The big difference between Pine64 and the other (phone) projects that have come and gone over the years is that Pine64 really seems to have the manufacturing (including sourcing and logistics) side down. The other projects came across as seeming to think of all the 'physical stuff' as a distraction that they'd just outsource, when in fact it's the most important part. They also don't seem to have any 'year of the Linux on X' delusions: they are in the 10's of thousands of units on PinePhone and they're fine with that.

I've been happy enough with my Pinephone (just don't call it a daily driver!) that I'm seriously considering picking up their next gen Pinebook Pro whenever that gets announced/released.