I recently bought a PinePhone and honestly the experience of tinkering with it reminds me of what it was like to tinker with Linux back in the early 2000's. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. You get the same feeling of freedom and realization of just how locked down the incumbent ecosystems are. But, at the same time, there is little that is guaranteed to work out of the box and a willingness to tinker is required (Anyone remember trying to print from Linux to a networked Windows printer back in the day? It was possible, sometimes, but never straightforward.)
I have no doubt that as ARM proliferates, the Linux phone experience will continue to improve, but it is going to take time (and as the article points out, it is going to take development effort from the community). Realistically, though, Linux phones will never reach Android/iOS levels of smoothness until you get a couple companies that want to disrupt the Android/iOS duopoly with a new Linux-based offering....
Until then, Linux phones are a no-go for mainstream users. That being said, mainstream users who just want a working phone that is not a massive data funnel back to FANG already have a really good option with https://e.foundation/
I have no doubt that as ARM proliferates, the Linux phone experience will continue to improve, but it is going to take time (and as the article points out, it is going to take development effort from the community). Realistically, though, Linux phones will never reach Android/iOS levels of smoothness until you get a couple companies that want to disrupt the Android/iOS duopoly with a new Linux-based offering....
Until then, Linux phones are a no-go for mainstream users. That being said, mainstream users who just want a working phone that is not a massive data funnel back to FANG already have a really good option with https://e.foundation/