is obviously a little underwhelming but it's enough for lightweight development or (non-video) web browsing.
i haven't had success with calls or text messages (verizon and t-mobile), though. i want to like the librem but i haven't been able to actually use it as a phone.
I'm doing the same thing with my Pinephone; it's my "daily driver" phone, and also my main computer. It came with a USB C hub, but I could never get the power-passthrough to work, so it couldn't be used for long periods. I got a different hub, and a more powerful PD plug, and now it works fine (I also use a udev rule to bump the input current limit to 3A, since it sometimes chooses 0.5A which isn't quite enough to charge).
I agree about Web video: I've dug up some old youtube-dl scripts, updated them to yt-dlp, and now watch videos comfortably in VLC. I used to fetch videos automatically from YouTube's RSS feeds, rather than visiting the Web site "manually"; I haven't resurrected that yet (assuming those feeds are still published?).
Convergent tech has been something I've wanted to work well for ages - I remember trying a Samsung Note and Linux on DeX, but it never really worked well. I see from a quick Google it's long since dead. It's likely the only thing that would prompt me to even think about moving from iOS.
YouTube works on Firefox but you need patience.
As in: it takes 20 seconds for the front page to fully load and render. Then add another 10 secs to start a video and put it into full screen.
Took me a couple of days to get used to that. But now it’s the new normal for me. And that’s after having a snappy iPhone for years.
my keyboard, mouse, and speakers are connected to my monitor. i connect the phone via a single USB-C cable. suddenly i have full-blown gnome, exactly as i would on a desktop PC or laptop. applications and the launcher return to their normal, desktop layout when using the desktop mode.
it's "just plain old linux with gnome" as long as it's connected to your peripherals, only going into a custom UI when you go mobile. much like the steam deck, but without the clunky "switch to desktop/gaming mode" transition.
the oomph is obviously a little underwhelming but it's enough for lightweight development or (non-video) web browsing.
i haven't had success with calls or text messages (verizon and t-mobile), though. i want to like the librem but i haven't been able to actually use it as a phone.