Technoethical S3 phone with Replicant

Technoethical S3 smartphones are refurbished Samsung Galaxy S3's pre-installed with the 100% free operating system Replicant. Please note that while the main processor is running only free software, the modem processor is running a Samsung nonfree system.

In 2014, Replicant developers have found a modem backdoor in the Android systems of several Replicant-supported devices, including the S3, and have successfully closed it in Replicant. Additionally, the phone has a read-only nonfree boot rom, which loads a nonfree bootloader. The bootloader is not part of the Replicant system, but it is responsible with loading Replicant. We are telling you this so that before buying the product, you are aware there is also nonfree software running on the Technoethical S3, which doesn't respect your freedom and it might not respect your privacy either. For now, we can't offer a full stack freedom-respecting smartphone, but we're joining the efforts.

Also, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth don't work. We recommend purchasing the FSF-endorsed Technoethical N150 Wi-Fi adapter and use it with an OTG cable for your Technoethical S3 phone. Following our initial support for freedom-respecting Wi-Fi in Replicant 4.2, an improved support for this external Wi-Fi adapter has been developed by Replicant developer Wolfgang Wiedmeyer and it's default in Replicant 6.0. Pre-installed is the RepWiFi free software application developed by Replicant developer Filippo Bergamo for an easier method to connect to Wi-Fi using our USB adapter. A mobile data connection would be useful in areas not covered by Wi-Fi networks. Support for our Technoethical Nano Bluetooth 4.0 adapter is planned too.

Because of the bigger screen and software-rendered graphics, Technoethical S3 with Replicant is slower than Technoethical N2, and because of the smaller battery, external Wi-Fi is less stable than on Technoethical N2. For the complete list of hardware components unsupported in the operating system, please refer to the Specification tab.

Replicant is a completely free operating system based on CyanogenMod/Android, following the GNU FSDG and thus endorsed by free software organizations (FSF, FSFE, Ceata, etc). Replicant has its own modem communication layer, nonfree firmware removed, nonfree libraries removed/replaced and nonfree applications replaced by free ones in the F-Droid repository. For you convenience, Replicant recovery image comes pre-flashed on the Technoethical S3. This also enables you to easily upgrade to a newer version of Replicant.

Technoethical donates 10% of the sale profits of this phone to Replicant. We list the donations on the page Technoethical donations.

Hardware support in the operating system
Operating system	Replicant 6.0 0001
Telephony	Works
Cameras	Photography only, video recording doesn't work. Back camera works, front camera doesn't.
Sensors	Work
Audio	Works (headphones in jack, loudspeaker), except through Bluetooth and USB connections
Video	Doesn't work
2G/3G data	Works
Radio FM	Works
2D graphics	Works
3D graphics	Don't work with free software
Wi-Fi	Works with Technoethical N150 Wi-Fi adapter
Bluetooth	Doesn't work with free software
NFC	Should work, but it doesn't yet (tested with Beam).
GPS	Doesn't work with free software
Hardware media codec	Doesn't work with free software
Official page	https://redmine.replicant.us/projects/replicant/wiki/GalaxyS3I9300
Technical
Dimensions	136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm (5.38 x 2.78 x 0.34 in)
Weight	133 g (4.69 oz)
SIM	Micro-SIM, GSM only (CDMA is not supported)
Display	Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 4.8 inches in size, resolution 720 x 1280, multitouch
Main Processor	Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9
Memory	1 GB RAM, 16 GB internal storage, microSD up to 64 GB
Camera	Back 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 px, f/2.6, autofocus, LED flash; Front 1.9 MP
Audio	3.5mm TRRS jack
Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
Battery	Li-Ion 2100 mAh battery

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