> This is in stark contrast to the Purism phones which offer about the same hardware (slightly better CPU but worse GPU) at flagship prices.

This is very far from truth: https://forums.puri.sm/t/comparing-specs-of-upcoming-linux-p...

The i.MX 8M Quad is better than the Allwinner A64: 30% faster CPU clock speed, 140% faster RAM standard, 140% better OpenGL performance, USB 3.0 and support for higher resolution cameras.

(and performance is just one of many reasons to prefer Librem 5 over Pinephone, see the link)