Pine64 makes affordable hardware designed to run community-built open-source software. The company produces single-board computers, phones, laptops, tablets, and even a smartwatch — all at prices that make experimentation accessible.
The PinePhone and PinePhone Pro are among the few phones designed from the ground up for Linux. They’re not repurposed Android devices — they run distributions like Manjaro, postmarketOS, and Mobian natively. Hardware kill switches control the modem, Wi-Fi, microphone, speaker, and cameras. The phones aren’t meant to replace an iPhone, but they give Linux developers real hardware to build mobile Linux software on.
The Pinebook Pro is a $220 ARM-based laptop that runs Linux and has become popular with developers and tinkerers. The PineTab is a similar concept in tablet form. Neither device competes with mainstream products on raw specs, but that’s not the point — they’re affordable platforms for open-source development.
Pine64’s ROCK64 and ROCKPro64 single-board computers offer alternatives to Raspberry Pi with different tradeoffs. The Quartz64 board features a RISC-V processor, betting on the emerging open-source instruction set architecture.
The PineTime smartwatch runs InfiniTime, a community-developed open-source firmware. At around $27, it’s arguably the cheapest useful smartwatch available and serves as a proof of concept for open-source wearables.
Based in Hong Kong, Pine64 operates on thin margins and relies heavily on community contributions for software development. The company doesn’t write the operating systems for its devices — it builds the hardware and lets the community handle the rest. This model keeps prices low and gives developers full control over their devices.
