Void Phone VX1 is Linux phone with enterprise management features

The company behind the Furi Labs FLX1S Linux smartphone is expanding into the enterprise space. The new Void Phone VX1 is basically a rebranded FLX1S that comes with a few bonus features made for corporate and government customers.

For one thing it supports enterprise mobile device management features. For another, the company is offering volume discounts to customers who purchase 100 phones or more.

Those mobile device management features let an IT administrator track users’ phones, remotely wipe them, and set rules for security policies, which repositories can be used to download and install applications, and other app controls.

Of course, part of the appeal of using an open source, Linux-based operating system instead of Android or iOS is that users have more control over their phones. But in this case the sales pitch isn’t to end users, it’s to enterprise customers looking for an alternative to mainstream mobile operating systems that doesn’t send or receive any data to Google, Apple, or other big tech companies.

So while end users might not have as much control over VX1 phones received from their employer, adding support for enterprise features could make these phones more attractive than a stock FLX1S for businesses and government agencies.

Those features aren’t free though – according to a note on the Void Phone website, “basic MDM costs are $2.50 per phone/month.”

In terms of hardware though, this is basically an FLX1S. It has the same 6.7 inch, 1600 x 720 pixel, 90 Hz display, MediaTek Dimensity 900 processor, 8GB of LPDDR4x memory, 128GB of UFS storage, and 5,000 mAh battery.

Other features include a 20MP primary camera, 2MP macro camera, and 13MP front camera, a USB 2.0 Type-C port, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2, and support for 5G NR and 4G LTE networks.

There’s no headphone jack and the battery is not user replaceable. But there is a microSD card reader for removable storage. There are also three hardware switches that can disable the mic, camera, cellular modem, and GPS for enhanced privacy.

The phone features a polycarbonate frame, metal keys, and a glass back cover. It’s not officially waterproof, but it is said to be “splash resistant.”

As far as software, the phone runs a custom mobile Linux distribution called FuriOS, which is based on Droidian (a mobile version of Debian).

via LinMob and FuriLabs